Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

The Weekly Read

The book of Acts for the modern-day church: Review of A Big Life by Peter Hone

Before I started reading A Big Life by Peter Hone, I encountered the book of Luke in a new way. Reading the first four verses reminded me that Luke was like an investigative reporter writing on the life of Jesus, and Acts, his sequel, was like field reporting on the growing church and the life and ministry of the apostle Paul. Hone’s book reminds me of Luke’s biblical books.

In A Big Life, he tells the story of a ministry that touches thousands of lives in India, and it began with one man on a mission. John Heerema is an ordinary man who suffered extraordinarily as youth. Born with club feet, he endured the pain of surgeries and braces and bullying. He let his relationship with the Lord grow cold in his college and post-college days. Later, his life (and his wife’s) would be changed and together they began seeking the heart of God. They began to be exposed to missions work and John eventually was part of a group that led baseball clinics in Iran. The door to Iran closed after 9/11 but another door opened to India.

The Big Life story is a big story filled with numerous accounts of Indians giving their lives to Christ, of opportunities for the Gospel to spread in Iran, India and Nepal. The stories are dramatic and moving. John and his wife Kathy’s obedience to the Lord is humbling and challenging. They left lucrative jobs to devote more time to missions. They sold their house and downsized. They lived in faith, trusting God to financially provide for the ministry even when that seemed impossible.

The first chunk of the book is an overview of John’s life and how the ministry began and introduces us to the partners in the ministry, such as Benjamin, a gifted Indian preacher who became the first employee of Big Life. It’s compelling and well-told. I was surprised at how quickly I read the book. The second part of the book is the author’s first-person tale of a trip to India to meet some of the people involved in the ministry. Overall, it reads like a fly-on-the-wall account, even though it’s clear that the author conducted interviews and weaved the story together. At times I felt some of the observations and details were unnecessary, but with the amount of information to pick from, I think he did a good job of not letting the story get bogged down.

I don’t know if the Big Life story will become a Christian household name, but it’s an inspiring journey and gives hope that the Gospel is, indeed, changing lives in remote parts of the world.

And it’s encouraging and challenging to read what can happen when one ordinary person lets God have control.

A Big Life is available from Big Life Ministries, Tate Publishing and Amazon.com

——————-

In exchange for this review, I received a free copy of the book from the publisher.

Remember who you are: Review of The Wingfeather Saga by Andrew Peterson

I recently finished reading Andrew Peterson’s The Wingfeather Saga, books 1-3 (a fourth is on its way). Below are some overall impressions of each of the books. I wouldn’t want to ruin the story for anyone, so I didn’t get too specific about plot. My husband read these first and it was hard for him to not talk about what happens in each of the books until after I’d read them. I’d recommend these books in a nanosecond.

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness

I have loved Andrew Peterson’s musical stories for years, and after my husband (who typically does not read books quickly) tore through this series, I was eager to give them a shot. This first book in The Wingfeather Saga starts slow and builds a lot of background for the Igiby family. It’s not that it’s a hard read or a bad story or anything. I love the relationships between the children, their mother and grandfather, and the trouble they find themselves in. Everything I love about Peterson’s music translates to the pages of this story somehow, and I found myself wishing there was a soundtrack for the book. I am wowed by Peterson’s creativity in forming a world with fascinating and frightening creatures with detailed descriptions and amusing names. I’ve said that I’m not a fan of the fantasy genre, but I think I’m being won over of late by works like this. I look forward to sharing these stories with my kids as they get older and letting their imaginations run wild. This book will whet your appetite for more. (And thankfully, there are more!)

North! Or Be Eaten

If the first book started slow, then this book is the opposite. I felt like it started with action and never let up through the whole book. It was intense and thrilling. The middle book(s) of a series sometimes lack a little as they pave the way for the conclusion, but not so this one. It was my favorite of the three (a fourth is to come). The Igiby children learn tough and valuable lessons as they flee for their lives. They struggle to work together and wonder if their mission is worth it. They long for the good-old days, before they knew who they were and the responsibility that carried. Worked throughout the story is the struggle of living enslaved to an evil power (the Fangs) although life was simpler and fleeing and fighting that evil for the promise of something better. As in the first book, the creatures and lands Andrew Peterson created in his mind translate well on the page. Maps and illustrations are a small part of that. He has the ability to take a familiar animal and transform it into something fitting for this mythical world. A page-turner, for sure. My husband warned me not to read them too quickly or I’d find myself at the end wanting more. But the story is so good, I couldn’t put it down.

The Monster in the Hollows

Just when you think you know what’s going to happen and how things are going to end, Andrew Peterson gives you a shocking and surprising twist. And you LOVE him for it. The Igiby family finds themselves in their mother’s homeland but things are far from easy. Peterson weaves deep truths into this story, the most memorable for me is this: Remember who you are. The characters struggle with identity and perception and guilt and shame. Through it all they grow and change and affect the world around them for good. I didn’t want this book to end because book 4, the concluding piece, is still a long way off. But Peterson’s story is so captivating, you can’t take it slow. So my only word of caution is that once you start this series, you’ll finish it quickly and find yourself eager for the conclusion. Book 4 can’t come soon enough!