Connie Pearson. Athens, Alabama: CreateSpace, 2016. 220 pp. (Paperback).
I beg to differ with the title of this book: I always thought my friend, Connie Pearson, and her husband, Steve, were missionary material. After all they went on missions trips, were eager to share their faith, taught Sunday School and Bible studies — all the things you expect missionaries to do. The improbability, for me, was that they waited until they were in their 50s and their children were all grown and married to go to the missions field full time.
But go they did and while serving as an International Mission Board missionary in Ecuador, Connie Pearson began sharing her gift of writing as she kept her friends and family informed, entertained and inspired with accounts of the situations she and her husband encountered. This book is a collection of those stories. From an amazing story of poverty-stricken women confessing to the sin of materialism to a sweet story of holding hands and sharing with a nun, to the frustrating experience of being robbed, she writes honestly and from the heart. The vignettes in the book are engaging; the messages are convicting. Here is a sample:
Those years in Ecuador were hard, stretching, amazing and wonderful. I learned lessons high in the Andes Mountains that have forever altered how I view my relationship with the Lord and His love for people. God humbled me in ways that were uncomfortable and ministered to me in ways that were transformational.
The Pearsons remained in Ecuador for four years and have since returned from the missions field. They live outside Athens and are members of First Baptist Church, Athens, in Limestone Baptist Association.
Reviewed by Martine Bates Fairbanks, Ed.D.
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