Reading, Writing & Pondering

  Betty Greene: The Girl Who Longed to Fly by Laura Caputo-Wickham is another book in the Do Great Things for God series for young children, ages four to eight. Betty wanted to learn to fly from the time she was 7 years old and she took flying lessons as soon as she was able to, thanks to some money given to her by an uncle. She then used her skills to make her dream come true of traveling all over the world and she did a lot of great things for God in her travels, including setting up Mission Aviation Fellowship. Betty Greene is truly an inspiring story for young ones. This story teaches little ones about following your dreams and about following God. I found it to be inspiring and enjoyed it even as an adult. I think it would inspire the whole family. I wasn't familiar with Betty Greene's story before this book. The writing is easy for young children to understand. The book has brightly colored, eye catching illustrations. At the back of the book, is a historical timeline tha...

    Gladys Aylward by Laura Caputo-Wickham is a new book in the Do Great Things for God series for young children. Gladys was an English woman who desperately wanted to be a missionary in China. This is a true story and a very young biography for young children to learn about her life and to be inspired to do great things for God themselves. Gladys Aylward is a larger book, measuring roughly 8 inches by 9 1/2 inches, and has brightly colored eye-catching illustrations. The book is fairly simplistic in the writing style and should be easy for little ones to understand. The historical timeline at the back of the book is especially nice and is also easy to follow. Gladys Aylward would be a great addition to any Christian family's home library. I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions within this review are my own.

Sarah Thebarge is a Yale-trained physician assistant. Well is her story of her spiritual and vocational calling to medical missions work in Togo, West Africa. Well is a different book than most books that I have read. This book is not divided into chapters. Well is Thebarge's story told pretty much cover to cover of her trip to Togo to work at the Hospital of Hope, a conservative Baptist missions-run hospital in Mango, Togo. Thebarge shares her medical challenges in treating the local people in great detail. She also shares her spiritual challenges and takeaways from the experience, along with the physical toll on her body and mind from the experience. Love Looks Around was my big takeaway from Well . I may not be able to go to a missions hospital and work in my lifetime, but I am able to look around with a love that comes from God and see what I can do to love those around me as I believe God would want me to. I am glad I read the book for the spiritual takeaways. I also...

Katie Davis Majors moved to Uganda more than ten years ago. She founded Amazima Ministries, which helps children and families in Uganda, and she adopted several girls as she sought to serve and minister to the Ugandan people. Her first book, Kisses from Katie , was a New York Times Bestseller and shares how she came to live in Uganda and adopt her girls. In her new book, Daring to Hope , Majors shares new stories from Uganda intermingled with Scripture and how God spoke to her through those experiences. She shares her heartaches and her dreams in the midst of caring for many who have needed her. This book touched my heart in so many places. I could feel her pain, her sorrows and her questions for God as she worked to help those around her with their disease and desperate circumstances. Then I felt her joy as she shared God's goodness and His presence where she least expected it. She shares so vividly that you feel like you are there with her living these experiences. While Ma...

The Brinkman Family adventure CDs are based on the adventures of real missionaries who share some of their humorous escapades through the Brinkman Family tales. The stories are dramatized with various voices for the different characters, along the lines of the Adventure in Odyssey stories. My son is 11 and he enjoyed them. The jacket says that children under the age of 10 may find the stories to be intense so they encourage parents to listen along with them. They seemed to be the right amount of adventure for my son's age as he didn't get too worried and just seemed to enjoy the stories. These CDs would be great to have for long car rides. They would be good to help kids see the excitement in being a missionary.You can purchase these CDs for yourself at: http://brinkmanadventures.com/   You can even listen to a sample at: http://brinkmanadventures.com/listen . They operate on a donation basis and they can download the episodes on the site or order physical CD's.  If...