August 6, 2013

No Greater Love

Last fall my daughter sat on a wooden bench in an African tent church that was built on a street of brothels. Children of prostitutes were running in and out as their mothers sat down to listen.

Most of the sermons were in the African language of the people but that night a missionary from America came to speak. My daughter was refreshed by his sermon. Mainly because it was in English and she could understand it. : )

She was encouraged by his words that night.


...About a month ago we were in our local book store and she thought this book, No Greater Love, sounded interesting because it was set in Ethiopia. I bought it for her and we headed home.

Once she began to read she realized this author was the speaker at that little tent church in Africa. This was exciting so I had to read this book too!

And what a beautiful book it is.

Not because this missionary and his wife are perfect people but because they were not only open to sharing their successes, but also sharing their failures.

It all started with a short term missions trip.

This led Levi to children who were being rescued from certain death due to a superstition among the tribal people of Ethiopia. A superstition known as 'mingi.' If a child had any sort of defeat when born, it was considered cursed and had to be killed, often by their own parents.

Levi's heart broke for these children who needed some one to care for them.

The tribal people would let the children go as long as they were never returned. God called Levi and his family to do this.

I really appreciated Levi's honesty in this book. The hardships and questions. It felt real. God never seems to do things the way we plan them. But He always does them according to His perfect plan.

I love what he says in the introduction:

"...the truth remains: God needs no heroes to work for Him. He chooses the broken, the weary, the torn apart, the weak. If our family accomplished good, it wasn't because of us - it was because of Him."

And here he says of their journey:

"When I think back to this time in our family's life - the drastic transitions, the mistakes, the frustrating unknowns - I see only one constant: God. He was always there - covering mistakes, holding our hands, forgiving blunders, reaching deep into our hearts and healing. And for that, I am thankful."

Levi, his wife Jessie and their children are living in Ethiopia today and helping many children.

Please pray for them.

Here is their website: Bring Love In

Watch the video about the book:



Buy it HERE on Amazon



24 comments:

  1. This looks like a powerful, amazing book!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It was such a refreshing book to read. Very humble and relatable. A family to keep in prayer. : )

      Delete
  2. Hi Cathy! I am visiting from Wednesday Prayer Girls.

    It always impresses me...how many people are dedicating their lives in such a public way to preaching the Gospel. How inspiring! Just like Jesus, Levi chooses the broken and the weak. That's a lot of food for thought this Wednesday morning.

    Nice to meet you today!
    Ceil

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Ceil, nice to meet you too! Thanks for stopping by. I love these kinds of books and happy to be able to share this one here. It's a beautiful one!

      Delete
  3. Wow! That looks like a powerful testimony. I am going to bookmark Bring Love In so I can keep praying. What an amazing ministry!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Rachael, I'm so excited you are going to commit to praying for this family and their ministry! Thanks for stopping by. : )

      Delete
  4. How awesome. I love it when God does such wonderful things like that. Praying for you and their family and will look for book. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Kaye! Hope you a blessed by this book.

      Delete
  5. God's people doing amazing things. Thank you for sharing this. Kim

    ReplyDelete
  6. Awesome!! Visiting from Friday Favorites.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I thank God for people like Levi and his wife, that willingly allow God to use them in such big ways. Though it's not how we would often choose, his ways are always good nonetheless. Sounds like a great read!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow! This looks like an amazing and powerful read. I'm curious as to how young you think a child could handle reading this book. My 9 year old daughter is an extremely high-level reader and loves missionary stories, but I have to be careful they aren't too violent or graphic for her. Thanks so much for sharing this book at Booknificent Thursday! I hope to see you there often!
    Tina from mommynificent.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Tina, I think this may be a bit much for your daughter to read. It may be hard for a 9 year old to comprehend a parent killing their own child (its hard enough for an adult to comprehend) Superstition can get the best of people and cause them to live in fear and do things they normally wouldn't do. This may be hard for your daughter to understand as well.

      The best thing is for you to read it yourself and decide what your child is ready for. I myself wouldn't recommend it to a child under 13.

      Delete
  9. Thank you for sharing this story. It brought tears to my eyes as I pictured these kind souls rescuing the outcast children. And then, I'm sure, not just saving their physical lives, but introducing them to the One who can save their eternal lives. Wow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for stopping by and commenting Lori. Hope you and all my visitors get a chance to read this book. : )

      Delete
  10. Cathy,

    Nice to meet you. I'm stopping by from the IP link up. Ethiopia is a beautiful country, I hear. My mom lived there for awhile, and I have adopted relatives from there. I have never heard of this custom, but how neat of Levi and his family to decide to move in and help. Thanks for bringing this to our attention.

    Jennifer Dougan
    www.jenniferdougan.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Jennifer, nice to meet you too.

      My daughter loved Ethiopia too, especially the children. She has pictures of them all over her room now and she sponsors one sweet little girl. : )

      I believe the superstition is something that occurs in remote villages in the South of Ethiopia. At least that's what I remember from the book.

      Thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  11. What an interesting book, with an important message. I am so thankful for how everything is in our Lord's hands.

    ReplyDelete
  12. we left our hearts in Africa on a short term mission trip in 2007 and are in the midst of planning long term... sounds like a must read for us, thank you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It would definitely be encouraging for you to read! Thanks for stopping by. : )

      Delete

Feel free to leave your own thoughts in the comments. I try to respond to all of them by the end of the week. : )