Each summer our kids enjoy trips, travel, fun, and friends, … and sleeping in! But they also enjoy reading. One of the activities we do is have the kids read one book and write a one page review summary with personal takeaways or applications. Sometimes it’s a collective book, and other times individual. This summer readings were individual Christian heroes in f the faith. Each of their reviews are below. Happy reading!

What I Learned About George Müller by Zeke Brown

George Müller came to faith in Jesus because his friend invited him to a Bible study meeting. But before he learned about Christianity, he used to steal money from his father. His mom died when he was young. But when he became a Christian, his life changed. Eventually, he started a lot of orphan houses to help other children. He needed a lot of money to keep the orphan houses running. So George prayed and God always answered to provide for their needs. Sometimes money would come in the mail. Other times people would stop by and give food.

I liked that that George helped other kids. I learned that God answers our prayers and He can help us.

What I Learned About Corrie Ten Boom by Avee Brown

Corrie Ten-Boom was about 48 years old when The German army, sent by Hitler, bombed the Dutch airport. The places that the army invaded in ww2 were Poland, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, Lexumburg, France, Yugoslavia, and Greece. When they invaded nothing really happened at first, but the longer that they were there the more strict they were, they had to have ration cards from the newspaper to tell them what they can get from the stores and when they can get it. They had curfews, and they had to turn in all of their radios to the army. The problem was that the radio was the only way to get news about the war. But the Ten-Boom house hold had 2 radios, Corries nephew had the idea to turn in one and to hide the other one, the Beje was old, so it had lots of books and hiding places, they hid it in one of the floor boards in the stairs. What they would do every night would be that they would shut the curtains, go get the radio and turn it on, they would all crowd around it, only one person would not be crowded around the radio, and the one person would go to the piano loudly while the others listen, then when the station was over they would have a discussion about what they said and about the updates on the war.

That was only the first act of rebellion against Hitler and the German army. Another act of rebellion was building the angels den, the secret room that the Jews who Hitler hated hid. How the angels den was made was that one of Corrie nephews kik, came to the baje at night, he took her to a house that had multiple people there,they all had skills or stuff or abilities to help, the last conversation that corrie had that night was playing through her head. “A man with an enormous mustache asked her where the guest at the Beje would hide during a raid. Corrie had to admit there was really nowhere; maybe they would climb out onto the roof and hide there. The man shook his head and said “That will not do. Lives depend on the right hiding place. I will send someone over to you in the next few days. His name is Smit, and he builds the best secret rooms in all of Haarlem.” So after a week the Mr. Smit came. They were talking about where the room would be hidden, Mr. Smit said that it would have to be near the top of the house so that they could escape easier. Corrie showed him each room, once they got to the top floor there was only one room and that room was Corries, they built the angels den where one of her shelf’s were so that they could pull it away and the jews could get in quickly and safely.

One of my takeaways is that God always answers prayers, no matter how long it takes, he will do it in his own time. When Corrie was at all 3 camps, Herzogenbusch, Kamp Vught, and Ravensbrück concentration camp. Corrie prayed a lot during the awful camps, she prayed for safety, she prayed for family, she even prayed for the German army, even though they hurt her and her family, killed so many people, she forgave them. My second takeaway is that God gives safety, one night the Germans invaded the Beje, the Jews ran to the angels den and were safe, but Corrie, her sister Betsie, and her father, Casper Ten Boom, were taken in their dining area and one by one were taken downstairs being interrogated about where the Jews were and about the hidden room, when they didn’t answer the German army’s questions they were beaten. Corrie was bruised, and scarred, her eyes were so swelled that she could hardly see. But God was with her through every moment. My third take away is that God gives peace. Multiple of her family members and friends died, and instead of being angry and taking it out on people, she was sad for a bit, but she was happy that they died in peace. My fourth takeaway is that God helps people forgive. Jan Vogels betrayed the Ten Boom family and turned them in to the gestapo. Near the end of the book Corrie felt that God wanted her to talk to him, she wrote a letter to him and told him that she forgave him. My fith and final takeaway is that God has a path made for us. Corries path that God made was hard, painful, and sad. But in all the hard times, the good times, the sad times, that was Gods plan, he used her as an example for others. In the end of the book Corrie was traveling to multiple places and sharing her story with others. Corrie Ten Boom is a role model and an example for everyone.

What I Learned About Brother Andrew By Audry Brown

Summary
Brother Andrew used to not listen to the sermons as a little boy, he would sneak out of the sermons because he sat alone in the back. When Andrew got older he joined the military and went to Indonesia where he realized he was going down the wrong path and went it to a stage of depression. When he went back to Holland, Andrew was disabled and live in a retirement home where he got drunk and wasted. One day at the retirement home a lady came and invited them to a sermon, Andrew and his friend got drunk and were very rude during the sermon and after Andrew realized he was going down the wrong path. So Andrew went back to his home and met with Thalia and her and Andrew’s family helped him get back on the right path with God and Andrew decided he wanted to become a missionary. When Andrew made that decision to become a missionary and was accepted into school, Thalia told Andrew she couldn’t date him because he wasn’t going to a catholic school. After his school year Andrew got a request to come to a refugee camp, Andrew realized God was calling him to help people in the communist countries and refugee camps. After Andrew realized what God was calling him to do, Andrew got an offer to go into communist China and he took it and started realizing that he wants to smuggle Bibles to the struggling Christians in the Communist countries and from there his ministry grew. After a few years of working alone Andrew realized that he wanted to share his work with a wife so Andrew went back home and met Corie who joined Andrew in his journey to help struggling christians. Andrew and Corrie went to the refugee camps and Corrie understood why Andrew had the conviction to help the people. Andrew met people along the path and grew his ministry with help from Hans who went to the communist countries with Andrew and helped him distribute the mini Bibles to Churches all over the Eastern part of the world.

Revelation 3 “Awake, and strengthen what remains and is on the point of death”

Goals of Open Doors
1. to deliver Bibles all over even if restricted or banned
2. training church leaders living in countries opposed to the gospel
3. to support and encourage believers who are suffering for their faith
TAKEAWAYS
• God uses unlikely people to further spread the gospel (Andrew smuggling bible and preaching in communist countries at his own risk after not listening to sermons and being a drunk when he was younger)
• God answers all our prayers in his own time (When Andrew got his car from his neighbor Mr Whetstras which helped him deliver Bibles in communist countries)
• God takes people out of our lives when they are trying to hold us back from His plan (When Thalia left Andrew because she thought that the only way he could serve God was through one school instead of being able to serve God learning from another Christian school)
• God can turn anyone’s life around (When Kees decided to become a minister after being like Andrew when he was younger, daredevil, not listening to sermons)
• God can help everyone feel peace even with something they fear ( When Andrew and Kees were sent to preach in Saint Pancras and he was scared his family would not like it if he preached in the streets but Andrew did it anyway and when he spoke from his heart his fear melted away)
• God places the right people in your life at the right time ( When Andrew realized he couldn’t keep working alone and he met Hans who helped him find people that would distribute the Bible’s and Hans was a man of God and when he talked about God people listened)
• God gives people a plan when they think there is no way (When Andrew saw the small Bible he decided to that he needed to print them that way he could bring even more Bibles into the communist countries)
• God makes a way when we think there is no way ( When Andrew met the Sherrills who wrote a book about him which gave him enough money to print the small Bibles)

What I Learned About C.S. Lewis by Amiyah Brown

C.S. Lewis otherwise known as Jack and his brother Warren grew up in Belfast Ireland. Both boys had amazing imaginations, together they came up with a mythical land run by animals called Boxen. With these amazing memories also came some quite sad ones the boys went through the struggle of losing their mother, Flora Lewis, to cancer. Warren and Jack went to a boarding school in England that taught them practically nothing, so they got a private tutor named William Kirkpatrick, nicknamed ol’ knock by the boys. Eventually Jack went off went to college in England at Oxford, and Warren went off to the military and was deployed. Jack knew if he stayed in England he would be called to go fight in WWI and met a friend there named Paddy Morre, who sadly was pronounced dead in a battle. Jack had promised to Paddy that he would take care of his mother Jannie, and sister Maureen if anything would happen to him. During a battle Jack was involved in an explosion, and ended up in the hospital with strappnol in his chest that would be there for the rest of his life. After the war Jack went back to school and studied to be a teacher at the university, and the Morres moved closer to him so that Jack could help them and care for Jannie. Warren came back from deployment and the four of them bought a house together and called it the kilns. When Jack became a teacher he met his friend J.R.R. Tolkien and the two were good friends and had many conversations about their love for writing stories and deeper things such as their faith. C.S. Lewis enjoyed these conversations because they made him question and think deeper about what he believes is true. Eventually jack came to the conclusion the he believed in Christ on a trip to the zoo. Jack did many amazing things including his writings on faith, or his children books, as well as doing talk shows on the radio going deeper into what his writings mean. He met his wife through a letter she sent him asking questions. Joy had a very interesting faith journey herself. She went from growing up in a non practicing Jewish household to an atheist, then a communist, and finally turned to Christ towards the end of her first marriage. Sadly Joy was diagnosed with cancer, she lived for quite some time after but passed fully knowing where she was going and she’ll see jack again. 

Jacks faith impacted many lives and still does today. I liked reading about how he was able to keep faith through so many hardships in life such as losing his loved ones. He also helped me realize how important it is to look for God in everything. Writing the chronicles of Narnia series it states he didn’t fully realize how much symbolism of the Christianity was actually in the books. C.S. Lewis to me also helps me to know that no matter how busy life can be it’s always important to take care of the ones you love (mrs. Morre when she was getting older). But he also demonstrates that it’s important to take care of yourself as well. He got so overwhelmed and stressed with work, the world wars, taking care of Janie Morre, and writing his stories he forgot to take care of himself and spent many days in the hospital recovering. Something’s that I would try to learn from and not do from his life is hurting the friends that have been there for you. Jack wrote a letter that went back into his Irish roots of disliking catholic people which hurt his friend JRR Tolkien. It’s important to remember that not everything needs to be said, and you need to be respectful even if you disagree.

What I Learned About Florence Young By Alethia Brown

• 1874: Florence was convicted to become a Christian when her sister Emily brought her to a prayer meeting shortly before her eighteenth birthday
• 1881: Florence began helping her brothers run their plantation, and God called her to be a missionary there to the housekeeper’s family and the indentured workers that the Australians called “Kanakas”
• Kanakas were indentured people from the Solomon Islands, which were known for being home to cannibals and witchcraft. There was about ten thousand Kanakas at work throughout Queensland

• 1886: Florence felt called to organize workers who would help reach all of the Kanakas in Queensland, and despite some discouragement she created the Queensland Kanakas Mission with another young woman, and God provided them with help from other Christians, including money and more workers
• 1890: Florence heard a missionary speak about the need for Christians to join the China Inland Mission, and God called her to go, so she left her sister-in-law in charge of the Queensland Kanakas Mission and went
• 1891–1900: Florence spent years between China and Queensland working as a missionary, and God was faithful to guide and protect her and the other workers through many hardships and to make them fruitful in both places
• 1902: The Australian government passed a law that the Kanakas must return to their home in the Solomon Islands, so the Queensland Kanakas Mission began a branch there, which Florence led
• 1907: After all of the Kanakas had returned to their native, the Queensland Kanakas Mission became the South Sea Evangelical Mission, which continued sending workers to teach the Kanakas, but also supported the Kanakas who became Christians in Queensland and were teaching their people about God too
• Despite many trials and setbacks, by 1924 (after 42 years of operation), the mission had 169 out stations in the Islands and 6,200 converts
• Even after Florence was unable to take an active part in the mission work, she stayed as involved as she could, as well as providing financial and prayer support until she died in May 1940

What stood out to me the most in this book was the family support among the Youngs. Florence and her family (which included three older brothers and two sisters, one older and one younger) were constantly working together to be successful in all areas of life. If one of the family members was sick or injured, then everyone else helped out—whether that meant helping nurse them back to health, taking care of children, or anything else. If there was a major life decision to be made, everyone came together and discussed it. And especially with Florence’s mission, everyone seemed to be involved: her siblings offered spaces to meet and financial support and talked to others about it to get even more support, and many of her nieces and nephews worked for the mission in administrative and mission capacities. And something that made this even more remarkable to me was that it wasn’t just her and her parents and siblings, but also her extended family (her siblings’ spouses and children).

How about you? What books did you read this summer? What people of history have influenced your life?