“God is Intimately Involved”: Recalling 25 Years of Smuggling Bibles
Daniel (not his real name) has been smuggling Bibles for 25 years. Here, he reflects on his struggles, joys, and lessons.
Daniel can’t sleep.
Despite his wife telling him he should not worry, that he should leave worrying to God, it’s hard to stop the turning wheels in his mind. He thinks about new ways and methods of getting the Word of God into the hands of brothers and sisters. Such is life for Open Doors’ Bible smuggler Daniel*.
“Do not romanticize the persecuted church.” Daniel is averse of receiving too much honor for his work. At the same time, there’s no reason to put persecuted Christians on a pedestal. He’s met with them, stayed in their houses, shared meals, held meetings, experienced wonderful adventures, argued with them, blessed them and helped them.
He carefully weighs his words when talking about the people he works with, because he doesn’t want to complain, and he doesn’t want to talk bad about people. At the same time, he wants us to know that persecuted Christians are broken people living in a fallen world just like the rest of us. “In the area I work, sadly, the church is pretty divided. I’ve seen how brothers can fight with each other, and I’ve cried over it.”
Fear of failure
Daniel leans backwards. He is not the kind of person who easily talks about his work. There’s so much at stake; money, goods, people. It is his responsibility to protect the ministry. At least, that is how he perceives it. “But don’t feel sorry for me. I can see many good things too. People come to faith; God has shown his loyalty. The thing is, ever since I was a child, I’ve had a fear of failure. That fear still hunts me in my current work. I know Jesus commands me to cast my worries onto his shoulders, but that’s really difficult for me to do.”
For over a decade, Daniel has been taking the Bible into a strict part of the Muslim world. “I never thought I would do this for a living. When I grew up, I wanted to study theology, but I was really bad at languages…Then, I came in contact with Open Doors and now look at me. I’m using all my experience and skills to bring the Bible to persecuted believers in creative ways. Who would have guessed?”
He went to several countries, but God gave a particular country on his heart. He has served this country for over a decade now. “The first time I went there, I heard from local Christians that they hadn’t received any books in a long time. They told me they wanted to do something, perhaps even evangelize. Could I perhaps deliver some Bible portions? I promised to look into it. I designed a way to do it, but it took me a long time to convince my colleagues it was the right way to go.”
The method worked splendidly. “Not thanks to me, thanks to the Lord. You don’t know how often I’ve pulled my hair because I suddenly realized I had made a mistake or how often I bravely packed my suitcase but sweat over my entire body when I stood in line at the border control. As soon as you see those guys in their uniforms, you’re not so tough anymore. But God came through every time. Yes, every single time.”
The butcher’s knife
There were close calls though. “Once, I brought a box full of books. I had done it before. The scanner at the airport wasn’t big enough and customs always just waved me through. This time I queued up and suddenly I realized they had a new scanner! It was much bigger; the box could easily fit.
"God came through every time. Yes, every single time."
You know that feeling when you are in a car, and you need to break hard because the car in front of you suddenly stands still? That’s what I experienced. Adrenaline shot through my body and my fingers tingled.”
The customs officer required Daniel to place the box in the scanner. Over the shoulders of the uniformed man, he could clearly distinguish the contents of his luggage. The man pointed at the image on the screen. “What are those? Books?”
What should Daniel say? Should he lie? He had no options.
“Documentation”, was all he said. “Open it”, the customs officer demanded.
Daniel took his luggage of the rubber band and and the guard shouted he needed a knife. Other colleagues gathered around the box. There were close to a dozen of them. Finally, someone brought a large ‘butchers knife’ from the kitchen. The man began to cut the tape, while Daniel waited behind him. The blade shot out and almost hit Daniel, who – with lots of theatre – fell on his behind. All the men burst into laughter.
“Sorry, sorry!”, the officer with the knife said, while still laughing uncontrollably. “I wasn’t trying to kill you!”
Daniel pretended to be very upset, making the men laugh even louder. Someone pulled him up and then waved him through. He picked up the open box and left the giggling custom officers behind. He looked over his shoulder one last time. The screen still showed the image of his box with his precious books clearly visible. “How on earth did you do this, Lord?”
The beauty of faith
Daniel has seen many miracles, but none are more beautiful than seeing Muslims embracing Jesus Christ. One of his local co-workers visited a restaurant once. He had a passion to evangelize in the country, but his ministry had not borne much fruit yet.
“When he was there, he witnessed how a young waitress was scolded by a customer for bringing cold soup. Her boss fired her on the spot, even though the cook was responsible. When the co-worker left the diner, the girl was still outside. She was very upset. He offered her a job in his company, spoke to her about his faith many times and she decided to follow Jesus.”
“I will take care of your family.”
Ultimately, after dealing with a fear of failure, the lesson Daniel has learned is to trust the Lord.
He remembers one story: “I needed someone to distribute the Bibles in-country. God showed me the right person to ask. Let’s call him ‘Peter’. After I had asked him, I gave him time to pray and think. Later I returned to his house and asked him about his decision. He said ‘My wife and I have decided to take on the risk’.”
Daniel suddenly felt a lot lighter.
“But”, Peter continued, “If I am arrested, will you take care of my family?”
Daniel felt a lump in his throat and could hardly speak. “Yes”, he said, finally. “We will take care of your family.”
And so as Peter became a key helper for Daniel’s work, it proved how God continues to use broken, imperfect servants for his Kingdom. Daniel is one of them. “My life is really complicated. Sometimes, I want to quit my ministry, sit under a fig tree somewhere and grow old in peace. I would stop if hadn’t known for sure this was God’s will for my life. He confirms it so often. My creative ideas to bring the Bible, people coming to faith, Him making up for my mistakes; God is intimately involved.”
Pray
Will you pray for Daniel and other Bible smugglers around the world?
- Praise God for Daniel and for the thousands of books and Bibles that he can smuggle.
- Thank God that he has been protected on every smuggling trip.
- Keep praying for his protection and for protection over the contacts in his country.
