Open Doors
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| Founded | 1955 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Brother Andrew |
| Type | Christian |
| Focus | Strengthening persecuted Christians |
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Brother Andrew |
| Slogan | Serving persecuted Christians worldwide |
| Website | opendoors |
Open Doors is a non-denominational mission supporting persecuted Christians in over 60 countries where they consider Christianity to be socially or legally discouraged or oppressed. They are also engaged in the distribution of Bibles and literature, audio recordings, broadcasting and training. Open Doors stated aims are to raise awareness of global persecution, mobilising prayer, support and action among Christians from around the world. It is based in Ermelo, The Netherlands. The USA office is in Santa Ana, California. Open Doors is also a member of the Forum of Bible Agencies International.
Open Doors was founded in 1955 by Andrew van der Bijl, a Dutchman more widely known as Brother Andrew, when he decided to smuggle Bibles to Christians he felt were being discriminated against in the then-Communist Poland. He continued this work in smuggling Bibles to many of the Soviet-controlled countries and in 1957 was given a blue Volkswagen Beetle which he used to make deliveries within the Communist bloc. With this new car he was able to carry more literature. Thereafter, the work of Open Doors continued to expand as it extended its network throughout Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.
On 18 June 1981, Open Doors delivered one million contraband Chinese Bibles in one night to a beach near the city of Shantou in southern China on a mission they named Project Pearl. Project Pearl was carried out by an international crew of 20, led by Brother David. A semi-submersible, 137-foot barge, named Gabriel', was loaded with 232 waterproof, poly-wrapped, one-ton packages containing a million Chinese Bibles. A 97-foot tugboat named Michael was used to tow Gabriel to the beach, weaving through a maze of anchored Chinese navy ships. The crew arrived at the beach at 9 pm. 10,000 Chinese Christians had gathered to bring the Bibles to shore and then deliver them all over China. Time magazine described Project Pearl as “A remarkable mission… the largest operation of its kind in the history of China.”
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Wikipedia