Brother Andrew is the well-known Dutch author of God's Smuggler. What is less well known is that he has spent much of the last few years travelling in the Middle East. The majority of this easy to read and yet challenging book recounts the story of converts to Christianity in a Muslim country. Although fictional, the story is based on real-life situations known to the authors and makes sobering reading as they recount the challenges, persecution and eventual martyrdom faced by these faithful believers. Remarkably after such an account the message of the remainder of the book is not that Christians should fear Muslims or be resentful, but rather it is a challenge to a good jihad" that would bring hope to the Muslim world. Andrew presents four challenges to the church today: "to love all Muslims by giving them the Good News, to forgive when we are attacked, to live lives totally committed to Jesus Christ, and to engage in the real war - the spiritual war". He suggests that the only hope for the world is if millions of Christians learn to love Muslims with Christ's love. This will certainly be costly but he challenges Christians to pray - "and pay the price."

When I was introduced to Open Doors and Missionary Ventures, I was captivated with the work of Brother Andrew: A simple, regular man who risked his life to deliver the simple message of salvation and grace to forbidden territories and the willingness of strangers.

In his prior work "God Smuggler," the world was introduced to the Scandinavian man who customized his Volkswagen with secret panels, each holding countless Bibles. Brother Andrew drove over the border into post-WWII communist countries. He and his friends prayed at each checkpoint to make "Seeing Eyes Blind" to evade the border searches at a time when ownership at a Bible guaranteed jail or death. Thousands of Bibles were distributed to existing Christians who met secretly, but were forbidden to own a copy by their government. While a punishable offense, the requests grew in number.

Fast forward decades later and Brother Andrew, now an elderly gentleman, continues to spread hope to where it is most needed. He has no directed his attention to the middle east, and "Secret Believers" follows the compelling stories of several Christians in the Muslim world in existing Christian churches that are constantly struggling to survive, as well as several individuals who defied law to convert to Christianity. But the real story is not about Brother Andrew. It is difficult to hold the stories of modern martyrs struggling for the simple right to believe at arm's length.

The book doesn't really tell us anything that is completely unknown to a well-read Christian: Dry statistics coming from news sources sometimes imply the plight of non-Muslims in an Arabic world, complimented with the occasional scattershot of a personal story. However, no book I have read up until this one allows the reader to identify so strongly with individual stories and why, not just as Christians, but as human beings, both the freedom to believe and the freedom to gather are so critical a right. In America and parts of the Western World, we do not even begin to fathom our privilege, though freedom can slowly be chipped away from the passive over time.

The writing format takes a few pages to get used to, as the story jumps from one character to another until their lives intersect, but the stories themselves, written in unadorned prose transcend an awkward start out of the gate. This story, although non-fiction reads more similarly to a novel, recounts true stories, with only names changed to protect the identities of the players. In a few cases, characters are composited to obscure the locations and identifying characteristics of Arabic Christians alive at the time of publication.

If you are not careful, you will be changed after reading this whether you a Christian, a disbeliever or a Secret Believer.

This book should be read by every Christian. It shames our American Christian comfort and ambivalence. It calls for a complete change of mind that renews our faith and returns it to what Christ called us to be in the beginning. ( )

NCLA Review -Secret Believers reads like a novel, but shapes actual experiences of Christians and new Muslim converts into a single narrative to shield their identities. We’ve heard about persecution of Christians in Muslim countries, but Brother Andrew, who has devoted years to encouraging and guiding Christians in hostile countries, has seen it face to face. He shows the particular challenge Christian churches face, and the courage and wisdom required to be a missional church where death is the penalty for Christian proselytizing. Brother Andrew’s own example teaches much about evangelism. His gentle and humble manner, willingness to dialogue and focus on common ground with Muslims, great patience and maturity—all play a part in enabling conversions. Then there’s the question of what to do with converts, many of whom initially flee to new surroundings but often return to their communities to witness. They face not only discrimination and broken family ties, but beatings, kidnappings, torture, and worse. But when Muslims are encouraged to learn more about their prophet, Jesus, his love often captures their hearts and they become willing to lay their lives on the line for him. It’s a real eye opener that belongs in every church library. Rating: 4 —DKW ( )

Excellent! Very moving, and smooth telling of the different characters' lives within a Muslim society. It talks about the struggles, the sacrifices, and how to be more Christ-like in our attitudes. Definitely was an enlightening read for me! ( )