Book Club Questions for God's Smuggler

1.Brother Andrew grew up in Alkmaar, Holland, in a poor family with few resources but a strong sense of community and a father who loved the Bible. What details of his childhood stood out to you, and what do they suggest about the kind of person God was shaping?

2.As a boy, Andrew dreamed of being a spy — someone who operated behind enemy lines with courage and secrecy. How does that childhood fantasy ultimately become the literal shape of his adult calling? What does this suggest about how God uses even our wildest daydreams?

3.The book opens with a vivid picture of postwar Holland — scarcity, grief, and the grinding ordinariness of working-class life. How does the context of hardship seem to prepare Andrew for a ministry built on deprivation and trust?

1.Andrew enlisted for military service with something close to enthusiasm, partly to escape the boredom of Alkmaar and partly out of genuine bravado. What were the specific realities of the Indonesian conflict that stripped away that bravado, and how did the violence he witnessed and participated in affect him spiritually?

2.During the fighting, Andrew made a kind of bargain with God — wearing a bright yellow straw hat into battle almost as a dare, testing whether God would protect him. How do you interpret that act? Is it faith, presumption, despair, or something else entirely?

3.Andrew was wounded in his ankle and spent a long period in recovery. Suffering and enforced stillness are recurring themes in the Bible as the setting for spiritual breakthrough — think of Jacob's hip, Paul's thorn, or Joseph's prison. How does Andrew's wound function similarly in his story?

1.Andrew's conversion came through the persistent witness of a group of young people in Alkmaar who held street meetings and tent revivals. What specific people or moments served as the 'hinge' on which Andrew turned toward faith, and what does this say about the cumulative power of ordinary Christian witness?

2.Brother Andrew describes his conversion as a moment of profound simplicity — he simply surrendered the control of his life. How does this contrast with dramatic, emotional conversion narratives you may have encountered? Which version of conversion do you find more accessible, and why?

3.Shortly after his conversion, Andrew began to sense a specific calling — not just to be a Christian, but to go somewhere dangerous with the gospel. How do you distinguish between a genuine divine calling and spiritual enthusiasm or idealism?

1.Andrew adopted the practice of never asking anyone for money — he would pray and trust God to supply. Where did he first encounter this principle, and what were the early, concrete occasions on which it was tested and confirmed?

2.There are several dramatic provision stories in these chapters — moments when money or needed resources arrived at what seemed like the last possible moment. Describe one of these stories in detail. What does it reveal about the relationship between faith and timing in Andrew's theology?

3.Some Christians are uncomfortable with 'faith mission' models of financial support, worrying that they can breed a kind of spiritual showmanship or that they put God to the test irresponsibly. How does Brother Andrew's practice in these chapters address — or fail to address — those concerns?

1.Andrew's first trip behind the Iron Curtain was to Yugoslavia. What were his impressions of life under Communism, and what specific encounters with believers there shook him most deeply? How did those encounters change the shape of his calling?

2.The underground church believers Andrew met were starving for Scripture — they wept over a single Bible page. How does this image sit alongside your own relationship with the Bible? What does their hunger reveal about what we take for granted?

3.The border crossing scenes are some of the most gripping in the book. Describe what Andrew did with the Bibles in his car and what he prayed as he approached the customs booth. What theology of prayer is embedded in that famous 'Customs Prayer'?

1.Andrew met Corrie in Holland and their courtship unfolded alongside his growing commitment to a ministry that was dangerous, underfunded, and without any clear organizational structure. What did Corrie understand she was saying yes to when she agreed to marry him?

2.The book is honest about the tension between Andrew's calling to go and his responsibility to stay — to be a husband and eventually a father. How does he navigate that tension, and do you find his resolution of it satisfying or troubling?

3.Corrie herself was a woman of deep faith who sacrificed significantly for Andrew's ministry — raising children largely alone, managing a home on near-nothing, and living with the reality that her husband might not return from a trip. How does the book honor her contribution?

1.Russia represented a significant escalation in the risk and complexity of Andrew's work. What made the Soviet Union a different kind of challenge than the countries he had previously visited, and how did he prepare spiritually and practically for that first Soviet trip?

2.Revelation 3:8 — 'See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut' — became a kind of life verse for Andrew and eventually the name of his organization (Open Doors). How did this passage shape his approach to borders and closed countries? What does it mean theologically that God opens doors no human power can shut?

3.Andrew encountered in Russia not only state opposition to Christianity but also the internal state of the church — some congregations had been so compromised by government pressure that they had become ineffective or even complicit. How did this complicate his view of 'the persecuted church'?

1.Andrew visited a remarkable range of Communist-controlled countries in Eastern Europe. What patterns did he notice across these different national contexts — in terms of church life, government hostility, believer hunger, and spiritual vitality?

2.One of the recurring and astonishing details in these chapters is the sense that Andrew's arrival in a city was somehow expected — believers had prayed and sensed that help was coming, and then he showed up. How do you make theological sense of those moments? What do they say about the nature of corporate prayer?

3.Romans 10:14 asks, 'How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?' How does Andrew's work embody this verse in a very literal, physical way — actually delivering the text that makes hearing possible?

1.Describe the Customs Prayer in your own words. What was Andrew asking for, what was his posture as he prayed it, and what happened? Why has this particular prayer captured the imagination of so many millions of readers?

2.James 2:17 says that 'faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.' Brother Andrew's entire ministry is a dramatization of this principle. In what ways did his faith express itself in action — and in what ways did his action express itself back as deepened faith?

3.There is a recurring tension in these chapters between faith and prudence. Andrew took real precautions — he was strategic about which routes to use, which contacts to trust, and how to conceal Bibles. How does this practical wisdom coexist with his radical reliance on God?

1.Brother Andrew founded Open Doors in 1955. What were the circumstances and conversations that led him to move from individual courier work to building a structured organization? What did that transition cost him and what did it make possible?

2.One of the great challenges of any ministry is moving from 'one person's passion' to 'an organization's mission' without losing the original fire. What steps did Andrew take — and what did God seem to do — to multiply the work without diluting it?

3.Zechariah 4:10 asks, 'Who dares despise the day of small things?' Andrew's beginnings were extraordinarily small — one man, one car, a few Bibles, and a prayer. How does the eventual global reach of Open Doors serve as a commentary on the importance of faithful small beginnings?

1.Describe one of the near-miss or narrow escape episodes from these chapters. What were the specific details, what did Andrew do, and what — in his own interpretation — allowed him to escape? How does he credit God without dismissing human courage or skill?

2.Psalm 34:7 says, 'The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.' Does Andrew's story support the idea that God protects those who obey Him from all harm? What would you say to a reader who points out that many faithful missionaries were arrested, imprisoned, or killed?

3.Andrew observed that fear itself was a kind of enemy — not just the circumstances that caused it, but fear's power to paralyze, distort, and diminish faith. How did he combat fear in himself practically and spiritually?

1.Andrew came to a striking conclusion: the persecuted church, despite its lack of Bibles, buildings, and freedom, was in many respects spiritually healthier than the Western church with all its resources. What specific evidence did he offer for that claim?

2.Hebrews 13:3 commands us to 'remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.' What does it actually mean to remember persecuted believers in a practical way? What does Brother Andrew's life suggest as an answer?

3.1 Corinthians 12:26 says that 'if one part suffers, every part suffers with it.' Andrew understood himself to be literally fulfilling this principle by carrying the resources of the free church to the suffering church. What are the specific ways your own church community could fulfill this verse today?

1.In the epilogue and interview, what does Brother Andrew identify as the most significant changes in the landscape of global persecution and Bible distribution since his early journeys? What has changed, and what, to his mind, has distressingly stayed the same?

2.Brother Andrew speaks in the new interview about current events and regions of concern — particularly the Middle East and the Muslim world. How has his calling evolved over sixty years, and what does that evolution say about a life genuinely responsive to God's leading rather than a fixed agenda?

3.2 Timothy 4:7 records Paul saying near the end of his life, 'I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.' How does Andrew's epilogue reflect that same kind of account-giving? What have been the hallmarks of his 'race'?

1.Looking back across the entire book, which chapter, scene, or moment lodged itself most deeply in you? What was it about that particular moment that broke through? Share it with your group and explain why it hit you the way it did.

2.Brother Andrew's life is built on a handful of convictions: God keeps His promises, prayer changes things, the Word of God is worth any risk, and ordinary people are exactly the kind of people God calls. Which of these convictions has been most reinforced, challenged, or deepened in you through reading this book?

3.Has your understanding of the global church — and your sense of responsibility toward persecuted believers — changed as a result of this study? If so, describe specifically how. If not, why do you think the book didn't move that needle for you?