Memoirs of a Bible Smuggler shares your true story smuggling Bibles during the cold war. Why was this an important book for you to write?
My memoirs I hope are a testimony to God’s power and grace in our lives and His care for those who are hurting such as the persecuted Christians. Both of these were important stories I wanted to tell. Those years were also a unique part of my life and I enjoyed writing about them.
I appreciated the candid nature with which you told your story. What was the hardest thing for you to write about?
The hardest thing to write about were instances that might offend friends and coworkers.
What is one piece of advice you would have given yourself before starting your missionary work?
Always have a backup plan and give God the glory!
What do you hope is one thing readers take away from your book?
I would like readers to realize that God is always there for us whatever the circumstances. Also, you don’t have to go overseas to be a missionary. The most important mission field is your own home. Lastly, pray for fellow Christians who suffer persecution, oppression and imprisonment for their faith.
“Memoirs of a Bible Smuggler” by Jeana Kendrick is a true story set during the Cold War, an era in the East Bloc when many who resisted the Communists’ godless decrees faced prison or death. These persecuted Christians were brave and daring, willing to risk all for Christ.A naïve thirty-year-old housewife in the East Texas piney woods, Jeana dreamed of being a Bible smuggler. She and her husband Jeff, a building contractor, began praying an extra hour in the evenings. Before long, Door of Hope International (DOHI) President Paul Popov asked Jeff to remodel the mission’s Austrian base of operations for covert Bible deliveries.The Kendricks arrived in Spittal on der Drau, Austria in the early spring of 1980. The DOHI base there was thirty minutes from both Italy and the former Yugoslavia. While Jeff remodeled the base, Jeana refurbished the interior and prayed for the chance to smuggle Bibles and meet the suffering faithful. God answered her prayer. The couple smuggled Bibles into Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria that summer. Popov said the Kendricks were naturals and asked them to return for a full year the following spring.Back in Texas, six weeks before their departure for Europe, a falling tree struck Jeana suffered a compression fracture and was briefly hospitalized. Nevertheless, the couple left as planned. After several years, the Kendricks were appointed co-directors of DOHI’s literature distribution into Eastern Europe. They developed a network of contacts behind the Iron Curtain and teams of trained couriers. Carpenters, bankers, nurses, stockbrokers and others used their vacations annually to smuggle thousands of Bibles.Confronted by challenges like the vehicle bust at the Romanian border or their own arrests in Russia, the Kendricks rejoiced at God’s continued deliverance. Once border guards drilled into a camper between two rows of Bibles, hitting insulation instead of paper. One afternoon, the Kendricks gave away the last of their money, one thousand dollars. An hour later Jeana and Jeff learned that someone had anonymously deposited five thousand dollars into their bank account. God was faithful. When the Iron Curtain came tumbling down, the Kendricks were there to test the new freedoms and to help. During their thirteen years as missionaries, the many miracles, obstacles overcome and victories won, enriched their lives and those of countless others.
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