Open Doors
Open Doors is an international Christian organization founded in 1955 by Dutch missionary Brother Andrew (Anne van der Bijl) to support Christians facing persecution and discrimination for their faith, initially through smuggling Bibles into communist Eastern Europe following his discovery of an oppressed church in Warsaw.[1] The organization has expanded its operations to over 70 countries, providing practical aid such as relief supplies, livelihood support, community development, and training programs like Standing Strong Through The Storm for pastors enduring hostility, while advocating for religious freedom.[1][2] Open Doors is best known for its annual World Watch List, which ranks the 50 countries where Christians experience the most extreme levels of persecution, compiled from field data assessing violence, discrimination, and restrictions on faith; the 2025 edition highlights that over 380 million Christians worldwide face high or extreme persecution.[3][2] Notable achievements include the 1981 Project Pearl, which delivered one million Bibles to China in a single night, and the 1998 launch of Operation Daily Bread to aid Christians in war-torn Sudan, demonstrating the organization's commitment to direct intervention amid severe adversities.[1] While praised for raising global awareness of anti-Christian violence—predominantly in regions under Islamic extremism, communist regimes, or authoritarian rule—Open Doors' reports have occasionally faced scrutiny over data sourcing from on-the-ground partners in high-risk areas, though its methodology relies on empirical assessments from experts in 150 countries to prioritize verifiable persecution trends over narrative-driven accounts.[3][4]Origins and Historical Development
Founding by Brother Andrew
Anne van der Bijl, known as Brother Andrew, initiated the work that became Open Doors during a 1955 trip to Poland, where he smuggled Bibles into the communist country for the first time.[5] A 27-year-old Dutch Reformed missionary recovering from wartime injuries, van der Bijl attended a communist youth congress in Warsaw to evangelize, concealing Bibles in his suitcase and praying for border guards' spiritual blindness—a practice he termed "God's eyes only" perspective.[6] This encounter revealed widespread Christian persecution under Soviet influence, with underground churches starved of Scripture, prompting him to draw inspiration from Revelation 3:8—"I have set before you an open door"—for the organization's eventual name.[7] Later in 1955, van der Bijl formally founded Open Doors in the Netherlands as a non-denominational ministry to coordinate Bible smuggling and aid for believers behind the Iron Curtain.[8] Operating initially from his home, the effort began modestly with personal networks of volunteers who transported Gospels and tracts into Eastern Europe, prioritizing countries like Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia where access was restricted. Van der Bijl adopted the pseudonym "Brother Andrew" to safeguard his identity and contacts, emphasizing discreet operations to evade authorities while fulfilling what he saw as a biblical mandate to equip the persecuted.[9] The founding reflected van der Bijl's first-principles conviction that spiritual provision must precede material aid, as he observed that Bibles were scarcer than food in oppressed regions, enabling believers to sustain faith amid isolation.[10] By 1957, after multiple smuggling runs totaling over 10 weeks in restricted areas, Open Doors had formalized routes and prayer support chains, marking the shift from individual acts to structured mission work.[11] This origin underscored a commitment to empirical assessment of needs, with early distributions verified through return reports from recipients confirming receipt and impact on local fellowships.[12]Expansion During the Cold War Era
Open Doors' expansion during the Cold War era began in 1955, when Brother Andrew initiated Bible smuggling operations into Poland after discovering isolated and resource-starved Christian communities behind the Iron Curtain.[5] Using his blue Volkswagen Beetle, he made repeated border crossings into communist Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, relying on personal prayer and discreet methods to evade detection by authorities, thereby establishing a nascent network for distributing Bibles and Christian literature to persecuted believers.[5] This initial focus on the Soviet bloc persisted as the organization's core activity, with Andrew recruiting a small team of Dutch volunteers to scale up deliveries amid intensifying state repression of religious expression.[6] The 1967 publication of Andrew's autobiography, God's Smuggler, marked a pivotal milestone, generating widespread international awareness and financial support that enabled organizational growth beyond solitary smuggling runs.[6] By the 1970s, Open Doors broadened its scope, with Andrew traveling globally to enlist collaborators for operations in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, where emerging persecutions paralleled those in communist states.[6] Key initiatives included a 1973 visit to Saudi Arabia, which highlighted risks in Muslim-majority regions, and the 1975 Love China conference, which mobilized resources toward smuggling into the People's Republic of China and other Asian communist nations like Vietnam and North Korea.[6] The 1980s saw intensified large-scale efforts, exemplified by Project Pearl in 1981, during which Open Doors coordinated a flotilla to deliver one million Bibles to Chinese shores in a single nighttime operation, bypassing coastal restrictions.[6] Complementing this, a seven-year prayer and advocacy campaign from 1982 to 1989 targeted the entire Communist Bloc, fostering underground church resilience as geopolitical pressures mounted.[6] Throughout the era, the ministry distributed hundreds of thousands of Bibles annually, evolving from Andrew's individual ventures into a structured international effort supporting believers in over a dozen restricted nations by the decade's end.[5]Post-Cold War Growth and Adaptation
Following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Open Doors maintained support for Christians in persisting communist regimes such as China, Vietnam, and North Korea, where underground churches continued to face severe restrictions.[13] However, the organization adapted by redirecting resources toward emerging hotspots of persecution, particularly in the Muslim world, where Brother Andrew had identified intensifying threats as early as his 1973 visit to Saudi Arabia and subsequent warnings in the 1980s about prioritizing the church under Islam.[6] This shift reflected a broader post-Cold War realignment, as communist bloc pressures eased in Eastern Europe while Islamic extremism and state-enforced Sharia law posed new barriers to Christian practice in regions like the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of South Asia.[13] In 1991, Open Doors commissioned research on Christian persecution across its operational countries and beyond, culminating in the inaugural World Watch List in 1993, an annual ranking of the 50 nations with the most extreme levels of hostility toward Christians.[14] This tool marked a strategic pivot, expanding the organization's mandate from selective Bible distribution in Iron Curtain nations to systematic intervention wherever verified persecution occurred, regardless of ideological driver. By the late 1990s, Open Doors had broadened its global footprint to over 70 countries, incorporating responses to religious nationalism, such as Hindu extremism in India following intensified attacks after 1996.[6][13] Operational adaptation included diversifying beyond smuggling to practical aid and capacity-building. In 1998, Open Doors launched Operation Daily Bread, a relief initiative delivering food, medicine, and supplies to hundreds of thousands of displaced Christians in southern Sudan amid civil war and famine.[6] By 2001, it introduced Standing Strong Through The Storm, a comprehensive training curriculum for pastors and leaders in persecuted contexts, equipping over 3 million individuals by 2021 through seminars on resilience, discipleship, and survival under duress.[6][10] Socio-economic development programs followed, featuring literacy initiatives, vocational training, and community rebuilding efforts to foster self-sufficiency among beleaguered believers, thereby addressing root causes of vulnerability like poverty and isolation.[13] This era of growth emphasized empirical monitoring and localized partnerships, with Open Doors establishing affiliates and field workers to tailor interventions—such as advocacy with governments on cases like Sri Lankan Buddhist nationalism—while scaling resource distribution to millions annually.[13] The adaptation ensured sustained relevance amid shifting global dynamics, prioritizing verifiable data on violence, discrimination, and legal pressures over ideological preconceptions.[14]Core Mission and Operational Programs
Bible Smuggling and Resource Distribution
Open Doors began Bible smuggling in 1955, when founder Brother Andrew (Anne van der Bijl) first transported Scriptures into Poland and other Eastern Bloc countries where access to Christian materials was severely restricted under communist regimes.[5] This initiative expanded rapidly during the Cold War, with Brother Andrew and volunteers concealing Bibles in vehicles, luggage, and custom compartments to evade border inspections, often relying on prayer for undetected passage.[15] By the 1960s, operations had scaled to multiple countries, including the Soviet Union, where underground networks of believers received the contraband materials to sustain house churches.[16] A landmark achievement occurred on December 15, 1981, when Open Doors coordinated the delivery of one million Bibles to Romania in a single night, involving over 2,000 participants and extensive logistical planning to distribute them amid heightened government crackdowns.[17] This operation exemplified the organization's emphasis on high-volume, covert distribution tailored to local contexts, such as using local couriers or adapting packaging to resemble everyday goods.[18] Post-Cold War, smuggling persisted in regions like North Korea, Somalia, and Yemen, where possession of Bibles can result in imprisonment or execution; methods evolved to include micro-SD cards embedded in everyday items and partnerships with indigenous smugglers to minimize foreign involvement.[19] Open Doors maintains a dedicated team of distribution experts who research country-specific challenges, such as terrain, surveillance, and legal prohibitions, ensuring sustained access despite technological advancements in state monitoring.[18] In addition to Bibles, Open Doors distributes Christian literature, study guides, and discipleship materials to equip believers for self-sustaining faith practices in hostile environments.[20] Annually, the organization delivers hundreds of thousands of such resources, with recent figures indicating 3.6 million Bibles distributed globally to support underground churches and isolated converts.[21] These efforts prioritize verifiable need, drawing on field reports from partners to target areas with the highest demand, thereby fostering resilience among persecuted communities without compromising operational security.[16]Practical Support for Persecuted Believers
Open Doors delivers practical support to persecuted Christians primarily through emergency relief, medical assistance, educational aid, and community development projects, channeled via partnerships with local churches and organizations in over 70 countries. These efforts aim to address immediate survival needs and foster long-term resilience amid violence, displacement, and discrimination. Support is coordinated from 25 national bases, ensuring aid aligns with local contexts and avoids direct international intervention that could exacerbate risks.[22] Emergency relief includes provision of food, shelter, and essentials following attacks on churches or homes, as well as response to natural disasters compounded by persecution. Medical care encompasses treatment for injuries from assaults, chronic conditions untreated due to exclusion, and basic healthcare access denied to believers. In 2024, these combined forms of relief, alongside education and development, assisted 535,000 individuals.[22] Educational support covers school fees, vocational training, and literacy programs to counteract barriers like job loss or child exclusion from public systems. Community development initiatives focus on sustainable livelihoods, such as micro-enterprise funding and infrastructure like clean water sources, to rebuild economies shattered by targeted violence. Trauma counseling and persecution survival training equip believers with psychological tools and strategies for endurance, integrated into broader discipleship efforts. In 2023, such training reached 5.7 million Christians, including modules on trauma care and leadership under duress.[22] These programs emphasize self-reliance, with local partners distributing aid to minimize dependency and detection risks. Empirical outcomes, self-reported by Open Doors, indicate scaled impact in high-persecution zones, though independent verification remains limited due to operational secrecy.[22]World Watch List and Persecution Monitoring
The World Watch List (WWL), published annually by Open Doors, ranks the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme levels of persecution, based on data from over 150 nations assessed for severity.[23] The 2025 edition, released in January 2025, covers the reporting period from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024, and highlights a global increase in violence against Christians, with an estimated 4,476 churches or Christian properties attacked and over 5,000 believers killed for faith-related reasons during that time.[24][25] Open Doors' World Watch Research unit compiles the WWL using primary data from field researchers and partners in high-risk areas, supplemented by secondary sources such as news reports and expert consultations, with scores assigned across six categories: violence, private life, family life, community life, national life, and church life.[23] Each category is scored from 0 to 16.7 points, yielding a total score out of 100, where 81–100 indicates extreme persecution, 61–80 very high, and 41–60 high; countries are then ranked by descending score.[23] The process includes validity checks, such as cross-verification of incidents and independent auditing by the International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF) to ensure reliability.[23] Persecution monitoring extends beyond rankings to track trends like rising authoritarian surveillance, Islamist extremism, and digital threats, informing Open Doors' advocacy and aid programs; for instance, sub-Saharan Africa saw intensified violence from jihadist groups, contributing to Nigeria's high placement.[26] While the WWL is widely cited for raising awareness of Christian-specific hardships, critics argue its exclusive focus on Christians limits comparative analysis with other religious groups' experiences, potentially overlooking broader human rights contexts, though Open Doors has refined its questionnaire since 2012 to counter earlier methodological critiques.[27][28] The 2025 top 10 countries, per Open Doors' scoring, are as follows:| Rank | Country | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Korea | 98 |
| 2 | Somalia | 94 |
| 3 | Yemen | 94 |
| 4 | Libya | 91 |
| 5 | Sudan | 90 |
| 6 | Eritrea | 89 |
| 7 | Nigeria | 88 |
| 8 | Pakistan | 87 |
| 9 | Iran | 86 |
| 10 | Afghanistan | 85 |