A brother indeed

It was 50 years ago that Brother Andrew started his ministry to persecuted Christians which has developed over the years and spawned the organisation Open Doors.

Brother Andrew's message to the church in the West at this time is simple. 'The church needs to accept the fact that there is a Suffering Church and repent of our lack of understanding and compassion.

'We have not taken good care of one another and, unless we do that, there will be no change. Our culture is getting worse and worse all the time, declining in moral spirituality and church influence. We are in a mess as a church and fighting each other. Now we have a new constitution in Europe which doesn't even mention our Christian past.

'Please rise up in prayer as we face this terrible dilemma of growing persecution, diminishing church influence worldwide and exodus of Christians from the Middle East, for example, Iraq, Lebanon, West Bank, Sudan, Egypt, etc. God wants to build his church but you and I have to help. We have to be obedient to the great commission, supply the needs, go and say: "What can we do for you?" The reply of persecuted Christians always is: "Please pray for us". If we press the point further they probably say: "and bring me a Bible, but come; come and encourage us so we can stay here". Until that point is reached they will leave by the tens of thousands. I want to build up the church. That's the mission of Open Doors: strengthen what remains, like a cry of distress, an SOS from God. Strengthen what remains and is at the point of death (Revelation 3.2). You and I have an opportunity to be such an influence in the world.'

How it all started

Open Doors, an organisation that supports persecuted Christians around the world, was born on July 15 1955 when a young Dutchman, Brother Andrew, took a trip into Poland by train, with his suitcase bulging with evangelistic booklets.
Brother Andrew describes that first trip: 'I was the only Christian, surrounded by Communists and about to visit an unknown world. I was not making any plans; it was just one trip in my holidays. I didn't know of any church there because we in the West had not established contact. However, I found a Bible Society, Methodists, Baptists, Evangelicals, Free Churches and Christian young people that we knew nothing about. I found great enthusiasm but also found there was a tremendous lack of Bibles.'

The Bible Society director, Mr. Enholc, told Brother Andrew stories of professional smugglers who would come to his shop, buy ten Russian Bibles, smuggle them across the border to Russia, sell them on the black market, and buy a brand new motorbike with the proceeds, which they would then smuggle back to Poland and make a fortune.

Brother Andrew said: 'I thought if people take those risks for the love of money, how much more we should go over there and take Bibles to the Russians? That's where the first seed was sown. I had no money or plan whatsoever, in fact, nothing in the development of the Open Doors ministry was to a plan, but God has made it happen.'

Being there

Another seed was sown during this first trip to Poland, when a pastor told Andrew that his 'being there was worth more than ten of the best sermons'.

The concept of 'being there' for the Suffering Church of Jesus Christ has always been important throughout the Open Doors organisation. This means physically visiting them, but also having co-workers on the ground able to be the eyes, ears and hands of the Persecuted Church, so that their needs can be responded to. Sometimes the need is for literature or Bibles, at other times the greatest need is for training, or sometimes livelihood and literacy projects. Open Doors needs to be flexible to respond in these different ways and its workers will often find their faith tested as they move into new areas of expertise, or develop existing training/literature programmes; but have proved, time and again, that God is the great enabler.

Learning lessons

There are five remaining Communist regimes where Christians are still suffering and in desperate need of Christian resources. In other places also, Christians are being made homeless, imprisoned and put to death for standing up for their beliefs. Of course they don't go looking for persecution, but the bottom line is that they will die rather than live a life that is not pleasing to God. As any visitor to the Persecuted Church knows, they have so much more to teach us than we could ever teach them. Brother Andrew says: 'To see the way they persevere under opposition, love God and forgive their tormentors is something we need to learn a lot more of in our society.'

The growth

So what does Brother Andrew think of the way that Open Doors has grown from one man and a suitcase to 27 offices around the world working in 45 different countries?

He said: 'I can't say it's beyond my dreams, because I never dreamt! It is God's vision but I would never have started it if God had showed me how big it was going to grow. Who am I? I am not a leader. I haven't studied or graduated anywhere. Fortunately God only asks us to take one step at a time. If we do that, then the Lord sees how we land on one foot, then the other, and if you accept responsibility and grow spiritually, then God will show you the next step and give you the next responsibility - give you more money, give you co-workers. All that had to grow in Open Doors, slowly one by one, so it didn't cause a crisis.

'People sometimes come to me and say, "How do you organise your mission?" I say, "Always have the guts to surround yourself with people who are better than you." For me, that's the formula of success. I have people with PhDs, generals, colonels, doctors and journalists; all of them in their field a lot better than I am. I love to work with them, I am not afraid of them - that's how you grow strong as a mission. That's why I feel Open Doors is strong.'

With the fall of Communism in the late 1980s, religious freedom opened up in many parts of the world, however, in many other parts, persecution increased with more Christians currently being persecuted than at any other time in history.

The future

Brother Andrew said: 'Unfortunately, I think we have a terrific future, because the conflict in the world is increasing. Persecution comes from many sources, but the Muslim world will, I believe, become the major source of persecution for Christians. We are very much involved in the Muslim world, although not as much as I wish. I also think that as our contacts grow and we are vocal and write about it, Open Doors will increasingly become a resource for groups which will want to make an impact in the Muslim world. But we must learn how to spell I.S.L.A.M. as "I Sincerely Love All Muslims", and we must start communicating properly with them and not be so afraid and threatened. I would much prefer to have a lively debate with a dedicated Muslim than a deadening conversation with a lukewarm Christian.

'In our countries, Islam is not a threat as yet but it is a challenge that we are not accepting. If we do not accept a challenge, it turns into a threat. Some-times people come to my office and they are very upset: "Oh, the Muslims have bought another empty church, and they have converted it into a mosque, isn't that terrible!" No, that's not terrible, what's terrible is that the church was empty.'

To find out more about the work of Open Doors, call 01993 885400, email info@opendoorsuk.org or go to the UK web site at www.opendoorsuk.org.

An interview with Brother Andrew, reflecting on 50 years of his ministry

How it all started

Being there

Learning lessons

The growth

The future

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