February 13, 2012. (Romereports.com) The mission of “Open Doors” is to help persecuted Christians. The Evangelical organization began back in 1955, when at the age of 27, Andrew van der Bijl, left his native Holland and traveled to Poland, which at the time was under communist rule.


Andrew, who converted to Christianity, became a so called “Bible smuggler.” He began to imitate those who sold all kinds of products in the black market. But his goal wasn't to earn money, but rather to Evangelize. Eventually, “Open Doors” was born.

Years later he traveled to the Soviet Union, China and Cuba to evangelize. Even though his work  went against the laws of those countries,  his mission was too big to be silenced.

After the fall of communism, Andrew  focused on conflict stricken areas like Israel, Palestine and Lebanon.

Every year, "Open Doors" publishes statistics on the state of Christianity in countries where that religion is discouraged.  The countries at the top of the list for 2012 are North Korea, Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.

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- PR