In the middle of an insanely busy week (four commencement ceremonies), it came as a pleasant surprise to find the following review posted on Readers’ Favorite for my new eBook.

We Wait You is a true-to-life story by Taryn Hutchison about her work as a Christian missionary in the war-torn climate of Europe in 1990. Covering many countries which lived under the stringent Communist control of Cold War Russia, the author describes not only her work and the people she tried to help discover God, but also her personal friendships and her own emotional journey as she travelled through such a harsh, demanding environment. So begins a fascinating journey to preach the forbidden topics of democracy and Christianity to a nation that has been denied them.

Taryn Hutchison writes with the prose of a great storyteller, removing herself just enough from the narration to let readers take her place in the vivid world she describes. Whilst the additional ‘What About You’ questions were of little consequence to a non-religious person like me, I could see that they were well constructed and highly useful for people who wish to contemplate their faith and compare it to Hutchison’s experiences. What interested me most was the author’s commitment to a full and detailed explanation of the political and social climate that the people of countries such as Romania had to cope with at that period in history, which makes it all the more understandable as to how finding Christian faith would help them through such dark times. Overall, We Wait You is an accomplished work which preaches the important of God, but also highlights the basic human need for faith and love when life is hard.

I’m proud of my new (and greatly improved) electronic version. Finally, the Table of Contents is “clickable!” Now my book is available in every conceivable format (before I had an exclusive agreement with Kindle). And I was able to lower the price.

But mostly, here’s what makes me happy. The reviewer refers to herself as non-religious, but she still gave my book 5 out of 5 stars. I’ve heard from others who identify themselves as not being people of faith, yet for some reason, they picked up a book about a missionary. There was no way I could tell my story apart from my faith — the most important aspect of my life — and yet I would have preferred to write a book to transcend the barriers and appeal to everyone. One of these readers I heard from told me that she didn’t share my faith (or any faith), but she took my book with her on a trip to Europe because of its rich cultural and historical insights. Another wrote that reading my book was the final nudge he needed to surrender his life to Christ.

Nothing makes me happier than that.