Stories from a Bible Smuggler

As the night passes, Daniel* lies in bed, wide awake.

His wife tells him he should not worry—that he should leave worrying to God. She's told him a thousand times and she will repeat herself another thousand times. He knows, he knows.

But he simply cannot stop his mind from spinning. He thinks about new ways and methods of getting the Word of God into the hands of persecuted believers.

Such is life for an Open Doors' Bible smuggler. Daniel's been bringing God's Word into closed countries for 25 years.

Daniel loves the persecuted people he serves, but 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," he says. "I've seen how brothers can fight with each other, and I've cried over it. After all they have been through, have they not learned that persecution makes [the Church] stronger, but arguing makes us weaker?"

Daniel leans backwards. He also knows that he's just as broken as the people he serves—but he has seen the faithfulness of God time and time again. "Don't feel sorry for me," he says. "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."


 

Close calls

For over a decade, Daniel has been taking the Bible into a very strict Muslim-majority country. "I never thought I would do this for a living," he says. "When I grew up, I wanted to study theology, but I was really bad at languages. Eventually, 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?"

  When he first started with Open Doors, he went to several countries, but eventually God placed one 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," Daniel says. "They told me they wanted to do something, perhaps even to evangelize. [They asked if I] could 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," Daniel insists. "You don't know how often I've pulled my hair [out] over suddenly realizing I had made a mistake, or how often I bravely packed my suitcase but was covered in sweat as 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."


 

'How did you do this, Lord?'

There were close calls though. Daniel has many stories.

"Once, I brought a box full of books," he says. "I had done it before. The scanner at the airport wasn't big enough, and customs always just waved me through. This time, I lined up and suddenly I realized they had a new scanner! It was much bigger; the box could easily fit. You know that feeling when you are in a car, and you need to brake hard because the car in front of you suddenly stops? That's what I experienced. Adrenaline shot through my body, and my fingers tingled."

The customs officer told Daniel to place the box in the scanner. Over the shoulders of the uniformed man, Daniel could clearly distinguish the contents of his luggage. The man pointed at the image on the screen. "What are those? Books?"

Daniel wasn't sure what to say. Should he lie? He had no options. "Documentation," was all he said.

"Open it," the customs officer demanded.

Daniel took the box of books off the scanner belt and waited for the border guards to open it. The guard shouted that he needed a knife to cut through the tape that sealed the box. Close to a dozen other customs officers gathered around the box. Finally, someone brought a large knife from the kitchen. Daniel knew he was about to be found out.

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 customs officials burst out laughing.

"Sorry, sorry!" the officer with the knife said, 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 customs 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? he wondered.


 

Trust in the Lord?

Daniel has seen other miracles, but none are more beautiful than seeing Muslims embrace Jesus as their Saviour.

He remembers a time when one of his local co-workers visited a restaurant. This man 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," Daniel says. "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. Later, my co-worker was forced to end his company and ministry. He was so depressed because God had given him this vision. I've told him that perhaps God's intention was for him to lead this precious lady to Christ."
 

Golden co-workers

Daniel knows that he and the people he works with live under constant risk. "Distributing the Bible and other Christian materials is teamwork," he explains. "Many brothers and sisters are all one link in a chain that is sometimes very long. If I have a creative idea for bringing the Bible, I can only execute it when others agree with the plan. Sometimes they don't see what I see, or they deem the risks higher than I do. But I can never force them. It's their life. I need to take care of my family; they need to take care of theirs. We all take risks, but we all have the freedom to choose how far we will go."

For instance, he shares about one treasured couple he ministers with: "They are golden co-workers," he says. "They do so many things, despite threats the government will find out what they do. Because of their important position, the police must monitor them closely. I don't want to go into details, but they are under a lot of pressure from the government and from the church."

  The couple's children live in the West. One year, they received a visa to visit their children. "I will be honest; I did not expect them to return to their country," Daniel says. "What would I have done in their place? I think I would have chosen to stay with the children. But they came back. And later I heard that as soon as they were back, they asked trusted people around them if they could take over parts of their ministry if the situation so demanded. They were preparing to go to jail. And since then, the risks have only grown. It is almost impossible for them to escape arrest if they continue to serve the way they do. But they trust in the Lord."

There's that phrase again: "Trusting in the Lord." It's the lesson the man who grew up with a fear of failure has learned time and time again—and will no doubt need to learn many more times in his life.


 

'God is intimately involved'

Trust can become difficult when the reality of the danger becomes crystal clear. "I needed someone to distribute Bibles in [one country]," Daniel says. "God showed me the right person to ask. Let's call him 'Peter.' After I had asked Peter, I gave him time to pray and think. Later, I returned to his house and asked him about his decision.

"'My wife and I have decided,' Peter replied, 'that we are willing to take on this task.'"

  Daniel suddenly felt much 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."

Not long after Peter had volunteered, one of Daniel's in-country contacts was forced to stop helping with Bible and literature distribution. "It was such a disappointment," Daniel says. "He was a key figure. I needed someone in that position. I was ready to quit my ministry. So, I prayed—I prayed for hours. One name kept coming back: 'Peter.' For the particular task, however, I needed to give him all the information about who I was and how I worked. I had to take a tremendous risk.

"I called him, and we took a stroll in a park," Daniel continues. "I did not want to meet in a hotel, because I expected it to be bugged. While we walked, I told him my story. Peter listened. He needed some time to pray. A few days later, I was still in the country, and he came back to me and said: 'I want to do it. I want to help.'"

Once again, God has shown Himself to be true to His promises—working in and through broken people for His Kingdom. Daniel is only one of them. "My life is really complicated," he says. "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."

Praise God for Daniel and his ministry. And praise God for your gifts and prayers that continue to make his ministry possible, helping bring God's Word into the places where it's most needed.

*name changed for security purposes
All images are illustrative only