Angola Beloved by T. Ernest Wilson; published 2007 by Gospel Folio Press; available from John Ritchie Ltd; 216 pages; price £6.99.
The sub-title of this book states, "A story of Gods faithfulness". During boyhood years, the imagination of the author was fanned into a bright flame while reading of the faithfulness of God in the lives of David Livingstone, Fred Arnot, and Mary Slessor. He wanted to follow in their footsteps.
At the age of 21, T. Ernest Wilson left work in the worlds largest shipyard to venture into the heart of Africa with the gospel. Having been deeply impressed by the faith of George Mueller, who had put his confidence entirely in the Lord, never asking for money, T. E. Wilson made it a practice to never mention his material needs to anyone but the Lord.
The reader is introduced to the atmosphere of Angola in a vivid way, "burnt grass in the dry season, the warm earth after the first rains; parched corn roasted on the open fire". It was here in a country four times the size of the United Kingdom, that the youthful missionary would spend the next forty years.
The author relates how he was met at Silva Porto by William Maitland, the veteran pioneer to the Chokwe tribe, who extended his hand and simply said, "Welcome to Africa".
Soon T. E. Wilson headed into the unevangelized north and met Mwandumba "the lion prince". Of that visit, he wrote, "the impression deepens that, to get anywhere with these people, someone will have to give his life to the task, and not just half an hours talk, like a ship passing in the night".
Read how he and his wife started married life in a "9-foot by 6-foot tent" and remained there for six months while a mud-and-wattle house was made habitable. Souls were saved and assemblies established. "Some believers walk as far as 25 miles at the weekend for the sake of breaking bread".
Numerous relevant illustrations and photographs are dotted throughout this thrilling book. At the end there is a helpful Bibliography and an extensive Index. Angola Beloved is a story told with warmth and deep spiritual insight, clearly showing that God is faithful.
AC
For The Love Of Naomi by Lorraine Wylie; published 2007 by Ambassador Publications; available from John Ritchie Ltd; 104 pages; price £6.99.
This book is sub-titled, "From Shankill to Seoul Billy & Mary Stevenson discover the worth of weakness".
The back streets of Belfasts Shankill Road was where Billy and Marys journey of faith began, but neither of them could ever have imagined where it would lead.
Billy had been brought up under the influence of the gospel, but by the time he was seventeen, he was already a hardened drinker, a compulsive gambler, and later became a founder member of a paramilitary organisation, the Ulster Defence Association.
The chapter entitled "Love Doesnt Give Up" relates how James Leckie of Fortwilliam Gospel Hall, Belfast, befriended the Stevenson family. Billy accompanied Mr Leckie to gospel meetings, but it was while passing his young son Billys bedroom that the wayward father heard his boy pray, "Please save my daddy". That night, Billy, on the "18th April, 1971, surrendered his life to the Lord". Four weeks after his conversion, both Billy and Mary were baptised.
It was through a meeting with John Anderson, a missionary serving the Lord in Korea, that Billy was shown the enormous areas of need in that country. Months of heart searching and prayer followed.
The Stevenson family eventually left Belfast and landed at Seoul. How would they cope with having to exchange their comfortable home in Glengormley for a rat infested house on the side of a Korean mountain? Out on the poverty stricken streets of the villages surrounding South Koreas capital, Billy would feel both humbled and privileged to be serving the Lord Jesus Christ.
With two children of their own the Stevensons took in an abandoned Korean baby girl whom they named Naomi. "Neither husband nor wife knew the depths of sorrow or the pinnacles of grace that lay ahead".
As the years unfolded they would discover that their lives would be dedicated to the love of Naomi. Read of the provision of divine wisdom and measureless grace that they have known against the backdrop of human frailty.
AC