25th July, 2005

DAVID ADAMS

It was 1985 and a wet day in the town of Kunming, in south-eastern China, when Australian John Jones arrived with a bag stuffed with up to 60 “illegal” Bibles. He had only seen a photograph of the local church contact he was supposed to meet in a nearby park and was unsure how he was going to find him without drawing too much attention to himself.

While he would only face the loss of the Bibles if discovered by Chinese officials, Jones was very aware that his contact, if exposed, could face imprisonment and torture.

Trying not to look too conspicuous - not only were Westerners rare at that time in Kunming, Jones recalls that he was the only person in the street not wearing the then ubiquitous grey “Mau suit” - he started to walk down the street wondering how he would find this “one Chinese in a billion”.

Then came a series of events which convinced him God’s hand was at work. First the rain eased off and then, as he crossed a road, Jones spotted a man on the other side.

“I just knew - and it was the Holy Spirit - I just knew this was my contact,” he recalls. But his problems weren’t over yet. His appearance in the town had attracted attention and he had several men following him, their interest in his big bag “apparent”.

“I said 'Lord, I’m so close but I can’t endanger (the contact’s) life, there are too many people watching',” he says. “And at that time, one cloud with threatening drops of rain came down and we all started to run to a shelter. My (contact) put up his umbrella and I just veered off and allowed (the men following) to overtake me and we were all alone."

Jones, now the director of Open Doors’ Australian base, is one of countless people who have acted as Bible “couriers”, smuggling Bibles into countries which prohibit or restrict access to the Word. Since his first trip into China, he has travelled into such places as Vietnam, North Korea and, more recently, Chiapas - a state in south-east Mexico where Christians are facing persecution.

“When you know you’re going across the border taking God’s Word, it’s a little scary, and the sense that other people’s prayers are actually carrying you through is also very humbling,” says Jones of his experiences.

“There's a rush that comes when it’s all successful and all over and there’s such a joy that fills your heart.”

Celebrating 50 years this year, Open Doors was founded in 1955 when a Dutchman known as Brother Andrew went behind the Iron Curtain into Warsaw, Poland and, leaving his tour group, was able to met secretly with local Christians.

Shocked by the few Bibles they had and the weak state of the church in Poland at the time, he later sat on a park bench and watched a parade of Communist youth marching through the streets. As he did so, he looked down at the open Bible he held and his eyes fell upon a verse from the Book of Revelation: “Awake, and strengthen what remains and is at the point of death”.

Those words signified the beginning of a call on Brother Andrew’s life to bring encouragement and help to Christians in persecuted nations.

Joined by others and formalising their mission under the banner of Open Doors (the name refers to the fact that any door is open to go in and proclaim Christ as long as people are willing to go and not look back), Brother Andrew - who later became known as “God’s Smuggler” (it was the title of his biography published in 1967) - and his colleagues initially focused their efforts on the church behind the Iron Curtain. But the ministry gradually spread and today Open Doors works in countries across the world, from Asia and Latin America through to the Middle East and Africa. These days the organisation works in more than 45 countries and employs a staff of 350.

Now aged in his seventies, Brother Andrew - who in 1997 received the World Evangelical Fellowship’s Religious Liberty Award - these days focuses much of his attention on the Islamic world, particularly the Middle East.

The organisation estimates there are more than 200 million Christians around the globe today who are suffering persecution for their faith including interrogation, arrest and even death and a further 200 to 400 million facing discrimination and alienation.

Jones says the primary mission of the organisation is to support the persecuted church primarily by entering countries where persecution occurs, finding the local church and asking how they could help.

Recalling his own first visit to China, Jones says that when he arrived carrying a fat wallet, “what impressed me was, first of all, their first request was for prayer”.

“The second was, do you have the Bible? They weren’t interested in the money per se...” he says.

“Their heart is first and foremost to serve Jesus and they’re prepared to lay down their lives. That really challenged my commitment as a Christian.”

As well as delivering Bibles, the organisation also provides Bible-based literacy classes, discipleship, seminary and vocational training as well as economic relief, equipment and finances.

Figures from Open Doors show the organisation trained more than 138,000 pastors and church leaders in 2004 alone. During the same year, it delivered five million Bibles and other scriptural books to persecuted Christians.

Jones, an engineer by profession, first came into contact with Open Doors when the then Australian director spoke at a Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship meeting in Sydney.

“He shared about the amazing miracles and the people that he’d met taking Bibles into China...” he says. “I felt interested enough to offer to go on a trip and it was such a rush...that the thought escaped me that I’d be happy to do it again. I instantly knew that thought had been captured and sure enough, six months later, I was back...”

The Australian base, which was founded in 1987, generally runs between seven to eight trips overseas every year and has recently started trips specifically for women.

“In Islamic countries, it’s most important that we have women who can travel,” says Jones. “I can’t visit the widows in Muslim countries but our women can and they can share with them and pray with them.”

Jones says the other recent initiative the organisation has started this year upon is trips specifically for people aged between 18 and 35. One has just left for Nigeria and another is planned for Ambon in Indonesia next month.

“They’re meeting with the young people and showing that we care from Australia and we’re following up,” he says. “It shows that they have friends outside who are monitoring that the right thing is done, who are looking after their human rights and who are concerned not only for Christians but for (people from) all religions."

Jones says that while it can be hard for people in the Western world to relate to the persecuted church, recent events - such as the bombings in London - are helping people to really think about their values.

Noting that “through suffering God does some amazing things”, he quotes Chinese pastor Samuel Lam who says: “Don’t pray for persecution to stop...Just pray for us to stay strong.”

• People interested in finding out more about the work of Open Doors should look up www.opendoors.org or phone (in Australia) (02) 9949 7777.