God's Smuggler

June 1, 2017

Gr 5-7-This timeless, best-selling classic from the late 1960s has been abridged for middle school readers. Told in first person, the narrative recounts the author's early years as an average Dutch boy living in pre-World War II Holland and during the occupation by Germany. Later, after a confrontation with his father about his future, teenage Andrew decided to join the military and live his own life. However, this all abruptly changed when he received a serious injury to his ankle and was eventually released from the army. With the encouragement of some lifelong Christian friends and a miraculous turns of events, Andrew was able to attend an independent seminary (one not affiliated with any organized church). While visiting postwar Poland and working in the refugee camps of West and East Germany, Andrew realized that his main desire was to provide native language Bibles to Christians behind the Iron Curtain. Thus began a lifetime of smuggling Bibles into communist countries right in front of border crossing guards. More than once, the guards overlooked the forbidden cargo even when it was piled on the front seat of the car. Some frightening episodes pepper the narrative, although all ends well. The Sherrills have done an excellent job of condensing the original story without paraphrasing the text. The only regret is that there is no epilogue-only a paragraph that refers to Brother Andrew's website. VERDICT A strong addition to collections in need of Cold War-era memoirs with a religious theme.-Eldon Younce, Anthony Public Library, KS

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