Stones of Fire

by Isobel Kuhn
Available from Keepers of the Faith and Amazon
*****
Isobel Kuhn speaks of stones of fire as almost an oxymoron. Stones are hard and cold, and fire is hot and passionate. She describes people as stones of fire, people with fiery passion held rock solid by principle. Opals, stones with broken hearts made beautiful by the light that sparkles through them, are used as a physical example of a stone of fire. The book is written of just such a fiery stone.

The story of Mary begins when her name was still Third Sister in a small Lisu village in the highlands of China. We see her introduction to the missionaries John and Isobel Kuhn, her understanding of the Gospel, and her attraction to Lu-Seng. The reality of her faith and trust inGod is tested throughout the book, and she proves to be a ‘stone of fire’.

The book is written in a very easy to read style, and readers will be drawn into Mary's life as she encounters so many trials and hardships. We read of her family and marriage, the communist occupation and political turmoils of their village, and the physical problems that eventually led to her death at the ripe old age of... 25 years old. Through it all, she manifested such a sweet patience, so unlike Third Sister's feisty temper, that was rooted in her trust in the One Who redeemed her from her sins. Mary is such an example of a passionate woman who learns to let the Lord channel her passion to serve Him instead of herself. I felt ashamed of myself at times when reading of her love and trust, and awed once again by the power of Jesus Christ to change lives, even mine. If I could rate this book with more than five stars, I would. It is to be highly recommended.

Hearts of Fire

by The Voice of the Martyrs
Available from Amazon
****
Eight women in the underground Church have shared their stories of what their faith in God has cost them and their loved ones. They are each from different countries, and their individual ways of drawing persecution, and their sufferings are distinct. They are alike in that they each refused to deny the Lord Who saved them.

I don’t agree with all the women in the book. One of the chapters was on Sabina Wurmbrand. I appreciate her suffering and stedfastness in the Lord, but some of the comments, as well as some things I’ve read on her husband, Richard Wurmbrand who has suffered so much for Christ’s sake, seem to be contrary to Scripture. Maybe I am mistaken, or maybe they are less than orthodox, but I can still glorify God in their testimony for Him.

Ling was another woman who was tortured for Christ. She was a leader and preacher in the underground church in China. I believe that the Bible teaches against women preaching in mixed company, but I admire her conviction. I also realize that sometimes men are not available or willing to do things, and women are. Ling was willing, and she suffered much for Christ’s sake.

The other six women had one thing in common with each other and the previously listed two: they were all Christians. One woman suffered incredible physical and emotional pain after refusing to convert to Islam. One father tried to kill his daughter who became a believer in Christ from Islam after searching for the truth. Another woman lost her husband and two sons to those who resented the message of Christ.

One thing I really appreciated about this book is that these are women of today. They are not women to inspire me from history, although they will be that for others. They are women who are living now, existing on this planet in my lifetime. These are the sufferings of today. I have not been chosen to suffer as they have, but whether my time comes or not, these women inspire me to cling to Christ, and remain faithful to Him whatever the cost. Due to the explanations of the extreme costliness of their faith, I would only recommend this book to adults.

Enoch Roden's Training

by Hesba Stretton
Available from Lamplighter Publishing and Amazon
*****
This is another searching story by Hesba Stretton. Everything I’ve read that she has written has touched my spirit, and caused me to look at my character and my relationship with Christ, and to see if it is what it should be.

Enoch Roden lived with his mother, grandmother, and older brother. They were poor, but his mother Susan managed to bring in enough for their subsistence with her washing. Things were looking up, however. Enoch was apprenticed to a printer, and the young boy expected to be able to take care of his family. This printer had employed Susan as his daughters’ nurse when they were little. However, though the printer trusted in God, he neglected to provide for his family, and went bankrupt, dying shortly afterward. His older daughter became a governess, though bitterly resenting her father’s lack of care, and the younger girl went to live with the Rodens. Enoch’s older brother saw Lucy’s entrance into their family as the last straw, and ran off to the sea. Through it all, Susan showed a dependence on God, and joy lit her life from her trust in Him.

Enoch looked for work, but could not find any. He was trusting in himself to provide for his family, and was angry with God for not providing a job. Susan suffered an injury and was confined to bed, and in her time of healing lost all her customers. They could not afford to live, so Susan’s mother-in-law went to live in the workhouse. This was a struggle for everyone, as the grandmother had had too much pride do live there before, Susan and Enoch considered it a disgrace to themselves that she should have to, and everyone would miss her. Lucy encouraged everyone to look to their heavenly Father, and to trust that He would still care for them all. Enoch finally found work, but he did not make much, and was bitter that God did not take better care of His own, since they were trusting in Him.

Enoch eventually came to see that he was not trusting the Lord, and that He was providing, if not in the way Enoch desired and expected. In the end, everything is pulled together. The lost son at sea returns home with a changed heart, Enoch learns lessons in trusting, and even Esther, Lucy’s older sister, comes to know that the Lord does indeed love and care for His own. After the surprise at the end, Enoch tells his mother and Lucy how he compared himself to the Israelites who murmured against God. God had provided manna for their sustenance, but they were ungrateful because it was not what they wanted and complained, “What is this?” I cried when I read his words: how true they are! When he finished speaking, he found that he had a larger audience than he had thought, who considered it his first sermon.

The last chapter tells of the same characters many years later. As Enoch began to preach to an “official” congregation, they reflected on their past, and on Enoch Roden’s training for service.

The Refugees: A Tale of Two Continents

by Arthur Conan Doyle
Available from Inheritance Publications and Amazon
*****
The first half of the book takes place in France, mostly having to do with the royal court and the service of the king. It has the excitement, drama, and intrigue of Dumas’ The Three Musketeers, only the young man we are watching is a Christian. Eventually he must choose between his faith, and his position. He is engaged to his cousin, also a Huguenot. When it becomes illegal to hold to their faith, they make a narrow escape across the ocean, with the help of two Americans. The Puritan sea captain conforms to the modern stereotype of the Puritans, with a disapproving glance at pleasure in God’s creation (considering that we are not meant to enjoy life) and a habit of soberly calling down Biblical curses on those who are not of his way of thinking. My main disappointment in the book was this portrayal of New England Puritans. The other American is a backwoodsman, whose ideas tend to be much more liberal than his Puritan friend. Adele’s father, being weak in health, asks that the two young people marry before his death, which occurs on the voyage. They also suffer shipwreck.

When they arrive in Canada, the Huguenots are discovered to be escaping persecution in France, and a Jesuit persistently follows them, to return them to “justice” and the Catholic religion. Their American friends help them to escape their prison ship which was to return them to France. They meet new companions, and see them scalped by the hostile Indians. As they flee on, they are eventually captured by the Indians, with the Jesuit still behind them. Once again, they are rescued just in time, and finally reach safe territory, where they are free to believe the truth of God’s Word without interference.

The story is encouraging to see what others have been willing to suffer for their faith in Christ, and to see the history of so many who fled persecution. It is also a complex story, with many pieces which are eventually pulled together, and an unexpected complication to the plot around every corner. There is never a boring chapter, and though Christ shines through it, it is never preachy. I so appreciate riveting storylines that also hold up the Lord, and those who place their trust in Him. This book definitely falls into that category.

Princess in Calico

Available from Keepers of the Faith and Amazon
****
Katura lived a hard life with her stepmother and her children until an uncle invited her to spend the summer with his family. During her visit she met an older lady, Tryphosa, who lived in daily pain but radiated the joy of Christ. A certain nice young man who Katura admired, Richard Everidge had prompted the visit to Tryphosa. Her uncle asked her to stay longer with them, and study in the city, and Katura had for some time when her father asked her to come home, as her stepmother was ill, and could not run the household. Before she left, Katura visited Tryphosa and told her that she had become a daughter of the King. Tryphosa encouraged her in her walk.

When Katura reached home, she found a lot of work and much unpleasantness from the family. Her stepmother died, and the workload devolved on Katura. Her father began having a progressively harder time dealing with everything, and he also died. Through it all, Katura’s sweet, Christlike spirit kept things together. One day her brother Lemuel brought a letter in with her name on it, but refused to give it to her. He told her he was trying to get her mad, as another brother had promised him a pocketknife if he could cause Katura to lose her temper. She never did, but she never saw the contents of the letter until years had passed. She found it was not from her cousin, but from Richard Everidge, asking to visit her, and saying that if she did not respond to the letter, he would take it that she was not interested in him. By the time Katura read the letter, he had been married for three years and had a daughter. This was hard to bear, but Katura found peace, joy and contentment in her relationship with Christ. There were other heartbreaks, but Katura remained steadfast in Christ, on a plane above her trials.

Years later, Katura had some visitors due to a problem with their engine, one of whom we discover to be Richard Everidge’s daughter. She wrote her father that Katura looked just like princess, with a mass of soft, white hair for a crown. She said that she had found that Katura even claimed to be a princess, a daughter of the King. Her father responded that he had known Katura previously and that she was “pure gold,” and it delighted Katura to hear that.

The book is summarized in the last thee paragraphs:

“But, Princess,” said Muriel wistfully, “farm work and cooking and washing dishes over and over – it seems such drudgery.”

A great light broke over Katura’s face, and she cried in a low exultant tone, “ ‘Blessed be drudgery!’ Christ bore it for thirty years, why should I mind it for forty-nine? I have only to wait a little now for the ‘fullness of joy’ and ‘pleasures for evermore.’ “

Muriel threw her arms about Katura and kissed her softly. “Then the princess will be at home,” she whispered, “in the palace of the King.”

The Lost Clue

by Mrs. O.F. Walton
Available from Lamplighter Publishing
*****

Captain Kenneth Fortescue was a young man who kept his background a secret; the background that his father was uneducated and backward, but had wanted better things for his son. He was called home when his father was dying and told two things: first, that his father had lost all his money in a mine which flooded and failed, including money he had invested for a widow and her children whom he had been charged to care for; he wanted Ken to personally tell them he had lost their money. Second, that there was an important letter for Ken in a safe, which he could open only after his father had died.

When Ken’s father died a few days later, he looked for the letter, but nothing was in the envelope but a piece of blank paper. He later found that it had been stolen by the conniving housekeeper, who with her brother, knowing it was important, wanted to see if they could make money out of it.

When Ken went to tell the widow and her family their loss, he promised to send them money out of whatever he made until the amount lost was returned. He also was impressed with the family, particularly Marjorie.

Since his father’s income had failed, Ken could not afford to remain a captain, and left the military. His high class friends no longer wanted to associate with him, especially as he was now not a suitable marriage candidate.

Eventually, of course, the letter turns up, telling Ken about his true heritage, although the people who had stolen the letter had obliterated the name in case it fell into his hands. The story is quite a page turner, and best of all, the Lord shows Himself faithful and good to those who trust in Him. There is nothing lacking in the plot or pace, but it is also very wholesome, and encouraging to the Christian reader. I highly recommend this book.

The Rose and Crown

by Meriol Trevor
Available from Amazon
****
Rafael le Marre is once again the hero in this last of the Letzenstein chronicles. London 1849 is the setting, and the characters from the previous book are once again in the middle of adventure. He has brought young, orphaned Toby to find his people. Of course, Rafael would be happy to have him at his own castle full or orphans, Xandeln, but before he would keep him, he must make sure his family does not want him. Indeed, his closest family does not care much for him, but they consider that they must do their duty. Toby does have a cousin, Melisande, who cares for him, but she is not the one who makes the decisions. His grandfather, who runs the Rose and Crown inn cannot afford to take care of him. No one should be surprised that everyone is still suspicious of Rafael; he seems never to be able to make his political standing plain. The intrigue element of the other three books is not neglected in The Rose and Crown, and it makes for an exciting finale to the series.

The Arrow Over the Door

by Joseph Bruchac
Available from Amazon
***

Samuel Russell was a young Quaker boy, who thought it would be better if his family wasn’t nonresistant. He thought he should be able to protect his family if the British came, or, more realistically, the Indians attacked. It was also hard for him to endure the taunting of the patriotic neighbors, especially as he did wish to join them.

Stands Straight was an Abenaki who was concerned about fighting for the British, a concern shared by others in his family. They decided to surround a meeting of the Americans they are supposed to be fighting, and judge from their response whether they are hostile or not.

Chapters alternate between the two boys until they meet inside the Quaker meetinghouse. The arrow over the door was a sign of friendship and protection from the Abenakis to the Quakers. This book is based on a true incident during the War for Independence, and is one of the many stories in Quaker history. Quaker ideas are incorporated, as is the history known of the Abenakis.

The book is written on a level for 9 – 12 year olds, although younger children would easily follow the story if read aloud. Some of the attitudes Samuel demonstrates are not the best, but in the end he came to see that his father was right in his nonresistance. I would recommend the book for learning about these two people groups in this time period, as I have not seen much about them; also as it is a retelling of history, not pure fiction.

Julie of the Wolves

by Jean Craighead George
Available from Amazon
*
This book is in three parts. In the first part tells we meet Miyax on the Arctic tundra after running away from her marriage. We find that she is only thirteen years old, and is going to meet a friend in San Francisco. Miyax has run out of provisions for her trip, and realizes that she is lost. She decides to join a wolf pack to survive, so she studies their behavior and imitates it. She is accepted, and is able to care for herself. She also recognizes birds and, knowing their migration habits, is able to discern her location and direction.

The second part tells Miyax’s life before part one. It tells of her father, Kapugen, and how he sent her to live with his aunt Martha and go to school, where she is called Julie. One day Aunt Martha told Miyax that her father had never returned from a hunting trip, and pieces of his kayak were found on the shore. Kapugen had arranged a marriage between Miyax and the son of one of his old friends. When she met Daniel, she was disappointed to realize that he was mentally slow. After her marriage, she basically became a helper to Daniel’s mother in her business of making parkas to sell to tourists. One day Daniel came home angry because others were taunting him with “having a wife and not knowing how to mate her.” Miyax ran away in fear that night.

Part three goes back to being lost on the tundra. Miyax grows to love her wolf pack, and looks to the leader as her father. When she sees him killed for sport, she decides not to head to San Francisco where people do not recognize the value of the old Eskimo ways. She chooses to live alone in the wild, until she meets some people who tell her that her father is not dead. She goes to find him, but thinks that he has forsaken the Eskimo ways, and is part of the kind of people that would kill her wolf father for sport. In the end of the book, she sees that maybe the time of the Eskimos is past, and returns to her father.

I didn’t care for this book too much, probably because it reminded me of Scott O’Dell’s The Island of the Blue Dolphins. Then I realized that the same author wrote My Side of the Mountain, which is the same kind of survival story. It didn’t seem to have all that much of a plot, and I didn’t care for the part about Miyax’s marriage, or the way she identified with the wolves. I think it’s because we as people are social creatures, designed to live with each other, not alone in isolation from other people. We desire to have companions, and although dogs or other animals may be man’s best friend, and solitude is necessary at times, it is hard for me to connect with a book like this.

Colombian Jungle Escape

by Ed & Doreen Dulka
Available from Keepers of the Faith and Amazon
****

Ed and Doreen Dulka take turns writing chapters in this account of their time in Colombia. The first chapter opens with Ed’s first trip up the Caño Ti river to the village that would become Nazareth, their mission post and home for some years. The chief of the village had become a Christian, and he made their work a little easier in the beginning. They thought they were making progress, until they went on furlough. When they returned, they found that most of the people had walked away from the Lord, and were also growing coca plants. They didn’t realize the detriment of cocaine, they only knew that the men who bought the leaves paid well for them. The Lord worked in the hearts of the people, however, and eventually Nazareth hosted their own Bible conference for the other villages. Shortly after the conference, the communist guerillas paid the Dulkas a visit. No one was hurt, but when they left, the Dulkas cleared out in a hurry. They were just in time, for they heard the guerillas return and hunt for them. As they traveled down the river, the guerillas were close behind, but they made it Mitu, the nearest town, and took a plane back to the USA. On the plane with them was one of the communist scouts who had checked them out before the guerillas visited! There was no trouble, however, and they made it to safety. The Dulkas heard that the Christians they left behind have been faithful, even in the face of persecution and death, and the Dulka’s burden is that people would pray for the young church on the Caño Ti.

It was encouraging to read about people today who have faced dangers to take the Lord’s Word to people. They had a holy mission, and mighty God to protect them in it!

Pilgrim Street

by Hesba Stretton
Golden Inheritance Series #3
Available from Amazon or Inheritance Publications
*****
Pilgrim Street chronicles the short life of Tom Haslam. It opens with his young brother Phil telling a judge how he knew that Tom wasn’t guilty of the theft for which he was in jail. Tom gets out thanks to the Mr. Hope, the judge, and a Christian policeman, Banner, takes him under his wing. Banner tells Tom of the awful eye of God, that God sees everything, and hates sin. He emphasizes the consequences of disobedience to God’s law.

Tom worked hard to make an honest living to please Mr. Hope, the Pendleburys, and Banner, but mostly in fear of the all-seeing God. He rented a cart, and went about Pilgrim Street and others selling herrings, potatoes, and some others. One day a servant girl gave him a much larger coin than she thought she had, and Tom only gave her the difference for the smaller coin. Later she realized her error, and came back, but Tom insisted that she was wrong. When she called a policeman, Tom ran. He went to another city where he was not known and tried to make a living, but he was unable to earn anything. He came to exchange his nice clothes for rags, became very ill, and eventually returned to his friends in Pilgrim Street to die, as he thought. He found that Banner had paid the difference of his debt, not wanting to charge him with theft. The Pendleburys nursed him back to health, and Mr. Hope came by. He told him that he had a Father, besides the one Tom hated and feared, who was still in jail. This Father loved him, and wanted to forgive his sins. Tom understood. “Ah,” he cried, “I was afraid of God! He always seemed angry, and I’d no heart to serve Him. But the Father will help me to be like His Son, and keep His commandments, and my duty to God, and my duty to my neighbor.”

When he was better, he went and took out his savings to pay his debt to Banner, and met his earthly father, just out jail. He took Tom’s savings, and led Tom a hard life. Tom decided to love his earthly father, and constantly asked his heavenly Father for his earthly father’s salvation. Tom’s father died in a fire he had kindled as an act of revenge, but not before Tom had tried to rescue him. “Let me go!... I’m his son, and he is my father. He is my father, I tell you,” he said to the firemen, who would have pushed him back, “and he doesn’t love God!”

Before the end of Tom’s life, he has many conversations with those who love him, encouraging them to love their heavenly Father. Their lives are all changed, and readers will also find their heartstrings touched, and will also be encouraged to love their Father.

The Old Worcester Jug

by Eglanton Thorne
Available from Lamplighter Publishing
*****
The first chapter opens with a poor lady and her daughter coming to sell their keepsakes in Mr. Griffin’s china store. They looked genteel, although hard times had come, and Mr. Griffin drove a cheap bargain for the old Worcester jug, which he recognized as a treasure.

The lady died that night, and her daughter was left alone and uncared for. Mr. Griffin also became ill that night, and was tormented by the thought that he cheated the poor lady out of money that she might have needed for survival. When he recovered, he wanted to make amends, and, finding that the lady had died, took in the little girl, Maggie. His wife was nothing loath, as thirty years before, their own daughter died at about Maggie’s age.

The young doctor who treated Mr. Griffin is married in the course of the book to a beautiful, thoughtless young lady, who turned out to be Maggie’s aunt. (She nearly died at one point, and realizing her sinful state, came to the Lord, and her life changed. But then, that’s the way it always is; who can come Jesus and not be changed?) The doctor was concerned that Mr. Griffin should know about Christ. Eventually, Maggie’s grandfather visited the china shop, and immediately asked about the familiar looking Worcester jug. Mr. Griffin was evasive; he had grown to love Maggie, and didn’t want to give her up to her family.

Mr. Griffin came to know the Lord, and at the end of the book, when he was dying, he sent Maggie for her grandfather, although she had no idea they were related. When he came to the dying man, Mr. Griffin confessed the whole story of how he had come to have the Worcester jug, and of Maggie’s history. After Mr. Griffin’s death, his wife and Maggie go to live with her family.

This story reads like a Hesba Stretton or Isabella Alden book. The characters learn to see their sin in it’s hideousness, and how it hurts others. They learn of they joy to be found in repentance and following Jesus. It’s a beautiful, tender story, written to make the readers think, and definitely to be recommended!