First, please let me say how glad I am to be a new contributor at Stitches Thru Time! I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone. Then second, I'd like to offer congratulations to our own Shirley Ray Redmond whose novel PRUDENCE PURSUED won first place in the Inspirational Category of the Houston Bay Area RWA's 2014 'Judge a Book By Its Cover Contest'!
I remember being mesmerized by news of the 2004 tsunami that slammed into the southern shores of India killing thousands of people. I'd never heard of an earthquake causing such a tidal wave and it being called a tsunami before. God immediately called my heart to prayer.
This non-fiction book, Tsunami 2004 Still Wading Through Waves of Hope, practically took my breath away reliving the event through the eyes of young survivors. The gifted author, Holly Michael, first shares how she and her Anglican Bishop husband, Father Leo--a native of India--immediately started a fundraiser from their home in Arkansas.
The Michaels took the cash raised to India to do whatever they could. They arrived ten days after the tsunami and asked to be sent to the remotest area where no one had yet gone to help. The devastation was horrific; so many children left orphans.God led the Michaels to set up Certificates of Deposit for many of the children whose parents had perished in the flood.
In 2014, they returned to reunite with many of the orphans, most now barely into or just starting their adult lives. The CDs had matured and they were now to have the cash benefit knowing the blessings came from the Christians' God. One young woman traveled fifteen hours by bus to come and celebrate a feast with Bishop Michael and his American wife who'd offered love and food and clothes when they'd lost everything a decade before. No doubt, excitement was high for all.
That second trip took a deadly, life-threatening turn that will grip your heart as you read.
Each chapter is in three parts. The first written from the trip in 2004 just after the devastation, another, their 2014 trip, and the third is comprised of Holly reflections. It will pull you in as quickly as any good novel and keep you turning pages.
And I personally loved all the photographs included; seeing the children both in 2004 and ten years later. It also touched me that they helped everyone, no matter their religious beliefs. While there is a large Christian population in India, the majority are Hindu, and there are also Buddists and Muslim there, but the Michaels' charity went to all.
I highly recommend Tsunami 2004 Still Wading Through Waves of Hope and gave it five stars on Amazon and at Goodreads. It was a tsunami of blessings to me! A true story that you'll ponder long after you finish reading it.
Purchase Now (e'book $2.99; print $6.99) Holly also debuted her first novel CROOKED LINES recently, and I loved it, too! Parallel stories of two souls searching for God's will, a young Indian boy and a Wisconsin teen girl, but Holly--as well as the bishop--assures me it's fiction. It's on SALE! Today's the last day, so hurry! Blessings!
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