Faithful Women and their Extraordinary God (5 stars)

Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God
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 by Noel Piper

Ordinary Women, Extraordinary God!

Thank you Mrs Piper for such a treasure! If you are like me and love reading biographies of ordinary Christians who made themselves available so the Lord could do exploits through them, then you will certainly love this book. This is the biography of five ordinary women, who lived in different eras in history and in different countries who were willing to be used by God in extraordinary ways. The women are:

Sara Edwards - A true Titus 2 woman who selflessly supported the ministry of her husband, Jonathan Edwards;

Lilias Trotter - She was born in to an upper class family in Victorian England but chose to served God as a missionary in Algeria North Africa;

Gladys Alward -She left her home in England in 1932 to serve the Lord in China;

Esther Ahn Kim - stood along side the persecuted believers during the Japanese occupation of Korea;

Helen Roseveare became a doctor to the people of the Congo.

I love the way Mrs Piper showed how the Master Designer of the universe was working to bring the ministries of these women to pass.

“With one exception, these women didn’t know each other. But I can almost picture each one passing the baton of faithfulness from her generation to the next.

In 1758, as Sarah Edwatds lay dying in New England, “she expressed her entire resignation to God and her desire that he might be glorified in all things; and that she might be enabled to glorify him to the last.'

Not quite 100 years later in England, Lilias Trotter was born into a family of a similar social standing as the Pierreponts, Sarah Edward’s family. When Lilias dies in 1928 in Algeria, Gladys Aylward was in London trying to persuade her brother and friends that someone needed to take the gospel to China. Soon she realized that God was calling her.

In 1940, as Gladys was trekking across the Chinese mountains with 100 children, Esther Ahn Kim had already been a prisoner for the gospel’s sake for a year in Korea. Esther was released in 1945, the year that Helen Roseveare, a medical student in England, became a Christian.

And Helen Roseveare’s life crosses the years of our lives, as she passes the baton of faithfulness to us, this generation.

May God give us eyes to see the crossings of these womens lives with our lives. And even more, may we see God more clearly in our own lives because of what we see in the loves of Sarah Edwards, Lilias Trotter, Gladys Awlard, Esther Ahn Kim, and Helen Roseveare."

Not only was I captivated by the stories of these women, I was also challenged to live a life worthy of the Lord where he has called me to serve, which is wife, mother, Church member and Christian sister.

These biographies are not very in-depth and as such make for a very easy and enjoyable read, it does serve to wet your appetite by creating a desire in you to want to know more about the life and ministries of these ladies.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have read it twice and can see myself reading it a couple more times. This book will bless you and your family tremendously and will definitely be a great addition to your library.

Reading level 10 and up.