Mardi, 31 Mars,
2015
Verse of the Day: «Mais il était
blessé pour nos péchés, Brisé pour nos iniquités; Le châtiment qui nous donne
la paix est tombé sur lui, Et c'est par ses meurtrissures que nous sommes
guéris. Nous étions tous errants comme des brebis, Chacun suivait sa propre
voie; Et l'Eternel a fait retomber sur lui l'iniquité de nous tous.» Ésaïe
53.5-6
Quote of the Day: “Wisdom is the knowledge of things
divine and things of man.”—Cicero
«La sagesse est
la connaissance des choses divines et des choses humaines.»— Cicéron
French Fun Fact:
French men have the lowest level of obesity in the EU, and women are second
after Denmark. (confessedtravelholic.com)
What’s Really
Happening Over Here:
Weather – Mostly
Cloudy, Precip. 20%
Temperature – 57⁰F,
high of 59⁰
News – The key
reforms of France's healthcare bill (thelocal.fr)
More News – http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/
A Day In the Life:
If you woke up this morning, that alone is proof that there
is a God. If not, that is proof as well.
Andrew van der
Bijl
Early Life
Van der Bijl was born in Sint Pancras, the Netherlands, and
was the fourth of seven children to a poor, near deaf blacksmith and an invalid
mother. He told John Sherrill and Elizabeth Sherrill, when they transcribed his
memories into God's Smuggler, "From the day I first put on wooden
shoes--klompen we call them in Holland--I dreamed of derring-do."
Conversion to
Christianity
Van der Bijl recounts to the Sherrill spouses, in God's
Smuggler, how, post-war, he enlisted in the colonial army of the Dutch East
Indies during the rebellion that would eventually form the nation of
Indonesia--and that this first venture into derring-do initially had unpleasant
results. For he endured a
Visits to Communist Countries
In July of 1955, Van der Bijl visited communist Poland,
"to see how my brothers are doing," referring to the underground
church. He signed up to a Communist youth group, which was the only legal way
to stay in the country. In that time, he felt himself to be called to respond
to the Biblical commission "Wake up, strengthen what remains and is about
to die" (Revelation 3:2). This was the start of a mission leading him into
several Communist-ruled countries where Christians were persecuted--those
behind the "Iron Curtain," where religions like Christianity were
technically tolerated but actually illegal.
In 1957, Van der Bijl traveled to the Soviet Union's capital
city, Moscow, in a Volkswagen Beetle, which later became the symbol of Open
Doors, the organization he founded. An older couple that mentored him had given
him their new car, because it could hold several Bibles and spiritual
literature. Although Van der Bijl was violating the laws of some of the
countries he visited by bringing religious literature, he often placed the
material in plain view when stopped at police checkpoints, as a gesture of
trust in God's protection. This was the penultimate realization of his
childhood dreams of derring-do.
Van der Bijl visited China in the 1960s, after the Cultural
Revolution had created a hostile policy towards Christianity and other religions.
It was the time of the so-called Bamboo Curtain. He came to Czechoslovakia,
when the suppression by Soviet troops of the "Prague Spring" had put
an end to relative religious freedom there. He encouraged fellow believers
there and gave Bibles to Russian occupying forces. During that decade he also
made his first visits to Cuba after that country's revolution.
In 1976 some African countries came under atheist rule. He
wrote a book about the spiritual struggle on this continent and in congresses
called upon local Christian leaders to strengthen their communities.
God's Smuggler
In 1967, Van der Bijl published the first edition of God's
Smuggler, written with John and Elizabeth Sherrill. God's Smuggler tells the
story of Van der Bijl's early childhood, conversion to Christianity, and
adventures as a Bible-smuggler behind the Iron Curtain. By 2002, it had sold
over 10 million copies in thirty-five languages.
Middle East
After the fall of communism in Europe, Brother Andrew
shifted his focus to the Middle East and has worked to strengthen the church in
the Islamic world. In the 70s he visited war-torn Lebanon several times,
stating that "global conflict in the end times will focus on Israel and
its neighboring countries."
Light Force and
Secret Believers
In the '90s, van der Bijl went to the region several times
again. In the book Light Force, van der Bijl tells about Arab and Lebanese
churches in Lebanon, Israel and Israeli Arab areas that express great delight
because of the mere visit of a fellow Christian from abroad, because they feel
the church in the Western world at large is ignoring them. Likewise, he and a
companion, Al Janssen, visited Hamas and PLO leaders including Ahmed Yassin and
Yasser Arafat, handing out Bibles. Further on, there is a portrait of a project
called Musalaha, which was founded by the Palestinian Evangelical leader Salim
Munayer. Musalaha's name is an Arabic word which translates as
"reconciliation," and it attempts to bring closer together Israelis
and indigenous Israeli Arabs.
Van der Bijl's seventh book, called Secret Believers: What
Happens When Muslims Believe in Christ, was released on July 1, 2007.
(The above information on Van der Bijl is a direct quotation
from the Wikipedia.com article on Andrew van
der Bijl.)
