A Reckless Extravagant Love

By Keona Tann @ICFWriters

When my son, Jake, was 5 I enrolled him in swimming lessons. We were spending a lot of time around water and in boats so it was important for him to have water skills. One day we arrived and Jake was actually excited about his lesson, this was a huge milestone as he had previously not enjoyed them. As we walked past the deep end, to join his group on the other side of the pool, another excited child ran past Jake. I’m not sure how it happened, but next thing I knew Jake was in the deep end and sinking! I had one of those slow-motion moments. With great clarity I saw Jake sinking; I heard the gasps from the mums at the opposite end of the pool and saw their horrified faces; I saw the swimming teacher turn and start her way towards Jake but I felt she was going to be too late.
I felt as if I was moving too slow but I knew that I HAD to act. I took my handbag off my shoulder and placed it on top of Sarah (my daughter who was 3 at the time) and as I pushed her to the ground I yelled: ‘stay!’. Then without thinking I laid flat on my tummy and reached my arm in (jumper and all) to grab Jake. As I was reaching down I saw Jake sinking deeper and deeper. Just before Jake slipped out of reach I somehow grabbed him and pulled him out one handed, the strength to do that was simply divine intervention. As I hugged a wet crying Jake I wept tears of relief. I was hesitant that he would want to get back in the pool but thankfully he had a great lesson. I was so grateful that he was ok and I didn’t mind sitting there with a soggy jumper for the entire lesson.

Recently I was reflecting upon that story with Sarah (now 15) and talking about how instincts simply ‘kick in’ and you act without thinking. Sarah had a similar incident with her cousin, she was with family at a pool and her cousin was walking on the ledge between the spa and the pool when he tumbled in. Sarah said she quickly reached for him and grabbed him, scraping her leg on the pool edge in the process. At the time she didn’t feel the scrape but when things settled down her leg started stinging. Sarah’s cousin was fine thanks to her quick reaction and actions.

I’m sure you can easily think of stories where people have reacted out of instinct to rescue a loved one or even acted to save the life of a complete stranger. But the greatest story of all, for me, is the actions that Jesus took to set me free.

There is a song which I absolutely love that talks about the extravagant love of God, it’s a song called “Reckless Love”. I listened to one YouTube version where the songwriter, Cory Asbury, explained his thoughts behind the song. He opens with the passage from Luke‬ ‭15:1-7,‬ which is a parable of a shepherd who leaves behind 99 of his sheep in search of a missing sheep. When the shepherd finds his lost sheep he joyfully carries the sheep back to the others. Then Cory goes on to explain his lyrics: “When we use the phrase ‘the reckless love of God’, we are not saying that God Himself is reckless, He’s not crazy. We are however saying that the way He loves is in many regards quite so. What I mean is this: He is utterly unconcerned with the consequences of His actions with regards to His own safety, comfort and wellbeing…” Cory finishes declaring that Jesus laid His life down for us in pursuit of our hearts.‬‬‬

Jesus did not just react out of instinct, He knew the path set before Him and walked it with great obedience. He responded out of pure love and a desire to save us. Jesus knew that it would cost Him everything! In John 10:10 Jesus explains that he had come to give us life in abundance, He gave His all for us so that we could walk in divine freedom. It’s a powerful and life changing promise!

I pray that today, right now, you can know the One who laid down His life for You. That You can realise that God is with you, as promised in ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭7:14. Grasp hold of the truth that Jesus offers you life in abundance, as promised in John 10:10. Know that Holy Spirit is ready and waiting to be your Helper, Comforter, Advocate and Intercessor, as promised in John 14:26.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Many blessings, Keona

For most of my life I struggled with sickness. The 2 dominant afflictions were endometriosis (for 28 years) and adrenal fatigue (I was severely debilitated for 28 months and the recovery has been a journey of 11 months so far). In September 2016 God declared healing over my life. This set me on a path of restoration and transformation. My passion for writing was reignighted and I wrote the following mission statement: I desire to impact the world through the words I share. I long to enrich, empower and encourage others whilst delivering my stories with empathy and understanding. “He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the LORD.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭40:3‬ ‭NLT‬‬ I've started a weekly blog which you can find at: https://keonajtann.wordpress.com/ I'm currently working on my testimony as well as my journey with endometriosis and adrenal fatigue. I hope that I'll launch my first book soon.

God has allergies? Devotion by Dianne J Wilson

I have horrendous pet allergies. Does this stop me having pets? (Three cats, three dogs *cough*) Nope. I wouldn't choose to live without pets if you paid me. I get by with lots of hand washing after cuddles and a permanent stash of allergy tabs within reach.

Just this week I'd gone a bit overboard on the cuddles and rubbed my eyes without thinking. Anyone who suffers allergies will understand. Once you start rubbing, it is almost impossible to stop. That small oversight cost me an entire night's productivity as I had to down some strong allergy tabs to calm my system down. Pretty soon my brain turned to mush and the best option for me was to find my bed and sleep it off. I'm sure I gained a few years in wrinkles from rubbing my itchy eyeballs.


Needless to say, I wasn't keen to touch any of our fur-babies the next morning. They trooped in with tails wagging for brekkies and their morning loves. They just got brekkies. I didn't dare touch any of them because I knew it would set me off and I couldn't spend the whole day doped up on allergy tabs. 

By the time we left the house, there was none of the usual warm, fuzzy, happy-to-be-a-family feeling left. They'd taken turns being naughty and I found myself getting angry rather than teaching them right and wrong in a peaceful way. I left the house that morning feeling awful.

Then the Holy Spirit highlighted it for me. It was something like that with us and God. We are all born with a sinful nature. If you don't believe me, think of it this way - who teaches their offspring to be cheeky? No parent I know of. That stuff has to come from somewhere. 

So God, our Heavenly Dad, wants nothing more than to love us and keep us close, but he dare not come close to us in our sinful state. Our loving fellowship is broken and we are split apart. How would He fix this problem? 

Enter the perfect spiritual allergy tablet: Jesus! When Jesus is applied to our lives, we become acceptable to God. We no longer make His eyes stream or His chest close up. We are forever free to cuddle up close to Him with no bad side-effects for Him or us. Loves and cuddles are restored and the warm, fuzzy, happy-to-be-a-family becomes a permanent part of our lives. How lovely is that?

Allergies and God... I know it's not perfect theology, but I think you get the point. 

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She is working on a three book YA series, Spirit Walkers, for Pelican Book Group / Watershed.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon & Smashwords.

DEVOTION: Refiner's Fire

By Leila Halawe

Integrity. It is a crucial factor in our Christian walk. It’s important to God, so much so that there are approximately eighteen verses about it in the book of Proverbs alone. Obviously, it’s a big deal to God. It’s also a big deal to me. Integrity is something I take very seriously and pride myself on and if my integrity is questioned, I generally don’t take that lying down. So, when I found out the other day that my integrity was being questioned, I was a tad upset. And by tad upset I mean I was mad.

I’m fairly laid back and when people say things about me, good or bad, it tends to roll off easily, but not so when it’s about my character and integrity. I try, in as best as I can, to live a God honouring life and when criticism comes my way, I can generally acknowledge it, give it to God and move on. But not this time. This time, knowing that it was around my integrity, it was a little harder to let go and for the days that followed, I found myself camped out in this field of hurt and anger and frustration.

I prayed about it and talked it out with a friend to make sure that I wasn’t lacking integrity and despite all their reassurances, it still stung and I was still hurt and wanted nothing more than to defend myself against, however I didn't. I left and just processed it and stewed over it. Days later, as I was reading one of my devotional reading plans, I came across Malachi 3:2-3,

“But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,”

“He will sit as a refiner and purifier….” As I sat and pondered this verse, I was reminded of my situation and wondered how God would be using it to refine me, and I came to realise that the situation wasn’t about the accusation at all, it was about my reaction to it. God wasn’t so much looking at what others were saying about me, but the way I responded to what others were saying about me, and that changed things, in a big way. It changed how I viewed the situation. I prayed about it and felt the comforting peace of God affirming my actions, and that was enough to help me let it go. God didn't want me to go into battle over someone's opinion, He wanted me to go to Him and find my worth in Him. This opinion of my lack of integrity wasn’t about me, it was about them and how they viewed the world, and that’s on them, not me, however what is on me is how I react and in that moment, I was thankful that I didn’t go charging in like a bull in a china shop trying to defend my honour because I didn’t need to; God knew who I was, so He would defend me and that was all that mattered.

There will always be people that will say negative or hurtful or untrue things about us; unfortunate but true however when that happens s to us, what are we going to do about? Are we going to charge in and defend ourselves against the lies, or are we going to look to God, our Creator and perfecter, and seek His opinion? What I should have done straight away is go to God and ask Him who I was? Ask Him, the One that knit me together in my mother’s womb, what He thought of me. Because at the end of the day, it’s not about anyone other than Him. His opinion is the only one that counts and He tells me that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. He tells me that I am created in His image. He tells me that I am loved and that love is worth so much more than the opinion of people. 

The enemy will always try and shift our focus from God with lies and accusations but the good news is that we don’t have to play into his hands because we have a Father in Heaven that has promised to defend and protect us. We have a Saviour that tells us to look to Him for our worth and identity because He defeated death so that we could have life in Him. And we have a Comforter that, when we allow Him, will always make our paths straight.  May we always be people that walk in that victory and assurance.  

Leila (Lays) Halawe is a Sydney based coffee loving nonfiction writer and blogger. She has published a short devotional, Love By Devotion, and shares her views on life and faith via her blog page Looking In. You can connect with her via Facebook at Leila Halawe Author and via Twitter at Leila Halawe

He Sees You - Devotional

Last night was my 10yo’s school play. It is a South African adaptation of Jack and the Beanstalk so instead of a beanstalk, we have a coral tree and instead of Jack, we have Jacobus. 

My girl has been cast as a skinny kitchen rat and her name is Thin-Thin. To make it all more exciting, they are dancing to the old UB40 song There’s a Rat in My Kitchen. As a mom and a UB40 fan, it just doesn’t get better than this. Their first show was last night, we’ve got tickets for tonight. I can’t wait! (That's why there are no pictures of her, just this generic coral tree.)

It was my turn to play taxi and do the after show pick up last night. My girl can be superbly slow at changing when you catch her on an off day so I hung around in the parking lot with the other parents for some time.

As the kids started dribbling out of their classrooms to find their families, I watched a tiny girl who wasn’t cast as a lead, but showed up anyway, and played her part as a soup ingredient or something. She may, or may not have been one of a bunch of carrots. 

This is not that little girl --->

The kid ran up to her mom and asked, “Did you see me?” The mom wrapped her in an enormous hug and responded, “I did! You were awesome!”

I stood there waiting for mine and watching this scene play out over and over.

Did you see me?

I did, you were amazing! 

Awesome! 

Incredible!

The Holy Spirit whispered quietly to my heart, so quietly that I heard it above all the excited noise...

I see you. You are amazing.

This is the beautiful truth I pass on to you today. It doesn’t matter where you’re at or why. It doesn’t matter if you’re at the top of your game, nailing your goals and achieving, or just surviving one day (one hour) at a time and not giving up. It doesn't matter if your dreams are tucked away in the back corner of your heart gathering dust, or if you are chasing after them so hard that your heart may explode.

He sees you.

And to Him, you are amazing.

Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 

Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. Luke 12 v 7.

Rest in that today. You are loved by the God of the universe. More than just loved, He thinks you're amazing! I think that's enough, don't you?

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She is writing a three book YA series, Spirit Walker, with Pelican / Watershed, book 1, Affinity, releasing soonish.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon & Smashwords.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

Seeing God When the Windshield is Dirty

Lucy Thompson here.

Life has been tough lately. Tough enough to need an extra pair of these:

Pic credit.

Seems like my (mostly) smooth driving through life has been hit by a series of boggy stretches of road and churned up byways that have left my windshield mud splattered and rearview mirrors smudged.

Times like this, sometimes God can be hard to see, if I'm being very honest. 

© Mg3141592 | Dreamstime Stock Photos & Stock Free Images

And I don't know about you, but sometimes I don't loosen my white-knuckled grip of the steering wheel as early as I should. Cos, you know...pride. Thinking I can do this all by myself... More pride... Shame. Being overwhelmed.

Sometimes there are no answers. But there is God. Surprisingly, he is enough.

There's that saying  "Sometimes God calms the storm, sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child." (Source unknown). 

In those moments when the wheels are churning, demands are unmet, and the view through the windshield is blurred with gobs of mud (stuff life throws at us) I sense God nudging me. Saying "hey... Be still. Sit with me for a spell. Wait."

Wait.  

I don't do waiting very well. Anyone?? Even when trying to sleep I'm more like this:

Credit: Facebook :P

But God.

 He doesn't leave us in our mess. He doesn't leave us alone. He doesn't leave us. He will never leave me. Or you.

Want to know why? 

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. John 3:16-18The Message (MSG)

 Because he loved. Because he gave. In spite of our messes and mishaps. In spite of our distraction by shiny things and squeaky toys. 

God loves you.
Know that.
Trust that. 

Take your gaze off the dirty windshield and look closer. Perhaps you'll see that God is sitting right next to you just waiting for your attention. :)

About Lucy:
Hi! My name is Lucy Thompson. I’m a stay-at-home mum to five precocious children and wife to the ultra-handy Dave by day and a snoop by night, stalking interesting characters through historical settings, and writing about their exploits. 

I enjoy meeting new people from all over the world and learning about the craft of writing. When I can be separated from my laptop, I’m a professional time-waster on Facebook (really!), a slave to the towering stack of books on my bedside table, or can be found hanging out with my five children. 

My home is in central Queensland, Australia where I do not ride a kangaroo to the shops, mainly because my children won’t fit

 Try my books: A Cowboy's Dare if you like full length historical romance. Or if time is shorter, Waltzing Matilda,  a novella in Barbour's Oct release.

Look! It's a flying Caterpillar!

We all know that Caterpillars can't really fly, but in this photo, this little guy is doing really well.

The truth is he is under-girded by an invisible force that makes it possible for him to do what he naturally can't. So just as my cars windscreen gives a flightless worm the appearance of having awesome super-powers, we too have an invisible force under-girding us. The best part is that what we have is so much more than just pretend. We have a supernatural God who possesses all the power in the universe.

So how about that thing that feels impossible to you now? Maybe it's getting a book published, finding a new job or getting over a heartbreak. Whatever it is, you can rest knowing that carrying you through the impossible is God's love and supernatural grace will carry you.

He is the invisible One who makes all things possible and He loves you more than you could ever imagine.

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She is neck-deep in a three book contract for a YA series, Spirit Walker, with Pelican / Watershed.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon & Smashwords.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

Devotion: Getting God's Attention

"See, God has come to save me.

I will trust in him and not be afraid.

The Lord God is my strength and my song;

he has given me victory."

Isaiah 12 v 2

Health, finances, family relationships, your job situation, infertility... whatever your issue is.

Today's devotion is aimed at anyone who is struggling to trust God. Maybe you've been praying for breakthrough for a long time and you just cannot see anything shifting. Or perhaps you are in such a desperate place that if God doesn't come through for you, you are sunk. I'm right next to you in this trench.

Bear with me for a moment and let me tell you the story of my cat, Sleepy. She is a sweet little thing who has a built-in alarm clock in her belly and is vocal enough to let the neighbourhood know when she is hungry. Sleepy will come and meow for food from exactly an hour before suppertime and continue to do so until those biscuits hit her bowl. She has stamina for nagging that would see most athletes through the Olympics.

I was in the kitchen last night, trying to wrap my brain around all I needed to get through before bedtime. Feeding the cats was already crossed off my To-Do's, so when Sleepy came nagging, I ignored her. She didn't give up. She came right up close and licked my leg. Three times. I kid you not.

That got my attention like nothing else. It made me laugh and remember again, just how much I love this goofy animal. I looked around and saw that her water bowl was empty. One refilled bowl later and I had a happy cat.

Unlike me and my cat, God never ignores us. Psalm 35 v 15 tells us that 'the eyes of the Lord are towards the righteous, and his ears towards their cry.' He won't ignore us but I have a feeling that it tickles Him pink when we seek Him out. He loves nothing more than being with us, otherwise  why would He have sent Jesus to make a way for us to be with him forever?

So I encourage you today, no matter what you're facing, give Him your attention. In whatever way you are able. Lick His leg if that's all you can manage.

I'm standing with you in this trench and together we have front row seats to His miracles. Let me know when yours arrive!

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters. She has just signed a three book contract for a YA series, Spirit Walker, with Pelican / Watershed.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Amazon & Smashwords.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

   

3 Cats, 1 Mom and God

We have three cats. They are sisters, so they share genes. They’ve grown up in the same home – ours – and we’ve done our best to make sure they get equal rights, privileges and love. In spite of that, their personalities are completely unique.

This is Gwinny. Short for Guinevere. She is a complete lady, secure in her charms. Having perfected the art of the flop, she can melt hearts in 2 seconds flat. All she needs to do is run across the room with the purring-meow thing she does, flop on your lap (your book, your work, your laptop … the effect is the same) and you are hooked. Smitten. Stuck until she moves. She is the fluffiest of the three and somehow commandeered the soft fur genes.

The beauty on the right is Ginger. Her fur is more coarse and from day one, she has been less open to being loved.

The third is Sleepy and she doesn’t feature in today’s thought. Sorry Sleepy.

Back to the other two – I love cats. In spite of hideous cat allergies, they make a house a home and add so much life and love. But here’s the thing that struck me – Gwinny lets me love her. When I bend down to rub her head, she purrs and pushes against my hand. Ginger cringes and pulls away. Not all the time, but mostly.

Guess who gets the most evidence of my love...

I love each cat just as much as the other two, but that’s not what it looks like to someone who doesn’t know me. That got me thinking about God and His love for us. When He draws close to show us how much He loves us, do we press into His hand, secure in His love, enjoying His attention? Or do we pull away?

There are many reasons to hold back, to be wary of opening up to Him. I know that. But I also know that not one of those reasons comes from His heart.

Interesting thought, hey?

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, 

because fear has to do with punishment. 

The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 

We love because he first loved us. 

1 John 4:18-19

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Smashwords.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

Seeing His Face in the Room

We're at the stage of family life where we find ourselves in mini-awards assemblies a few times a year. There's not much to do as you wait through hundreds of small people having their moment in the spotlight. With three daughters, I've done my fair share of these gatherings, yet I don't think I'll ever grow tired of them. You see I love watching the faces of the award winners as they line up on stage after shaking hands and getting their loot. You can see them frown as they search the crowd for their loved one, certificate in their hands all but forgotten.

Then my favourite moment - they find the one they've been looking for. They light up. You can read it all over their faces... Dad promised to be here and here he is. He's taken time off work to be here for me. He's proud of me, he loves me, he believes in me.

We can say these things to our kids over and over, but sometimes they need to see our face in the room.

Writing about God and His love is much like this. He promised in the Bible that He will never leave us or forsake us. Our readers may have heard this over and over without it ever really hitting home. But as their eyes scan our words, they will find the One they've been looking for, whether they knew they were looking for Him or not! As they do their faces will light up. They will be transformed by His love for them.

Our words can be His face in the room.

Dianne J. Wilson writes novels from her hometown in East London, South Africa, where she lives with her husband and three daughters.

Finding Mia is available from Amazon, Pelican / Harbourlight, Barnes & Noble and other bookstores.

Shackles is available as a free ebook from Smashwords.

Find her on Facebook, Twitter and her sporadic blog Doodles.

Hijacked!

I finished up Affinity, first book of my YA Spirit Walker series, with a head swimming full of ideas for the next one. Knee-deep in plot cards and notebooks, I opened an email from my publisher with a special story call out. That's nice, I thought, and brushed it aside knowing my brain was taken up with my current mission. I have limited time and brain cells - 3 girls in the house will do that to you - there was no way I could even think of a different book at this stage.

And then I was hijacked.

It happened somewhere between the shower and putting the kettle on for a cup of tea. Out of nowhere; a title, back page blurb, protagonist and a bubbling excitement that I couldn't ignore. Um, excuse me? What about Spirit Walker 2? But there was Meg, fragile yet feisty, front and center in my mind. And.She.Wouldn't.Go.Away.

So I'm listening. Spirit Walker can wait and it will. 

Friends, I'd like to introduce you to a tiny glimpse of my hijacker:

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Fresh from a spectacular break up and faced with a looming big-O birthday, Meg throws her cautious nature aside and signs up for dance classes. Little does she know that Ballroom will stretch more than her muscles as she is forced to confront her greatest fear...

Right now, I feel like I'm adventuring way off the beaten path, hand-in-hand with my favorite co-author and I wouldn't swap it for anything.

How about you? Have you ever had a book push its way to the front of the queue? I'd love to hear your story.

BEWARE of STEREOTYPES

                                                                                       This is something authors have to keep in mind

Movie Goer

each time we create and write a character. And
stereotyping people is something we're too often
guilty of doing in real life. You only have to hear of
someone's occupation for a caricature to spring to mind.

One example: A MISSIONARY.

Now according to many Hollywood films I've seen, a missionary is usually seen as either of two types - a gentle, absent-minded soul who can't make it in the real world. Or a harsh tyrant trampling culture and forcing indigenous people to accept his own ingrained ideas of Christianity.

A real life occurrence of that mindset happened sometime ago. I'll fill in the background.

Many, many years before, five young male missionaries were speared to death in the steaming Amazon rainforests of Ecuador. They'd just begun to make overtures to the Auca Indians (as they were then known.) The mass media splashed the shocking headlines right around the world. Yet their sacrifice resulted in many great changes to those tribal people.

Now fast forward ....  When an a group of anthropology students asked permission to study these people, the tribe gave their consent. Some thirteen hours later after trekking through thick jungle and mountain gorges, the exhausted students reached camp...and fell on their faces. Once they'd recovered and eaten, the group began making pronouncements of how the missionaries had ruined their tribal culture. The people seemed puzzled. Then they were asked if they were worse off after being invaded by the missionaries, supposedly with the white man's germs killing them off.

When that was also translated the natives began to laugh uproariously. Now the students looked puzzled and asked, "What's so funny?" The tribal elders promptly answered: "No, no. We were saved from killing each other off." They then pointed out various tribal members and explained, "This man's father I killed, then his two brothers and his aunt." Another indicated a woman. "Her husband I speared, and her sister." Others soon joined in ... describing the routine of pay-back killings.

At that point the students' eyes grew rounder at the tale of horrific bloodshed.One of them asked the local missionary, "Are we safe here?"  But then the elder added, "Hating and killing we lived. But now Jesus has filled our hearts with His love. He has forgiven our many sins and now we want to tell other tribes about Him." Many an eye glistened and they experienced genuine embarrassment to realize just how far removed was the the stereotype of the bungling missionary.

Rita Stella Galieh is the author of two published books and is involved in an Australia-wide Christian radio program, VANTAGE POINT. This is an excerpt from one yet to be aired. She also shares real life stories of authors and anyone who cares to share about their personal romance/marriage in her weekly blog,
http://inspirationalromance.blogspot.com  Her contact is: ritagalieh  at  gmail  dot com  She'd love to hear from you!