A History of Bible Smuggling

 A History of Bible Smuggling

Have you ever thought about being a Bible smuggler? Maybe you have smuggled Bibles before—perhaps to China or Vietnam. When I was in my mid-20s, I remember reading Brother Andrew’s book God’s Smuggler. I was intrigued by his methods to take Bibles across the borders into communist countries. I thought about the risks that were taken and said to myself “I would never do that!”

The church I attended at the time would have told me that Bible smuggling is wrong since it is against the law. I would learn later how foolish that statement was.

My very first frontline missions project was to develop a balloon that would be printed with an illustrated Gospel message and sent over the border of South Korea into North Korea. I found a factory that could create a my-lar bag that was sealed on all four sides with a single hole in order to fill it with Helium. Needless to say, the company was a bit apprehensive about making my Scripture balloons, but they reluctantly agreed.

My very first frontline missions project was to develop a balloon that would be printed with an illustrated Gospel message and sent over the border of South Korea into North Korea.

We tested the thickness of the my-lar, the amount of helium it would take, and even the height that the balloons would reach before setting down. We tracked the balloons with glow-in-the-dark chemicals and night goggles, and even used a small private plane to follow them.

A few years later, I had the pleasure of traveling to the demilitarized zone “DMZ” between North and South Korea. On top of a mountain, we launched the Scripture balloons into North Korea. We watched and prayed as they floated up and away into the hermit kingdom of the north.

The next day, we felt a little braver, so we set out to travel deeper into the DMZ. But, our eagerness caught the attention of the South Korean military, and we were detained at a secret military base. I wasn’t in fear of my own safety since I am American, and I assumed they would just throw me out of the country, but I was worried for the Korean missionaries who were helping me. Floating Gospel messages into North Korea was illegal because it violated their anti-propaganda laws.

However, the commander of the base was a Christian and told us, “Don’t let us catch you,” and released us after a few hours. (He even gave us a hint as to when the winds would be more in our favor).

I have been working to bring Bibles into forbidden areas most of my adult life. While Americans seldom get in trouble, it can be a real problem for those who receive the Bibles. I know too many stories of Christians in communist and Muslim countries getting arrested, imprisoned, and even killed for distributing Bibles.