A team of young people go to Indonesia to build a church. It’s just a normal short-term mission experience, until the tension between Christians and Muslims explodes in the area. Suddenly everything changes.
This is a novel, but the issues it deals with are very real: religious conflict; life and death; God and suffering; love and hate; forgiveness.
Lisa McKay, a psychologist, works for the Headington Institute (www.headington-institute.org), providing psychological and spiritual support to relief and development workers. She is also a very gifted writer. Her characters became part of my life as I read. I felt like I had met them all before, on mission trips I have been on. But the storyline is far from predictable, and I felt compelled to keep reading. Horror and humour intertwine. Don’t be put off by the boot-camp at the start (which may seem rather odd to a British reader) - you will find universal truths in this book.
If you have ever been involved with a mission trip which went wrong, read this book – it will reassure you that things could have been much worse.
If you have ever wondered whether you should send youth teams into potentially dangerous areas, read this book – it may help you answer your question.
This would be a great choice for any book-club – it can be enjoyed by Christians and non-Christians alike, and is guaranteed to get people talking. This novel didn’t join my huge pile of unfinished books. My hands came away red came away read.
