From Hand to Mouth.

Who said,that a missionary "often lives from hand to mouth"?

Samuel Zwemer,On various occasions in later life he made the remark, "I have always lived from hand to mouth, but it has been the Lord's hand and my mouth."

Zwemer gets a wife and a good one.

Bachelors Zwemer and Cantine were in Basrah when two Christian nurses came through on their way to Baghdad.  One, Amy Wilkes, was very attractive and was asked to pour tea.   Zwemer called her to see a passing caravan.  As she arose her foot caught on the shawl that was covering the packing case used as a table.  Most of the dishes came crashing down and she fled to the balcony in tears.  The report is that Zwemer "suggested it would be fine should she stay on and break the remainder of the dishes at her convenience."  In resolved pursuit, he arranged to be the Arabic teacher for the young ladies and you can guess the rest.
Amy was an amazingly suitable wife for Zwemer.  He said of her: ...she worked under "circumstances and in an environment of untold discomforts and physical hardships.  Naturally strong and self-reliant, she triumphed over everything bravely and hopefully.  Our small, uncomfortable, three-room leaky house, without screens in the midst of the town became a center of hospitality for Arab women and children....Looking back on those early years, what she patiently endured now seems incredible."

This is a poem he wrote about her:

"Her love was like an island
In life's ocean, vast and wide,
A peaceful, quiet shelter
From the wind and rain and tide.
'Twas bound on the north by Hope,
By Patience on the west,
By tender Counsel on the south
And on the east by Rest.
Above it, like a beacon light,
Shone faith and truth and prayer;
And through the changing scenes of life
I found a haven there."

Zwemer zinger

Samuel Zwemer was a Dutch American who poured out his life in love for his Savior and for Muslims.  I am  thrilled to the bone to be reading his biography Apostle to Islam.  Higher criticism of Scripture, especially in Europe, wrecked havoc on the church and weakened the stream of missionaries going out. Zwemer hated that higher criticism and likened it to "ants in Africa who would bite the life-germ out of a seed before they took it underground in their anthill, so it could not sprout."

Three Cheers for Reading Aloud.

Reading aloud is inexpensive. It is highly portable. It teaches language skills. It makes history come alive and gives hope. It can build character and implant faith. It gives us laughs. What’s not to love about it?
Recently I expanded on the benefits of reading aloud at 
http://www.visionarywomanhood.com/the-joy-of-reading-aloud/

Why my father was right about Harlequin Romances

When I was a teenager, I read many, many Harlequin Romances.  I am not bragging.  I am confessing.
My father never liked it, and I wish I had been more into pleasing my father and less into pleasing myself.

Robert E. Lee did not like his children reading fiction.  He wrote to his wife:

Let him [his son Rooney] never touch a novel.  They print beauty more charming than nature, and describe happiness that never exists. They will teach him to sigh after that which has no reality, to despise the little good that is granted us in this world and to expect more than is given.

H.W. Crocker III says that Lee enjoyed many of the simple pleasures of life precisely because he forsook wallowing in "unattainable fantasies."  He understood that original sin was a reality to live with for the redeemed.
Though we may not adopt Lee's strict position on fiction, we should be wise as to the temptations that may accompany it.

The Love of Christ in his Intercession

"It is impossible fully to set forth the interest he takes in his people, or the concern he manifests for their welfare....May I expect every blessing to flow to me through this medium, and may I rejoice in this privilege when I can rejoice in nothing beside."     The Love of Christ by James Smith

Some of our Favorite Books to Read Aloud

Favorite Authors from Inheritance Publications. This is one of our favorite publishers and the only one I will cover today. The list is not exhaustive of our favorites. Grace  of Truth has a wonderful little selection available.

Piet Prins

Anak The Eskimo Boy

Wambu Series (3 books)

Struggle for freedom Series (4 books)

The Shadow Series (5 books)

Scout Series (7 books)

Stefan Derksen’s Polar Adventure

The Sheltie Series (2 books)

Hesba Stretton

Jessica’s First Prayer and Jessica’s Mother

Amy Le Feuvre

Probable Sons

Legend Led

Teddy’s Button

Harebell’s Friend

Andy Man

Deborah Alcock

The Romance of Protestantism

Crushed yet Conquering

Under Calvin’s Spell

The Spanish Brothers

Doctor Adrian

Done and Dared in Old France

By Far Euphrates

 We have carefully selected  historical fiction to make church history come alive.   Deborah Alcock (though not writing for young children, her books can be read aloud when they are quite young) is one of our favorite authors of historical fiction. She takes you to France to weep with the persecuted but persevering Huguenots, to Bohemia to walk alongside the godly John Huss, to Spain to cringe as the reformation is crushed under the heels of the inquisition, to Turkey to witness the pain and triumphs of the Armenian Christians under the Turks,  to Holland as she fights to be free from the domination and oppression of Spain. Alcock understands the theological issues involved and you will get some theological education to boot.  

Some additional historical fiction to teach church history are:

The Farrier of Buda by P. De Zeeuw

The Carpenter of Zerbst by De Zeeuw

Quintus by R. Weerstand

Church history for children  (biography)

Against the World - The Odyssey of Athanasius by Henry W. Coray

Augustine by J. Gzn and De Zeeuw   

 William of Orange The Silent Prince  by W. G. Van de Hulst

Inheritance Publication also has a series on the Huguenots:

The Escape/The Secret Mission by A. Van der Jagt (this series is for children)

How They Kept The Faith by Grace Raymond

The Young Huguenots by Edith S. Floyer 

Driven into Exile by Charlotte Maria Tucker

                   Some books on WW II

It Began With a Parachute by William R. Rang
Journey Through the Night by Anne De Vries