Rescue and Redeem

Title: Rescue and Redeem
Author: Mindy and Brandon Withrow
Series: History Lives series, Volume 5: Chronicles of the Modern Church
Major Themes: Church History, World War II, Europe, Africa, Asia
Synopsis: Well-written stories of pivotal moments in the lives of over a dozen influential Christians who worked to change the world for Jesus between 1860 and 1977.

Rescue and Redeem is the final book in the fascinating History Lives series. Once again, it contains very interesting, action-packed stories of many modern Christians who have changed the world in some way for Christ. Some are well-known; some obscure enough that I had never heard of them before. One especially interesting story described the life of the last member of the royal family of Hawaii. I never knew what went on behind the scenes when the United States took over the country of Hawaii! Very interesting. Another intriguing story was about a young Japanese man who learned about the gospel from a Russian Orthodox priest in Japan, and a Chinese Bible. We also learn in this book how the gospel reached the hermit kingdom of Korea in a surprising way, about the fate of widows in India, and how the gospel was brought to a village in Mexico by Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Once again, as with the other four books in this series, I highly recommend Rescue and Redeem as a supplement to a study of church history, or the history of this time period.

WARNING: Three of the stories, those of Robert Thomas, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Janani Luwum, mention people being martyred for their faith. These stories are told plainly, but the details are not dwelt on, although Janani’s story is a bit on the bloody side. Parents may wish to preread these chapters. Also, I personally do not agree with Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s philosphy that there can be a time when it is right to kill one man to save others.

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The Timechart History of the World The Story of the World series Christian Heroes: Then and Now Series I Heard Good News Today