Brother Andrew (Anne van der Bijl)

Anne ("Andrew") van der Bijl (May 11, 1928 – September 27, 2022) — known globally as "Brother Andrew" — was a Dutch missionary and the founder of Open Doors, the world's principal Christian ministry to the persecuted church. He served in the Dutch military in Indonesia (1946–1949), was converted in 1950, and beginning in 1955 conducted clandestine Bible-smuggling and pastoral encouragement trips behind the Iron Curtain in his blue VW Beetle (the "miracle car"). His autobiography God's Smuggler (1967, with John and Elizabeth Sherrill) sold 10+ million copies in 35+ languages and became a foundational missions-formation text for evangelicals worldwide. Open Doors continues globally, present in 60+ nations, distributing Bibles, training persecution victims, and providing emergency relief. Brother Andrew was knighted by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands (1993) and awarded the World Evangelical Fellowship's Religious Liberty Award (1997).