Week: Holy Spirit Adventures
We start by pausing and taking a deep breath:
In and out.
In and out.
We remember that God is here, and so together we prepare ourselves to be with God.
Pause
God of rescue and restoration, thank You for Your beautiful mission to save the whole world. Here we are, Lord. Fill us with Your Spirit, and send us so that we can join in with Your mission.
Brother Andrew’s real name was Andrew van der Bijl and he was born in the Netherlands. He risked his life many times to tell other people the good news about Jesus, and he wanted them to know that God would always help them in tough times. Let’s begin by REFLECTING together on a Bible verse about this.
Read by Vera Lynn
Isaiah 41:10
So don’t worry, because I am with you.
Don’t be afraid, because I am your God.
I will make you strong and will help you;
I will support you with my right hand that saves you.
Isaiah 41:10 (NCV)
In the 1950s, many Christians in Eastern European countries were not allowed to go to church or read the Bible, and many were arrested for doing these things. When Andrew read a verse from the book of Revelation, which said ‘strengthen what remains,’ (Revelation 3:2a ESV), he felt it was God telling him to help these persecuted Christians because they were his ‘brothers and sisters’ in Christ.
So Andrew loaded up his little car with Bibles and drove it into Eastern Europe, not just once, but over and over and over again. When the armed border guards stopped him, he simply prayed to Jesus, ‘When you were on earth, you made blind eyes see. Now, I pray, make seeing eyes blind. Do not let the guards see those things you do not want them to see.”* Even though his car was stuffed full of Bibles, miraculously, the guards never seemed to notice them!
Andrew became known as ‘God’s Smuggler’ because of all the Bibles he smuggled to Christians in Eastern Europe, and he was also called ‘Brother Andrew’ because he saw all these Christians as his sisters and brothers… in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, East Germany, Bulgaria, Russia and others places too. Later in his life, Andrew started an organisation called Open Doors who now work in more than 60 nations, supporting persecuted Christians.**
Brother Andrew’s adventures must have been exciting and scary! Let’s pause and talk about today’s question which is: What adventures have we been on? Where have we been or what have we done that felt exciting and scary?
And now, let’s ASK God to help us and others.
Brother Andrew felt that Jesus’ love was so wonderful that he was willing to take big risks to tell others about it.
Loving God, we ASK you to give us the strength and courage we need to tell other people – especially our friends – about you.
And Loving God, we ASK you to help organisations like Open Doors who care for those who believe in and follow Jesus in places where it is against the law to do so. Give them the resources they need to continue this work.
When God asked Brother Andrew to help the church in Eastern Europe, he said YES. Let’s say YES to God using words adapted from a prayer that Brother Andrew once prayed.
Lord Jesus, whenever, wherever, however you want us, we’ll go… we’ll begin this very minute. As we stand up from this place, and as we take our first steps forward, will you consider this a step towards complete obedience to you? We’ll call it the step of YES.’***
Pause
Let’s put a hand on our heart.
Father God, fill us with Your love. Help us to love You, and everything that You’ve made.
Let’s point to our eyes.
Lord Jesus, help us to see You, and to see others the way that You see them too.
Let’s point to our ears.
Holy Spirit, help us to hear You, and give us courage to do what You say.
* https://www.opendoorsuk.org/about/our-history/brother-andrew/
** ibid
*** https://youth.opendoorsuk.org/five-awesome-quotes-from-brother-andrew/
Chris lives in Melbourne, Australia with his wife and two boys. He works for 24-7 Prayer Australia and Red Church and is also a professional musician. When he’s not working or drumming Chris enjoys going on long hikes in the mountains with his boys and playing table tennis.
Vera Lynn is 10 years old and lives in Phoenix, Arizona, USA with her parents, sister, and dog Max. Her favourite hobbies include reading, knitting, sewing, and embroidery. She is very creative. Her favourite book is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in the Chronicles of Narnia series by CS Lewis.
