The ministry of Open Doors began in 1955 through the call of God to one man, Brother Andrew, to "Awake and strengthen that which remains and is at the point of death" For more than 51 years, Open Doors has pursued the call to strengthen persecuted Christians worldwide.
Through an active band of full-time workers, volunteers, and an underground network of indigenous Christians in hostile lands, Open Doors contends that the Word of God cannot be held in chains and there are no closed doors to the Gospel.
As you read this history, praise God for what He has enabled through the faithfulness and commitment of supporters of this ministry.
| 1955 | Brother Andrew's first missionary trip to Eastern Europe while smuggling Christian literature. |
| 1957 | Brother Andrew's first trip smuggling Bibles to the Soviet Union in his blue Volkswagen. Over the next decade, Open Doors expands its network throughout Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. |
| 1965 | The first Open Doors team travels to China. However, they are unable to make contact with any Christians. |
| 1967 | God's Smuggler is first published as Brother Andrew's biography. |
| 1975 | Open Doors sponsors "Love China" conference in Southeast Asia to encourage ministry to China. |
| 1978 | Open Doors sponsors "Love Africa" congress in Malawi. Dozens of mission agencies and churches gather to promote a vision for reaching Africa with the Gospel. Contact with churches in the Middle East begins. |
| 1981 | Project Pearl: one million Bibles are delivered to China in a single night to thousands of waiting believers. |
| 1983 | Seven-year campaign for the Soviet Union begins |
| 1985 | Project Cross Fire: five million pieces of Christian literature are distributed in Latin America to help evangelize and disciple Christian youth. |
| 1986 | Project Timothy: training program begins for Christian leaders in southern Africa, which ultimately has trained many thousands (this project continues today). |
| 1989 | Target One Million: delivery of one million New Testaments to Russia in cooperation with the Russian Orthodox Church begins. |
| 1990 | Ten-year prayer campaign for the church in the Muslim world begins. |
| 1991 | Operation ABC: delivery of one million Children's Bibles to the former Soviet Union (completed in 1994). First feature film is released about the life of a Chinese evangelist, called Bamboo In Winter. |
| 1992 | In cooperation with New Life Literature and The Bible League, Open Doors develops and delivers the first Chinese Study Bible in simplified Chinese script. |
| 1993 | 50,000 copies of the first printing of the full Bible in the Albanian language is presented to the President of Albania, a country which had up to that point declared itself as totally atheist. |
| 1994 | Five-day evangelistic campaign is held at Qaddafi Stadium in Pakistan at which thousands attend. |
| 1995 | The second feature film, Behind the Sun, is released worldwide to demonstrate the hardships faced by a Muslim convert in his homeland; it is honoured with two Crown awards. |
| 1996 | Brother Andrew publishes his tenth book, The Calling, which documents his life story from "God's Smuggler" forward. |
| 1997 | The 1996 Religious Liberty Award is presented to Brother Andrew during a ceremony hosted by the World Evangelical Fellowship. |
| 1998 | In order to continue training and delivering Bibles to believers collapsing from starvation, Open Doors launches its first-ever economic relief project to fly in food and supplies to southern Sudan. |
| 1999 | Ministry to North Korea begins with the delivery of 10,000 Bibles. |
| 2000 | One million Bibles and one million pieces of Christian literature are delivered inside China, the largest annual delivery since Project Pearl. |
| 2001 | Over 30,000 Bibles, New Testaments, and other Christian materials are delivered to the former Soviet Union, now known as the Turkic Field. Brother Andrew's youth version of God's Smuggler - called The Narrow Road - wins the 2001 Gold Medallion award. |
Terrifying stories, inspiring accounts and must-reads to stay informed and understand the suffering of the Persecuted Church. A great anthology of books you'll not be able to find in ordinary bookshops. Make your selection as you browse through our Bookshop.
One million prohibited Chinese New Testaments delivered by barge to Chinese Christians in one night in Swatow, China! Project Pearl was described by Time Magazine as "the largest operation of its kind in the history of China. It was one of the most unusual and successful smuggling operations of the 20th century."
In 1982 Open Doors launched a Seven Year Prayer Campaign for the Communist bloc countries. It ends with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, causing the heartland of Communism, the Soviet Union, to implode. The region is opened to the Gospel and Christian prisoners are released from gulag prison camps!
Brother Andrew feels passionately that the rapid spread of Islam is the greatest challenge that the Christian Church worldwide has yet faced. He is among the few Western leaders to regularly travel to the Middle East as an ambassador for Christ to Muslim groups, particularly Muslim-background believers.
In his latest book, Secret Believers, he and co-author Al Janssen describe what happens to courageous former Muslims when they choose to follow Christ.
Secret Believers calls us to join a new "jihad" - one of forgiveness, radical love and unyielding prayer.