Killing Christians, by Tom Doyle

When I grumble about getting up on Sunday and getting my family to church, I need to think about my brothers and sisters in the Middle East for whom simply having a Bible study at home is a death sentence.  When I complain about government policies or social norms in the US that are biased against Christians, I need to remember my brothers and sisters who are given the choice of converting to Islam or being killed.  In Killing Christians: Living the Faith Where It's Not Safe to Believe, Tom Doyle reminds us that even though being a Christian in the West is quite comfortable, the church is suffering persecution.  Our family is under attack.

I read the stories in Killing Christians like a family album.  I've never met these family members, but I feel like I know them now.  I grieve with them in their suffering, but more than that, I am amazed and inspired by their joy and perseverance in the face of persecution.  Doyle writes the stories in the style of fiction, and he acknowledges that some of the conversations have been reconstructed and some descriptions have been modified, but these are real people in real places facing real persecution and martyrdom.  I personally like his decision to write in this style.  Historians may object, but I'm reading a family account here, not a history text.

Doyle focuses on the region in which he works, North Africa and the Middle East, so the persecution faced in Killing Christians comes from Muslims.  I know there are peaceful Muslims in parts of the world, and there are plenty of places where Christians and Muslims live in harmony.  These are not those Muslims, and these are not those places.  Christians here face murder, rape, disfigurement, beatings, and other forms of torture and abuse at the hands not only of strangers, but, in some cases, neighbors, friends, and even family members.  It's shocking, but true, that some Muslims would kill their own spouse or child as retribution for their becoming a Christian.

Besides the stories of Christians being beaten or killed, there are also stories of miraculous salvation, where Jesus physically intervenes to stop an attack.  Almost every story involves Jesus appearing to Muslims in dreams, with very personal reassurances of their safety, promises for provision, or an invitation to follow him.  These are the kinds of things we read about in the Bible.  I've never experienced anything like it, and am so encouraged that people in these lands are experiencing Jesus in this way. 

Doyle does not call for Western Christians to send financial support, to go on mission trips, or to feel sorry for our brothers and sisters in these countries.  On the contrary, these believers pray for us.  They have much to teach us about living faithfully for Jesus.  Like Peter and John, "they have been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name."  Doyle tells the stories of these believers who joyfully embrace martyrdom as a chance to be in the arms of Jesus, and asks his readers, "Are you willing to suffer for Jesus?  Are you willing to die for Jesus?"  I am humbled and inspired by these believers who answer without hesitation, "Yes! and Yes!"


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

The Book of Memory Gaps, by Cecilia Ruiz

One word that comes to mind in describing Cecilia Ruiz's The Book of Memory Gaps: melancholy.  Ruiz tells the tales, in a few short lines, of various individuals whose memories have failed them.  The dancer who had a fall, and is unable to perform.  The composer who continues to write songs that have already been written.  I was especially sad for Viktor, who "arrived home on the same shore, thinking that he had been at sea for months.  His wife would be there to welcome him, though he had left that same morning. Sadly for him, his wife's excitement could never equal his."

Not all of Ruiz's characters suffer chronic memory loss.  Some are nostalgic, are longing for something they have never seen but feel like they should have, or, like Natasha, "constantly has words on the tip of her tongue.  She keeps feeling she is about to remember, but they never come.  She spends her days searching for all of her missing words."

Ruiz's text is poetic and rich, telling powerful stories in a few sentences.  The illustrations have a dusky, dreamlike quality.  You might smile, laugh, or cry, but you will definitely remember.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

The Red Bicycle, by Jude Isabella, illustrated by Simone Shin

What happens to that old bike you've outgrown or gotten tired of?  As Jude Isabella's story The Red Bicycle: The Extraordinary Story of One Ordinary Bicycle tells, it could transform a community!  Like many kids, Leo saved up for a bike.  He named it Big Red.  He loved it and rode it everywhere, but eventually outgrew it.  The owner of the bike shop told him he could donate it to be shipped to Africa.

In Africa, Alisetta picked out Big Red for herself.  She rode it all over her village in Burkina Faso.  With more efficient transportation, she was able to help her family, checking on crops, carrying harvest to market, eventually making enough extra money to send her siblings to school.  Later the medical clinic hooks a trailer to Big Red to use it as an ambulance.

Isabella's text tells the story well, adding in enough cultural and economic details to convey the importance of Big Red to those who use it.  Simone Shin's illustrations capture the simple beauty of life in Burkina Faso.  At the end, Isabella adds photographs of real people using their bikes in Africa, and explains how kids in North America can get involved by donating their bikes.

The Red Bicycle is a great story, made better by encouraging kids that they can make the story come true by donating their old bikes.



Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary review copy!

The Color of Grace, by Bethany Haley Williams

If true religion is looking after widows and orphans in their distress, surely the truest religion is looking after orphans of war who have been traumatized and victimized as child soldiers and sexual prey.  In her book The Color of Grace: How One Woman's Brokenness Brought Healing and Hope to Child Survivors of War, Bethany Haley Williams tells the story of her involvement among war orphans in Africa.

Dr. Williams, a psychologist and counselor, founded Exile International, bringing together her love of missions, her counseling skills, and her personal experiences overcoming trauma and grief.  Without being exploitative, yet without airbrushing their experiences, Williams introduces the children she has worked with and the horrors they have experienced.  Oftentimes, these children have no place to go after they escape or are rescued from the militias.  Girls who have been raped are shunned, sometimes by their own families.  Boys who have killed are often not welcomed back to their own villages.  The stigma they carry can be devastating.  Williams uses art therapy to encourage the children to communicate their pain and their stories.

I couldn't help but share Williams's awe at the children's resilience, hope, and joy, in light of their past and their poverty.  In her admiration for them, she takes some indirect jabs at Western Christians.  "The eyes of my heart began to see the spiritual wealth of my new friends in Africa and the spiritual poverty that so characterized the place I called home."  "As horrific as they were, they carried their burdens with a courage our culture can't imagine.  Our culture, which some consider easier or more inviting that this one, lacks the inner strength I witnessed here."  Their strength empowered Williams as she overcame trauma from her own life, which sprung from a failed marriage and associated issues.

I was moved by the powerful stories Williams tells of these children, and inspired by the way her programs lead to healing and hope for them.  I will admit that I got a bit bogged down in the first 1/4 of the book, as she told her own story.  I kept thinking, "When do I get to hear about the African kids and not this lady's issues?"  (Not very gracious of me, I know.)  That style, and the journal entries interspersed among the chapters, will appeal more to the female readers. 

The bottom line is a deep sense of humility in the face of these kids' strength.  No matter what trauma or struggle I may go through, I know that God's strength and hope, which is enough for these kids who have been brutalized, is more than enough for me, too.  I applaud Dr. Williams for using her experience to bring that strength and hope to them.



Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Jesus Outside the Lines, by Scott Sauls

Pastor Scott Sauls attributes much of his formation as a pastor to Tim Keller, under whom Sauls served at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York.  I don't know how much of Sauls's writing can be attributed to Keller, but they do share a style that is pastoral, thoughtful, and substantive without trivializing their subjects.  Sauls's new book Jesus Outside the Lines: A Way Forward for Those Who are Tired of Taking Sides fits that description.

Sauls starts out with a few hot-button issues of Christianity, ones which divide Christians to an extent, but which especially divide Christians from secular culture.  He calls on Christians not to be sucked into an "us vs. them" mentality, but to, on the one hand, recognize that "we should feel 'at home' with people who share our faith but not our politics even more than we do with people who share our politics but not our faith." On the other hand, "if we want to follow Jesus, we have no choice but to follow him into the world and into affirming friendships with as many non-Christians as we can."

When thinking and living like Jesus, Christians will be slow to condemn, but quick to befriend and offer hope.  Sauls clearly upholds a pro-life perspective, but calls on Christians to value all of life.  As C.S. Lewis wrote, we never meet a mere mortal.  Every person has dignity and value, whether born or unborn.  Similarly, he does not condone homosexual acts or approve of gay marriage; he writes that "no counter-voice can be found in the Bible that suggests a favorable view of homosexuality."  Yet he calls on Christians and the church to recognize the struggle of those attracted to others of the same sex and to be a place where redemptive friendship can be found.

Sauls's approach to the Christian life embraces humility, does not condemn questioning, and recognizes how imperfect all of us are.  He calls for the church (and I do mean church; he's not a fan of the churchless Christian movement) to be a place where the grace and welcome of Jesus prevail, and where the categories we try to put people into mean less and less.  I appreciated his engagement with secular writers and culture, and his invitation for non-Christians to read and to come to his church.  I was also challenged by his reminder to pursue and value relationships with non-Christians not as projects or targets for evangelism but as friends and peers.


Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

The Drop Box, by Brian Ivie and Ted Kluck

When filmmaker Brian Ivie read about a South Korean pastor who took in disabled children through a baby drop box, he knew he had found documentary gold.  He started out with the goal of shaking up the film world, but in the end it was his own life that got shaken up.  In The Drop Box: How 500 Babies, and Act of Compassion, and a Movie Changed My Life Forever, Ivie tells the story of his interest in film-making, his trips to Korea to meet Pastor Lee and his household full of abandoned children, and how Ivie became a follower of Christ as a result.

Pastor Lee's story is remarkable.  He literally has a box on the side of his house, with a sign that reads, "This is a facility for the protection of life.  If you can't take care of your disabled babies, don't throw them away or leave them on the street.  Bring them here."  The box, lined with blankets, has an alarm which sounds inside when a baby is left.  Pastor Lee and his wife have taken in children with every imaginable disability, hundreds of children over several decades.  Ivie, moved by the story, e-mailed Pastor Lee, asking if he could come to Korea and film a documentary.  Lee agreed, a friendship was born, and an award-winning documentary was made.  The film will be released soon.

Ivie's book does tell Pastor Lee's story, but it's mostly about Ivie's story.  He began making films as a child, using neighborhood kids as the cast.  When he began work on The Drop Box, he was enrolled in USC's film school, but he admits when they arrived in Korea he was "totally unequipped to do what we were about to do, but somehow going to do it anyway."  They did have some good equipment; a crowd funding campaign and some great interest from connected sources made sure of that.

The main storyline of The Drop Box (the book) is Brian's conversion to Christianity.  His life turned around.  Film had been his religion, but through meeting Pastor Lee, Ivie met Jesus.  Ivie's enthusiasm and commitment come through loud and clear, but the story does meander, from his childhood of movie making and movie loving, too his film school experiences, his girlfriends, and, most importantly the film and the impact of Pastor Lee on his life.  If nothing else, it gives a back story to the Drop Box documentary which emphasizes the power of a great story.  The movie has permanently changed one life in a major way, before it was even complete.  May many more be changed.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

Rodeo Red, by Maripat Perkins, illustrated by Molly Idle

As the Deputy of my territory here in Texas, I do declare that Rodeo Red is the real deal, a bona fide top dog story book for the cowgirl in all of us!  Maripat Perkins's cowgirl prose and Molly Idle's soft-hued illustrations lassoed me in from the get-go.

It seems that Rodeo Red's territory is getting encroached upon by Slim, a small interloper, all with the approval of the Sherrif and Deputy . When this newcomer swipes Red's best hound dog Rusty, it's going to get ugly.

Thankfully, Red didn't fall of the turnip truck yesterday.  With some quick thinking and a bit of good luck, she reunites with Rusty and keeps Slim happy at the same time.

I loved this book.  It captures the dynamic of big sister and the new arrival, playing together and sharing  versus delineating one's own space, the acknowledgment that mom is "Sheriff" and dad is her "Deputy," all in Red's cowgirl language and from her little cowgirl perspective.  Cowgirls and cowboys of all ages will enjoy Rodeo Red.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!