From the Back Cover:
A true-life thriller that will leave you breathless!
As a boy, Brother Andrew dreamed of being an undercover spy working behind enemy lines. As a man he found himself working undercover for God. His was a mission filled with danger, financed by faith, supported by miracles.
Told it was impossible to minister behind the Iron Curtain, Andrew knew that nothing was too hard for God. Crossing "closed" borders, he prayed, "Lord, in my luggage I have Scripture I want to take to Your children. When You were on earth, You made blind eyes see. Now, I pray, make seeing eyes blind. Do not let the guards see those things You do not want them to see." And they never did.
For thirty-five years, Brother Andrew's life story has inspired millions to step out on their own journeys of faith. This young Dutch factory worker's near-incredible adventures testify of God's step-by-step guidance and hour-by-hour provision--available to all who follow His call.
Far from being over, Brother Andrew's current adventures are his most challenging yet. In a new prologue and epilogue, his story is carried into the new millennium with an account of Andrew's work in the "closed" societies of Islam.
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My review: I read this as a child and was excited to read it again. It was a foundational book for me. The part where he asked God to "make seeing eyes blind" I remember from back then, even now that I'm 46 years old. He exercises his faith over and over, and God never fails. This uplifting book should be read by every Christian as an example of what God can do with the weakest, poorest of souls that is willing to let Him work in them.
As he is wrestling with God's will in becoming a missionary, you can see him searching for the truth:
"And still I hung back. I seemed to have so many points against me. I didn't have Kees's learning. And hide it though I might from others, I had a crippled ankle. How could I be a missionary if I couldn't even walk a city block without pain!
Did I really intend to be a missionary-or was it only a romantic dream with which I indulged myself? I had often heard Sidney Wilson speak of "praying through." He meant by this, sticking with a prayer until he got an answer. Well, I was going to try it. One Sunday afternoon in September, 1952, I went out on to the polders where I could pray aloud without being embarrassed. I sat on the edge of a canal and began talking to God casually, as I might have talked with Thile. I prayed right through coffee-and-cigar hour, right through Sunday afternoon, and on into the evening. And still I had not reached a point where I knew I had found God's plan for my life.
"What is it, Lord?" What am I holding back? What am I using as an excuse for not serving You in whatever You want me to do?"
And then, there by the canal, I finally had my answer. My "yes" to God had always been a "yes, but." Yes, but I'm not educated. Yes, but I'm lame.
With the next breath, I did say "Yes." I said it in a brand-new way, without qualification. "I'll go, Lord," I said, ... Whenever, wherever, however You want me, I'll go. And I'll begin this very minute. Lord, as I stand up from this place, and as I take my first step forward, will You consider that this is a step toward complete obedience to You? I'll call it the Step of Yes."
Later you can see him begin to grow in his relationship with Jesus:
"I turned through the gate at the school. Above me was the reminder "Have Faith In God."
That was it! It wasn't that I needed the security of a certain amount of money, it was that I needed the security of a relationship.
I walked up the crunchy pebblewalk feeling more and more certain that I was on the verge of something exciting. The school was asleep and quiet. I tiptoed upstairs and sat by the bedroom window looking out over Glasgow. If I were going to give my life as a servant of the King, I had to know that King. What was He like? In what way could I trust Him? In the same way I trusted a set of impersonal laws? Or could I trust Him as a living leader, as a very present commander in battle? The question was central. Because if He were a King in name only, I would rather go back to the chocolate factory. I would remain a Christian, but I would know that my religion was only a set of principles, excellent and to be followed, but hardly demanding devotion.
Suppose on the other hand that I were to discover God to be a Person, in At the chocolate factory I trusted Mr. Ringers to pay me in full and on time. Surely I said to myself, if an ordinary factory worker could be financially secure, so could one of God's workers."
God would test him in this, and leave his needs unmet until the very last moment , to see if he would have faith enough to trust Him to take care of his needs, and God proved Himself over and over again.
I turned through the gate at the school. Above me was the reminder "Have Faith In God."
That was it! It wasn't that I needed the security of a certain amount of money, it was that I needed the security of a relationship.
I walked up the crunchy pebblewalk feeling more and more certain that I was on the verge of something exciting. The school was asleep and quiet. I tiptoed upstairs and sat by the bedroom window looking out over Glasgow. If I were going to give my life as a servant of the King, I had to know that King. What was He like? In what way could I trust Him? In the same way I trusted a set of impersonal laws? Or could I trust Him as a living leader, as a very present commander in battle? The question was central. Because if He were a King in name only, I would rather go back to the chocolate factory. I would remain a Christian, but I would know that my religion was only a set of principles, excellent and to be followed, but hardly demanding devotion.
Suppose on the other hand that I were to discover God to be a Person, in the sense that He communicated and cared and loved and led. That was something quite different. That was the kind of King I would follow into any battle.
[in a later conversation with friends] ..."But how would I go about strengthening anything?" I said. "What kind of strength do I have?"
Mr. Whetstra shook his head. He agreed with me that one lone Dutchman was scarcely an answer to the kind of need I had been describing. It was Mrs. Whetstra who understood.
"No strength at all!" she answered me joyously. "And don't you know that it is just when we are weakest that God can use us most? Suppose now that it wasn't yo
but the Holy Spirit Who had plans behind the Iron Curtain? You talk about strength...."
And thus began his journey around 1955, his work smuggling bibles into a dozen countries or so where God is not welcome and God's workers have to take the church Underground (out of sight), who's work continues today in an organization called Open Doors.
https://www.opendoorsusa.org/about-us/
His writing style is very easy and descriptive, and his journey entertaining and rewarding as well. He had difficult times and funny times, happy and sad, and he writes them all with clarity. 4 stars!
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