One of the things that a missionary faces is finding things that they like and are not easily available in their host country. A big one for me is books. I love to read, to learn, and yes, even to study. When the kindle first came out, I drooled. Imagine having all the books you could want at your fingertips, and at thrift-shop prices! Drool, drool. I had to lay that desire down though, because we couldn't afford it.
Well! I got a kindle for Christmas! What a blessing! (Pardon the triple exclamation points. I'm excited.)
Some of books I've really enjoyed have been the Canadian West series by Janette Oke. I read them all when I was a pre-teen girl, and enjoyed them, but they take on an entirely new light now that I'm a missionary in a foreign country, with my own language problems and feelings of isolation. These books encouraged me to keep ministering patiently and let the Lord fulfill my unrequited desires in His time. (Which He did with my kindle!)
I'm enjoying the free books available on the kindle Amazon store, but I've learned that you need to be choosy about what you download! Not everything listed under "free Christian fiction" is suitable for Christians. The reviews are valuable, here, so I don't download a book without reading enough of the reviews to know it's not smutty.
One book that was very favorably impressed with was, Gods and Kings: Chronicles of the Kings by Lynn Austin. I haven't read any other books in this series, but since the first one was free I tried it out. I've never read biblical fiction that was so "right on". It clearly brings out the fact that there is nothing new under the sun. Following the life of King Hezekiah up to the moment he decides to be "that" king; the one who leads his people back to God. You can see the temptation of God's priests to compromise their convictions for the sake of people, trying to draw them back into the temple worship, as they make a transition from serving God, to serving the people, to serving idols. God's plan is evident as He protects Hezekiah and His own faithful prophets, while devout Jews find the temple abhorrent and defiled. There are adult themes, though (Worship of Molech described in graphic detail.) I'm looking forward to reading the rest of this series!
Well, enough of my jabber for now. Thanks for reading!
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