Jeremy Hunt praised the "incredible courage" of Andrew van der Bijl during an event hosted on Wednesday at the Houses of Parliament by Open Doors - the organisation he founded in 1955.
He referred to 'God's Smuggler', a book written by John and Elizabeth Sherrill about Brother Andrew's work in Eastern Europe. It has sold millions of copies and been translated into numerous languages.
Mr Hunt said: "That book is the extraordinary story of derring-do of Brother Andrew a Dutchman who smuggled Bibles between the Iron Curtain and the incredible courage and extraordinary adventures he had."
The government minister described forgetting about his copy of the book - which he was given as a child - until he recently rediscovered it while moving house.
A privilege to speak at launch of @OpenDoorsUK #WorldWatchList this afternoon. No one should face persecution for their faith, wherever they are in the world, and that INCLUDES Christians pic.twitter.com/KxkgwcYISN
— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) January 16, 2019
He was attending the official launch of Open Doors' 2019 World Watch List - a ranking of countries around the world where persecution against Christians is worst.
Mr Hunt continued: "I only realised literally as I was walking over [to the event] today of the connection between Brother Andrew and Open Doors.
New to Open Doors? Our work started with one man risking everything to follow the call of God and serve our church family in the places where faith costs the most. And that's what we do today. pic.twitter.com/Gq3UUydx3u
— Open Doors UK ن (@OpenDoorsUK) July 6, 2018
"It's a great privilege to be here and an extra thrill for me, in that context."
Earlier this year, Premier reported how Mr Hunt ordered a review into the persecution of Christians around the world.
Click here to hear Jeremy Hunt's full address:
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