Book Review

Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton

This is our first book discussion book of the year. I read it this weekend as we traveled to a triathlon that my husband was participating in. Eight hours of travel time, plus about five of sitting as he participated in the event. I won't even speculate on what people thought as I sat on an army base, during an Olympic distance triathlon, in my lawn chair reading a book! Most of the people there were either (a) soldiers or (b) participants in a strenuous racing event. Me, I was reading! It is the only exercise I have ever been all that good at!!

I had never heard of this book, and had no idea what to expect. It was exceptionally good.

The book was written by Alan Paton and is set in South Africa in the late 1940s. It is the story of a Zulu pastor and his son. The book is the moving story of a man who is determined, at any cost, to find his missing son. What he finds when he travels to Johannesburg from his small village a full day away by train is a city broken by racial injustice and full of fear.

As Stephen Kumalo is forced to face the many tragedies that await him in the city, he also finds that the human spirit is courageous and enduring.

The back of the book calls this story the "most famous and important novel in South Africa's history." It truly is a story that begs to be told.

"Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear."

Wednesday Book Review

The book I am going to review today is not necessarily a "Christmas" book - though it does contain what we know as the "Christmas Story." I feel led to share this book with you today and ask you to consider it for not only your own children, but for those who do not know Christ.

Good and Evil is what is called a Graphic Novel. It is a book that begins at Creation and end with the apostle John's Revelation on the Isle of Patmos and then the last few pages contain information on the modern day persecution of Christians that is going on all over the world.

All of this information, all of it accurate to the Scriptures, is contained in a comic book style that kids of all ages love! The artist for this book is former Marvel Comic artist, Danny Bulanadi. His work is absolutely amazing in its detail and professionalism. Michael Pearl is the author of the text, and all of the Biblical accounts are referenced on each page. It is beautifully drawn and the Biblical accounts simply come alive as you read!

This book has recently been picked up by Kingstone Media (www.kingstonemediagroup.com) - which is an organization that promotes graphic novels, DVD/movies, and other forms of media that spread the gospel. Stan was privileged to meet the founder of Kingstone, which is a FL based organization on a plane one day and he learned a lot about their ministry.

Good and Evil is printed so far in about thirty languages and the Pearl's desire is to see it translated in to every language on the planet. They are well on the way, with quite a number of other translations in process. This book is able to go into countries where Bibles can not be handed out. Roadside newspaper stands in hostile countries are selling Good and Evil because it looks like a comic, rather than like a Bible. God is moving this book into places that are deprived of His Word.

You can check out Good and Evil online at www.nogreaterjoy.org - My kids love our family copy and you can buy cases of the book to hand out at a significant discount. There are many languages to choose from depending on your needs.

Wednesday Book Review

I just asked Graham what his favorite Christmas book is, since last week I wrote about mine! He said he likes The Legend of the Candy Cane, so that is the one I want to share with you today. It is a "sweet" (no pun intended) story about a man who comes to a small town to open a candy store. For weeks, he works on remodeling the building he will be in, but the townspeople have no idea who he is or what type of business he will open. They all gather around and stared, but none of them asks him about his business. Finally, just before he was finished a little girl gathered her courage and came into the store and offered to help. When they began to open the crates, she was thrilled with the confections inside! The man allowed her to help him set up the store and then he asked her to walk door to door with him to share with the people about the new business. As they walked, he shared with her the legend of a candy that none of them had ever seen before. It was a red and white striped candy, shaped like a shepherd's staff - or like a J- it was what we now know as a candy cane.

I will let you read the book to find out exactly what this Christmas candy represents, but I will leave you with a few verses, as a hint.

1 Peter 2:24 "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed."

John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep."

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall have eternal life."

Wednesday Book Review

For the next couple of weeks I am going to share some of our Christmas family favorites. The Crippled Lamb is the one I like best. When we read this together, I know it is time for Christmas.

In this book, by Max Lucado, little Joshua the lamb can't travel with his flock and the shepherds to the next field to find better grass because of his crippled leg. He has to stay in the barn with Abigail the cow and nothing but hay to eat. He is sad and lonely and he can't understand why he was born with a crippled leg. His only friend, Abigail the old cow always says, "Don't be sad, little Joshua. God has a special place for those who feel left out."

That night as Joshua snuggles next to Abigail, a young couple come into the barn and the young girl delivers a baby. The baby is cold and crying and nothing is available to warm Him, except a few old cloths. Joshua unselfishly goes over and lies down next to the baby to keep him warm. The young mother is very grateful to the little lamb.

Soon, the shepherds arrive breathless at the door to the stable and they see their little crippled lamb lying beside Jesus. They are amazed and ask Joshua if he knows Who he is keeping warm. Of course, he doesn't answer (this is not that kind of book), but Mary does. She tells Joshua that God has heard his prayers and sent this little baby as the answer to any of life's problems.

In the end, Joshua realizes that God had a plan for him to be born with a crippled leg. Otherwise, he would have been with the other sheep and missed being among the first to welcome Jesus into the world.

This book is a great reminder that God is sovereign and has everything under complete control. Even when things happen to us that we can't understand and don't see the reason for, God knows. He indeed does have a very special place for all of us. Even when we feel left out.

Wednesday Book Review

Ephesians 5:33 "Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband."

Wow! Those are powerful words. Mostly they are powerful because they are inspired by God and His words never returns void, but also because, when properly applied-- they will change your life!

Have you heard these terms before? "Crazy Cycle" "Energizing Cycle" "COUPLE" "CHAIRS"

Unless you have read the book I am reviewing today you probably haven't. At least I had not heard them until our small group started using this book to learn more about marriage. We are down to the last two weeks of the study and I have read the entire book, so I wanted to share enough with you today to hopefully pique your interest.

Based on the Scripture passage in Ephesians about husbands loving wives and wives respecting husbands, Dr. Eggerichs has done a great job of explaining the differences in men and women from a Biblical perspective. Thanks to secular psychologists, we all know that "men are from Mars and women are from Venus" but do we really understand why?

Here is the really revolutionary part, God made us different, He did it on purpose, and it is ok! That is a really freeing concept.

However, it is also a very misunderstood concept, even among Christians. Christian psychologists and pastors alike are beginning to realize that they have missed something huge by not emphasizing that men need respect the way women need love. In Dr. Eggerich's words, "It is not wrong, just different." God created women to love, that comes naturally to us so God doesn't have to command us to do it, He has to command us to respect - something that doesn't come naturally. In the same way, men naturally show respect, but love is not so easy for them, therefore God commands them to show love.

However, in our culture, men are labeled as dominating and self-serving when they demand respect. I'm not talking about violent behavior or abuse, I am talking about when your husband gets angry when you talk to him like his mother and then he refuses to talk to you. (Please tell me you know what I'm talking about, and I'm not the only one) We women tend to cry and make everyone around feel sorry for us, while our husband get angry and seem to be heartless.

It is behavior like this that put us on what the author calls the "crazy cycle." Your husband reacts unloving to you, so you refuse to show respect to him, which makes him act unloving to you, which makes you not want to show him respect, etc.., etc.., etc.... Believe it or not, people live for years in a marriage characterized by this type of behavior. (I sincerely hope that you have no idea what I am talking about, however, I would venture to guess that if you are like us, you have found yourself on this merry go round at least once or twice if you have been married longer than a week!)

Albert Einstein said that "the definition of insanity is to continue to do the same thing over and over expecting a different outcome."

Do you want to get off the "crazy cycle" and onto the "energizing cycle?" This book is a great place to start. Not only do you get a clear Biblical picture of the ways and the reasons that men and women are so different, you also get some practical ways to begin to change yourself. Because, let's face it, yourself is the only one in your marriage that you have the capability to change. Someone has to take the first step off the merry go round. Dr. Eggerichs' challenge to readers is this, "The person to take the first step should be the one who considers him/herself to be the most mature." Ouch.

This book is sold at any bookstore or amazon. You can also order a DVD set of the author speaking live at a seminar. Our small group has been using this material to do a 12 week study and it has been amazing!

Wednesday Book Review

In light of my recent post about education in America, I want to recommend a book that I have really enjoyed over the years. A Different Kind of Teacher, written by John Taylor Gatto. I read this book for the first time quite a few years ago when Mr. Gatto was interviewed by Mary Pride in her Practical Homeschooling Magazine. He had a lot to say in that interview about education reform, and I picked up the book.

John Taylor Gatto was awarded New York State Teacher of the Year three consecutive years in a row, and then he wrote a short essay entitled "I May Be a Teacher, but I'm Not an Educator." This short essay was printed in the Wall Street Journal on July 25, 1991. Soon after the publication of this essay, Mr. Gatto resigned from his position in a New York City public school and is now among the most "penetrating, wise, irritating, informed, provocative, and prophetic" voices in the debate over education reform in our country.

This book is a collection of short essays and speeches that Mr. Gatto wrote between 1990 and 1999. He has a very blunt and straightforward style of writing and speaking, so some of what he says comes across a little harsh. However, I think that the things he says are worth taking into consideration, especially if you have children in our public education system, but also if you are a teacher in the system or simply if you care about education reform at all. As a home schooler, I have picked up a lot of tips from Mr. Gatto about the difference in "school" and "education" and how I can better help my own children to be deep thinkers.

This book is chock full of statistics and numbers and references so that you can truly get an accurate grasp on what is happening within our schools today. You can check these stats out and prove to yourself that they are true and accurate. He also gives a great overview of the origination of public education, where and why is started. It will make you think twice about playing a part in the continuation of it.

It would be better suited to another post for me to philosophize on my own thoughts and opinions regarding Mr. Gatto's beliefs about education vs "school." I will leave you with a straightforward list of some of the quotes that I have underlined in my copy of the book. It is available at amazon.com or at your local bookstore.

"Education matters, of course, but only flim flam artists try to convince you that school and education are the same thing."

"The assertion that isolation chambers for the young and the old are an advance in human society doesn't square with any observed reality."

"After you fall into the habit of accepting what other people tell you to think, you lose the power to think for yourself. I suspect that is why so few of us challenge the premises of old-age home and schools."

"Real knowledge has to be earned by hard and painful thinking; it can't be generated in group discussions or group therapies, but only in lonely sessions with yourself."

Wednesday Book Review

In an attempt to get back to normal, I don't want to miss the book review this week.

I want to tell you about a series of books that my kids really enjoy. Sarah Maxwell, who is the oldest daughter of Steve and Terri Maxwell, of the ministry Titus 2, wrote four books about the Moody Family. In these books, titled Summer With the Moodys, Autumn With the Moodys, Winter With the Moodys, and Spring With the Moodys, you and your children can follow the every day life and adventures of the four Moody children and their parents.

Like Elsie Dinsmore, sometimes the Moody children seem a little "too good to be true." They are almost instantly repentant when they have an argument or when they disobey their parents - both of which happen very infrequently. They have soft hearts towards Jesus and they spend a lot of time encouraging one another in the Lord. In our home, where conservative standards are taught and our children love each other immensely, things are a little crazier than portrayed in these books. However, as I said with Elsie, I will say again; this is what we strive toward and this is the peace and the hearts turned towards the father that we desire. These books are a fun way to illustrate the possibility of being totally open to what Jesus has for you, even as a child. They show even very young children that you are never too young to serve Jesus and to help others as unto the Lord.

My children have enjoyed them. I am in the middle of reading through the series again to Graham and Lyndsey (6 & 10). They are really getting a lot of inspiration from the Moody children, especially in the area of Scripture memorization. I highly recommend the books. They can be purchased online at www.titus2.com - Enjoy!

Wednesday Book Review

It is Wednesday! Just in case you didn't know that. Before I post about the book I have chosen for this week, I have to tell you something funny that Graham just did. I got up early (8:00) - I know that's pathetic - and decided to go ahead and get my blogging out of the way, so we could concentrate on what we need to be doing today. This means that not only do I need to post the Wednesday Book Review, but I need to read the newest entries on the blogs I follow. I only follow closely about 6, and I am not actively looking for anymore right now, because, well, then it would take me longer in the mornings to read them all. I'm kidding, I love blogging and I would love to read yours, so if you are reading mine and I don't have yours on my list of favorites, please leave a comment and I will add it.

So, I come back to the computer room and log on. I read a couple of posts, I cry over the one on Angie Smith's blog - Bring the Rain. If you don't read that one, you really should check it out, she brings me to tears from either laughing or "real" tears with each and every post. Then, just as I begin to type the Book Review, Graham calls from the other room, "Mom, you have to come see what I made!" He had been playing by himself with Legos, which is really a rare thing for him - the whole sitting still thing, in another room from me doesn't happen often. So, I thought I should do the "good mom" thing and actually get up and go see the creation, rather than yelling from the back of the house to "hang on" and then forget to look later. I went. He sat in the floor surrounded by four plastic creations. Of course, they could have been just about anything, but the look on his face told me that he knew exactly what they were and thought that I should as well. I did not want to mess this up, after all, I got up and walked all the way from the back of the house to see this. Very enthusiastically, I said, "Wow! Tell me about what you made!" Great mom response, right? He complied. First, he held up two identical pieces, made with different shades of blue blocks. These, he said proudly, are guns. Of course, this is Graham. Then, he held up something made of all orange blocks. This, is a cross. Ok. And this, he said, referring to the last piece, which consisted of a number of colored blocks, is the statue in the cave on Indiana Jones. Somehow, the guns, the cross, and the false god struck me as funny this morning. I decided to just let it go, but I am going to tell myself that it means that he will spend his life fighting evil, in the name of Jesus.

Which brings me to the book review. I promise I had already decided what book to write about when he called me away from the computer. Do Hard Things is written by Alex and Brett Harris, with the forward written by none other than Chuck Norris. (Graham's hero, if you have read any previous posts). This book is subtitled, "a teenage rebellion against low expectations." I'm still trying to wrap my mind around this, but I am now the mom of two teenagers. We have always homeschooled, so there are a lot of things we have thankfully never had to deal with, a lot of issues they have not been faced with personally, like drugs, alcohol, and sex. Things that teenagers in schools are faced with every single day. I know it, because I was one. However, the fact of the matter is that most people in our world today would call the teenage years a success if they escape without any permanent damage from those three big things. If they are not pregnant or diseased or addicted to something when they graduate from high school, people would call that a successful passage to adulthood. I disagree. Of course, I don't want my kids affected by these things, but I also don't want their passage to adulthood stated in terms of what they didn't do. They didn't get drunk every Friday night, they didn't have pre-marital sex, they didn't experiment with drugs and alcohol. What about what the did do? Did they spend their teenage years in something productive and useful to their family and society or did they spend it in front of the Wii or the television? Did they spend their years preparing for life and maturing into adults with a purpose or did they waste it on vain pursuits, like the best brand of clothes or the most popular friends? Did they spend these years growing in their faith and learning to follow God's leading or did they block out the voice of God and simply attend church on Sundays because their parents made them?

In the book Do Hard Things, the Harris twins, challenge the teenagers of their day (they are 19), to do the hard thing and be different. They challenge them not to even refer to themselves as teenagers because it truly has a negative connotation in our society, not to mention that it was a term invented in the 1940s. Throughout history, you have been either a child or an adult. When you ceased to be a child, you were an adult. Now, we use these "teen" years as excuses for bad behavior and laziness. Our society assumes that teenagers are not good for anything except goofing off and playing video games, yet as soon as they hit 18 or 19, they are expected to go off to college and act like adults. How are they supposed to learn to be adults when nothing is expected of them? I truly believe that this is the reason we have such an epidemic in our country of 30 or 40 year olds who still live with their parents and spend their nights playing online video games.

This book is written in a format that is easy to read and understand. The concept is hard, and putting it into practice is hard, but it can be easily read. It is full of stories of teens, excuse me, young adults, who are doing hard things all over the world. It tells of 16 year olds volunteering on political campaigns or serving as interns in the offices of governors or senators, and rising into leadership positions. It tells of young people starting outreach programs that develop into huge ministries. It tells of speaking engagements, book publishings, inventions. It is full of proof that the group of young men and women that our society calls teenagers are not only capable, they are eager to be useful. They are tired of being shoved to the side and tired of people assuming that they are good for nothing. They want to be adults. Their God given craving is to grow up. We are stunting their growth by not expecting more of them than to NOT do something. We need to expect them to DO something - and you know what, I believe they will do what we expect them to do.

This book can be read to a very young child and I would recommend that every child old enough to read it, and every adult to read it as well. It is the battle cry of this generation - to matter, to do something hard, not for a material reward, but for the shear satisfaction of knowing that you contributed something important. Around our house, now when we don't want to do something that needs to be done or when we are embarrassed about an upcoming speaking engagement, we just simply say to each other, "do hard things." Somehow, it gets done. Adults need this message as well as children.

In our family, and many of our friend's families as well, people are often amazed at what our children are capable of doing. They are an integral part of our family, I literally could not run this household, with all of us here 24/7, without their help. I need them, and they know it. This makes them feel like they are useful, instead of in the way. Yes, when they are younger it makes things a little messier, to have a little shadow when I cook or do the laundry - but, now, they can do all of these things themselves and they have the satisfaction of knowing that they are going to know how to run their own households. They are going to transition from children to adults. The way God intended.

I know I did not give you many details from this book, you truly need to read it yourselves. It is good and it is practical. The boys also have a message board type website that my older ones really enjoy. There are some discussions there about purity and such that may not be appropriate for younger children, so parents, be sure and look at it first. It is called The Rebelution, which is a word coined by the twins that means a rebellion against rebellion. The address is: http://therebelution.com/

Enjoy!

Wenesday Book Review

Sorry I missed last Wednesday. You didn't really expect me to do a book review every week did you? My mom had knee surgery and we were on the road to NC to be with her during that, so I did not get a chance to post anything last week. She is doing well, but the rehab is very painful, so prayers would be appreciated.

Anyway, right now I am reading the book Atlas Shrugged. If any of you have read it, you know that it is not a quick and easy read, plus it is about 1500 pages long! Definitely the longest book I have ever read, but I am determined to plug through it and write a review when I am done. I am just letting you know, however, that my reviews for the next few weeks (or months) will probably be things I have read in the past or have read to my kids. My current reading material is giving me a run for my money - and reading is by far my favorite pastime, but this book is not just reading, it is thinking, and underlining, and re-reading. I will let you know the outcome!

Today, I am going to review the first book in a series that my girls love, and I read to myself as well. Elsie Dinsmore was written by Martha Finley in the last 1800 to early 1900s. Before her death in 1909, she wrote the first twenty-eight books in the series, and since then more books have been added to the series. It is a little more difficult to get your hands on an original Elsie book, because now Christian book stores carry the "new" version, which I lovingly refer to as the "dumbed down" version. The "new" Elsie books are morally sound books, but there is just something special about a book written in nineteenth century language, and with the vernacular of the times.

Elsie Dinsmore is a little girl who has lost her mother and never met her young, wealthy father. When her mother dies, she is sent to live on her father's childhood estate, with her grandfather, his wife, and their children. Elsie is a very pious little girl of eight, having been taught to love Jesus by her "dear ole Mammy" and her Scottish housekeeper. The book is set in the South, though you never know exactly what state, and there are slaves on the plantation. Elsie's mammy, Chloe, is all the world to her in her new home. Finally, Elsie meets her father, Horace Dinsmore, who takes his responsibilities as a father very seriously, but who truly does not know how to love and raise a little girl. Elsie prays for her father's salvation and submits to him as far as her conscience allows, even when he is very harsh.

The first book takes the reader through Elsie meeting her father and through her witnessing to him about Jesus time and time again, to no avail. Mr. Dinsmore is a "religious" man and feels that his church attendance and good treatment of his slaves is more than enough to get to Heaven. Elsie, who knows that a relationship with Jesus is more important than anything in life, is distressed concerning her father's soul. The first book leaves the reader not knowing the outcome of Elsie's pleadings with the Father, concerning her earthly father. In the second book, there is a crisis in which Mr. Dinsmore must make a choice and he does choose God. The subsequent books, of which our family has enjoyed around 50, follow Elsie through her life as she grows up, marries, and has children and grand-children of her own.

The criticism of the book is that Elsie is just "too good." She is studying the scriptures for hours per day and always an obedient and compliant child. She never seems to engage in childish disobedience and always seems to have an understanding of spiritual things way beyond her years. This is all true, and one would be tempted to think of this as a reason not to read the books. However, with all of the garbage out there for little girls to read today, and sadly, our family has found some of this even from "christian" authors, we have enjoyed Elsie all the more for her purity, goodness, and absolute allegiance to the Lord. We have found a few theological points that we did not completely agree with, which have made good discussion topics in our family, and we have talked about the fact that Elsie's behavior is almost "perfect" which is not typical of course. However, since Christ likeness is our goal, my girls have benefited greatly from reading about how Elsie handled certain situations and have even commented that when in a certain situation they thought of how Elsie would have responded. In the books, Elsie does give insight into her personal thoughts and feelings, which are sometimes sinful. After all, God is interested in our hearts, not just in "good" behavior, and Elsie clearly knows this. She is a great example of repentance and eager to forgive when people offend her.

Bryce enjoyed these books when she was between 10-12 and now I am reading them aloud to Lyndsey, who is 10. I noticed that our Christian bookstore sells Elsie dolls and clothing. I have been able to find our copies of the "original" Elsie books at www.visionforum.com and sometimes I can find them at our state homeschool convention. Enjoy!

Wednesday Book Review

Yes, I know that it is Thursday - but, I am determined to stick with my self-imposed schedule of Wednesday Book Reviews - even though I did not get this week's posted yesterday. Bear with me, it helps me to feel more on top of things.

This week, I want to share a book with you that I just finished reading for the second time. Our family uses a homeschool curriculum called Sonlight. I love it because of all the amazing books we have been privileged to read over the years. Books that I had never heard of. Every year there are several missionary stories as well, and this particular book is one of my favorites, simply because it is modern. I love reading about Amy Carmichael, Hudson Taylor, and Gladys Aylward - but, they lived so long ago. Bruchko was first published in 1973, that was the year I was born, so I will still claim it as "modern." Though my kids may disagree!

Bruchko is an autobiographical story, which means it was written by the author himself. I like this, because I feel like by hearing the things that happened straight from the person they happened to, you get more depth of feeling and more intimate knowledge than hearing it through a third person. Bruce Olson was a young man, just nineteen years old when he set out from his home in Minnesota. His calling was to take Jesus to the Indians in South America, yet he had no mission board backing, no support from his family, no money, and no firm plans. He just knew that God had called him, a gangly, young man with thick glasses who had never really been popular in school and became even less popular when he found Jesus and tried to share Him with his strict Lutheran parents. His pastor and friends from church did not understand, but he did have one friend, whose father was the pastor of an inter-denominational church who had also met Jesus. It was in this church that Bruce first heard of foreign missionaries and felt called to that lifestyle. However, even the missionaries would not accept him because he did not have the proper education or the backing of a church. Bruce went anyway.

It was through a series of harrowing events and near death experiences that Bruce finally found the Motilone Indians in 1961, and convinced them he came in peace. This was the tribe that he felt God was calling him to minister to. The problem was, that no white person had ever lived after coming in contact with this group of Indians, therefore there was no one who could explain even a word of their language to Bruce. It took months for Bruce to realize that the reason he was having such a hard time communicating with them was that they spoke a tonal language, something that linguists were convinced did not exist anymore in the South American jungle. Finally, Bruce began to understand their language and even to write some of it down. Yet, still it took years for him to be able to share Jesus with them. Their lifestyle was just too different, the words they used too foreign to even try to communicate the gospel.

Finally, Bruce was able to find a way to communicate in a way that they could understand and as is often the case, he found that in fact, they were ready and eagerly waiting for "the man with the yellow hair to bring God out of the banana stalk." When a banana stalk is cut and its leaves unfurl, they look just like a book, the Bible - God in a banana stalk.

It amazes me each and every time I read missionary accounts that God has indeed put a longing for Himself inside of each person. Don Richardson, called it "eternity in their hearts" and his book by that title shares account after account of missionaries coming to an uncivilized tribe of people and finding that they have stories in their history of the "white man" or the "man with yellow hair" coming to share the secrets of God with them.

Romans 1: 19-20 says, "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse"

God has clearly revealed Himself in creation to all men, and he has made Himself known. Even in the deepest recesses of the jungle or the most barren desert, He is there, and He is drawing His people unto Himself. We are all without excuse.

In Bruchko, Mr. Olson is able to communicate about Jesus in a way that a few Motilone understand and soon there is widespread revival among the tribes. God has come out of the banana stalk! Jesus walks their trails with them! Bruce shares that he feels the key to the real and lasting change was the fact that unlike other "board trained" missionaries, he did not attempt to make the Motilones into white men. He did not tell them that they had to wear American clothes, sing American hymns, and change their traditions. He showed them that Jesus came for all men and that he created all men, equal in His sight, but very different in culture. He figured out how to introduce medicine to them in a way that they were not threatened. He patiently showed them about sanitation, but he worked with, not against their own witch doctors. Soon, the Indians themselves were running their own schools, health clinics, and growing crops. He remains, even now, the only white man ever to live among this tribe.

Foreign missions is a passion of mine and as I study more and more about it, many mission boards are finally seeing the error of trying to go in among primitive tribes and convert them, not into Christians, but into Americans. Jesus was not an American and it seems to me that if he created a people, He can reach that people exactly where they are. Certainly there will be customs and habits that need to change, but the only real and lasting change is when He changes a heart. Otherwise, you force someone to be like you and as soon as you are gone, he reverts back to what he is used to. The biggest push in missions right now is "national pastors." American mission boards are sending down just one or two American couples to find and train nationals to minister to their own people. After all, they know the language, customs, and way of life better than we could ever learn it. It seems to be working out very well. Imagine that Bruce Olson thought of it 35 years ago, without the aid of seminary!

As a note, I do want to say that this book is excellent, but it is a little graphic. Sonlight includes it in our 4th grade program as a read aloud, which means the parent should read it to the child. That way you can edit as you need to for your child's maturity as there are some intense scenes. You can get it from Amazon, but I have never seen it in a store. Enjoy!