Newly ordained, Michael Spurlock's first assignment is to pastor All Saints, a struggling church with twenty-five devoted members and a mortgage well beyond its means. The best option may be to close the church rather than watch it wither any further. But when All Saints hesitantly risks welcoming a community of Karen refugees from Burma--former farmers scrambling for a fresh start in America--Michael feels they may be called to an improbable new mission.
Michael must choose between closing the church and selling the property--or listening to a still, small voice challenging the people of All Saints to risk it all and provide much-needed hope to their new community. Together, they risk everything to plant seeds for a future that might just save them all.
Discover the true story that inspired the film while also diving deeper into the background of the Karen people, the church, and how a community of believers rally to reach out to those in need, yet receive far more than they dared imagine.
When a book is turned into a movie, more times than not you lose a lot of the original feeling from the book. So I like to read a book before seeing a movie. I have not seen the movie "All Saints," but have now read the book.
The one thing I took from this book, things don't stay the same forever and you have to move and change with the times. Also it takes all sorts of people and things to make a community. This was the case with the All Saints church in Smyrna, Tennessee. The book lays out the before, during and after of when the Karen refugees from Burma arrived in the community of Smyrna and how it changed not only their lives but the lives of the people in the area. It was interesting to read the back story of some of the Karen people to see where they had come from and how they had come to America.
The "God works in mysterious ways," phrase comes to mind when I think back about this book, as he did indeed work many miracles in many ways over the years at All Saints Church. This book also educates us on the Karen people of Burma. I knew little to nothing about them prior to reading this book. There are many articles about them, here is a link that you may find interesting.
Stars out of 5 : 4.5 It was a solid book that was interesting and a true story. I will watch the movie when it comes out on dvd. It is well worth the read.
"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".
It is interesting comparing a novel to its movie! We're currently watching DVDs of Inspector Lynley, I've read nearly the whole Elizabeth George series. Quite intriguing. Happily, I'm mentally feeble enough to have forgotten the books' plots!
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