Our story

What is Open Doors USA?

Open Doors USA is a community of Christians who come together to support persecuted believers in more than 60 countries.

We are a 501c3, non-profit organization with more than 60 years of experience and a long track record of financial integrity.

And we are also a group of friends—a mix of office staff, board members, field representatives, and many, many regular people who stand against persecution. Although we haven’t met every one of our readers and supporters face-to-face, we count each of them as an important part of our work.

How did it start?

Our ministry was launched by a courageous Christian man from the Netherlands named Brother Andrew. Many people best know Brother Andrew from his most well-known book, God’s Smuggler, which tells stories of his secret missions to smuggle Bibles into hostile regions.

During his life, Brother Andrew took great risks to sneak the Gospel into communist countries during the height of the Cold War. He did so with a sense of adventure, believing that his faith in Jesus was worth every danger he faced.

Today, although the world has changed, Christians are still persecuted and, in some communities, continue to be forced underground. Like Brother Andrew, Open Doors team members still take on risks to resource these Christians living in hostile regions and to continually work against persecution wherever it exists.

We spend time getting to know persecuted believers on the ground, in their communities, and we are often inspired by the strength of their faith in the midst of great hardship. We believe that they, along with our team of staff and supporters like you, will be the Brother Andrews of this generation.

How to get involved

We invite anyone who is interested in our ministry to become part of the extended Open Doors family. You can start to get to know us today by:

We know that many of you intentionally donate time, resources, and volunteer hours to worthy causes. We hope that you will consider making “persecution” one of the areas that you are determined to impact over the course of your life.  We are in this for the long haul and we would love to offer you a lifetime of ministry opportunities for doing good for the kingdom of God.

What we believe

At Open Doors, we are devoted to Jesus Christ. We are people of the Bible and people of prayer who seek to live and work out of deeply rooted faith in God. These values are part of our daily rituals. Around our organization, it is routine to begin and sometimes also end business meetings in prayer. And every week, our entire staff gathers at least three times to share what God is teaching us and to pray for the persecuted believers we serve.

We stake our lives in Jesus’ Great Commission. We take this command so seriously that we still take risks to this day to get copies of the Gospel into hostile areas. We do this because we love God. We are inspired by the life and teachings of Jesus who often went out of his way to spend time being present with vulnerable people on the margins of society.

We value all the people who work with us at every level—persecuted believers and supporters alike—as we are all family in the larger Body of Christ.

Core values

  • We are part of the Body of Christ; a people to people people
  • We are persecuted church driven
  • We are people of the Bible
  • We are people of prayer
  • We live and work by faith
  • We are devoted to Jesus Christ and His commission
  • We are motivated solely for the glory of God

Open Doors USA’s Board of Directors

  • Daisy Szabo Chair
  • Roger Spoelman Vice Chair
  • David Curry President & CEO (Ex Officio)
  • Bruce Dingman Director
  • Francesca Fajinmi  Director
  • Tim Kachuriak Director
  • Michelle Sanchez Director
  • Nathaniel Spoelman Director

Key staff

  • David Curry – President & CEO
  • Tim Muret – Chief Communications Officer
  • Michael Wong – Chief Financial Officer
  • Jeff Taylor – Chief of Staff
  • Pete Holmes – Chief Development Officer