The contest is closed and a winner selected. Thanks for participating in this giveaway!
A few months ago, a speaker at my mom’s group spoke about raising children with a heart for missions. In her talk, she mentioned a children’s book series about missionaries that caught my interest. I made note of it, then promptly forgot. Recently, God put it on my heart again, so I bought the first five books and we began reading them aloud to our older kids (ages 7 and 5).
From the first page of the first book, we were all captivated. I had never heard of Gladys Aylward before but I was blown away by her story and her commitment to God and the people of China.
If you have a child who likes stories full of action, adventure, excitement, and danger — they will love these books! If you want your child to learn about people of character, men and women of faith who trusted God no matter the cost — who modeled forgiveness, sacrifice and unconditional love — you will love these books.
The series is written for an audience of 10 and up. My kids are younger than that but are enjoying hearing the stories being read to them. However, I’ve noticed that some of it goes over my 5 year old’s head — he giggles at funny sounding names, missing the deeper implication of what’s happening in the story, but he definitely hears and gets the main message. Also, some of the content is challenging for younger ears who may not have much exposure to the kind of evil that can exist in the world. My 7 year old daughter sobbed as we read about Nate Saint’s demise. I am still debating if she’s ready to hear the story of Corrie Ten Boom and thus, the horror of Nazi brutality.
What I do know is that God is using these stories about the lives of missionaries to change our kids … and me. I’m suddenly uncomfortably aware of how soft and comfortable my life is, and how little I trust God for my day-to-day needs. God is using these stories to give me a heart of prayer.
If you are concerned about mature content, there is also a version of these books for designed for younger readers. These are geared towards kids ages 5-10, and feature color illustrations and rhyming texts. There are also activity guides that correspond to the young readers, and unit studies and curriculum guides for homeschoolers.
I loved these books so much, I wanted to share them with you. So I contacted the publisher, YWAM Publishing, and asked if they would sponsor a giveaway. They kindly agreed and I am thrilled to be able to share a copy of the first five books with one lucky reader!
Giveaway Details: One gift set of the Christian Heroes Then & Now series by Geoff and Janet Benge will be given away to one commenter, selected at random. This 5-book gift set includes:
- Gladys Aylward: The Adventure of a Lifetime
- Nate Saint: On a Wing and a Prayer
- Hudson Taylor: Deep in the Heart of China
- Amy Carmichael: Rescuer of Precious Gems
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Corrie ten Boom: Keeper of Angels’ Den
How To Enter: Check out the list of christian heroes in this series and leave a comment telling me which biographies interest you the most. For additional chances to win, tweet, post on Facebook, or write your own blogpost announcing this contest. Leave a separate comment for each type, for a total of up to 4 chances to win. Please include a link to your tweet, post or FB message.
Fine Print: This giveaway will remain open until Tuesday May 31st, 8pm EDT. Open to residents of the U.S. only. After a winner is chosen at random, I will contact you for your mailing address and pass it on to YWAM to mail you the book set. We respect your privacy and will not use your email for any other purpose.
Disclosure: YWAM is providing the prize for this contest, but I am not being compensated for this post. The opinions are entirely my own.
The Christian Heroes books can be purchased individually and as sets at YWAM Publishing, Christian Book Distributors, and of course, Amazon.
This post is linked up to Works For Me Wednesday, and Things I Love Thursday.
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Great idea Kendra. I will post it on my fb. So glad you are reading these books. Hudson Taylor has been a hero of mine since I was young. I have read about other missionaries as well. The biographies can sometimes make them seem perfect and having a level of spiritual maturity that cannot be attained by regular folks. I don’t think that is the way the real people were, but sometimes they can appear that way.
Thanks for sharing Kendra! I had full intentions of getting this series for my kiddos, but of course I forgot all about it! My kids love when someone else shares the same name as them or has a family name….Carmichael is on my husbands side of the family, and Taylor was my grandmomther’s maiden name. We love geneology and love hearing familiar names come up in stories. These books are perfect opportunities to bundle mission goals, adventure, and God’s purpose for our lives. Thanks for the book reminder!
What a great idea, Kendra! Thanks for doing this!
What a great giveaway, Kendra! All of the biographies sound great, but I’d really love to learn about Corrie ten Boom. I’ve heard her name mentioned again and again this year.
I mean my kids! MY KIDS would love to learn about Corrie ten Boom. 🙂
Kendra, We too are hoping to read all of these. We have the entire set for younger readers and the activity books. My children have really enjoyed listening to them. I had never heard of Gladys Aylward before we read the young readers set. Her story touched my heart because my daughter also struggles with speech and has a speech impediment. It encouraged both of us to hear how God used Gladys and her children’s level Chinese language skills to work with the children of China! Great give away idea. I’ll post to facebook.
Kendra,
I don’t tweet and I have a food allergy blog, not a general blog, but I will post this contest to 3 of my homeschool yahoo loops. Hopefully it will generate some interest in the contest!
My children, 10 and 12, have enjoyed many of the Christian Heroes Series. We would love to read more. We use them as a read aloud. Thanks to these readings, my daughter has been feeling called to be a missionary in China. She first told us about this when she was five years old.
Kendra,
My kids, (16, 13, 10) and I have loved the Christian Heros books we have read. We home school and have used them as read aloud books. We can’t wait to start a new book once the current one is finished and have borrowed them from our church’s children’s program. We would love to read all of them. A few of our favorites have been Gladys Aylward, Mary Slessor, and Sundar Singh.
Kendra, thanks for your post and for reminding me of this series! I’d like to read Elisabeth Elliot’s bio, in part because she went through the heart-wrenching experience of being a widow… and that her husband was murdered by the very people they were burdened to share the Gospel with! So, giving your mate (and life) fully over to God’s will… AND forgiving those who have truly hurt you irrevocably… what a story! And, I also have always wanted to read Hudson Taylor’s bio, because he had a heart for the Chinese (and, er… I’m Chinese.) Also, I have never ever read “The Hiding Place”, but it’s on my list of books to read, so I’m also very interested in Corrie Ten Boom’s story.
What a great idea! I’ve heard of this series but have never read any of them. My daughter already feels a big call to the mission field and loves to hear how God uses people and their gifts to further His kingdom. After looking at the list of biographies, we would probably go with DL Moody and a couple of missionaries we’ve never heard of: Florence Young, Betty Greene, or Nicolaus Ludwig VZ… (what a tremendously long name!!) Thanks for sharing this with us, Beth! 🙂
Jacquie
I’ve heard a lot about Corrie ten Boom & would love to share her story w/ O!
I have really been wanting to read these to Max! They all seem great- think he would dig Nate Saint! tracey
Am I too late? 🙂 Sounds like such an inspiring series.
Very cool idea Kendra. Didn’t even know you had a blog 🙂 Corrie Ten Boom sounds most interesting, but they all sound great.
Awesome idea! Thanks for including me!
Hey Kendra – What a great book series! Thanks for promoting it and letting everyone know! It’s so important to learn about our Christian heroes.
These are great but I have not read them. My sister-in-law loves these and I trust her judgement fully on literature. As always, I am always interested in give aways.
Wow, so many to choose from, I’d love to read the one about C.S. Lewis!
I would love to read this set to my children – thank you doing the giveaway, Kendra!
Adoniram Judson, Mary Slessor, CT Studd, Isobel Kuhn, Gladys Aylward, and Florence Young, to name a few. They all look like great reads for us and our kids. Thanks for passing this information along, Kendra!
Kendra,
I only know of Nate Saint and Corrie so now I know about three more God loving missionaries.
Wow! I have been looking for something like this. We looked in all the local libraries for biographies of missionaries for an AWANA project, but could only find 300 plus page biographies written for adults (and only 2 total!). I wish I had seen this- these sound exciting to me, so of course we would read them!
The books sound great. Noel and I have enjoyed reading C.S. Lewis’s books this year…The Magician’s Nephew, Chronicles of Narnia, THe Horse and His Boy, and Prince Capsian…we have a few more for the summer. IT would would be neat to read about him. My mother taught me about Corrie ten Boom and Lottie Moon and I would love to share with my kiddos. However, I’m ashamed to say so many names I don’t know. What a neat thing to explore with the boys.
Such great books! We look forward to reading them all!
I’ve read two in this series previously and enjoyed them. I look forward to learning more about Elizabeth Elliot. I have read several of her books and know her story vaguely, but would love to hear more about the amazing courage and faith that God gave her. Also very interested to read more about Lillian Thrasher who rescued orphans in Egypt. I home school my kids and we are studying ancient History next year. Thought it would be inspiring to read her story while we are studying ancient Egypt. Also, my son was an orphan in Russia, so would also like to read this with him. Thanks.
I would love to learn more about John Wesley. I need to get a hold of some of these books! Thanks Kendra for making us aware of this series.
Just found you on wearethatfamily. I was just telling my husband this morning that we need to get these books! So awesome to find this today 🙂 We are getting into different orphan ministries, and I would esp. like to introduce my kids to Amy Carmichael.
Shared on fb!
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These sound awesome Kendra and we are always looking for new books to read with great messages– I am interested in Nate Saint myself. 🙂
I am especially interested in Corrie Ten Boom’s biography. My son is going to be in first grade and I am looking for fun ways to introduce history into his curriculum. I hope I win!
I would love to read these with my boys for summer reading adventure, especially Gladys – an “ordinary” christian ho lived a most exceptional life. Showing them there’s no such thing as ordinary when It comes to being in HIS service!
Thanks for the giveaway!
Blessings!
LIB
http://bit.ly/jiAvHM
I tweeted!
I fb’d!
LIB
These are fabulous books; my girls can’t put them down once they start and they keep asking me to buy more! I would highly recommend the series. The girls are looking to get their hands on Corrie Ten Boom, Brother Andrew, C.S. Lewis and Cameron Townsend next.
Great idea Kendra!
How to chose? I would like to read them all. I think I will go with Rachel Saint and Amy Carmichael. Looks like good summer reading material.
Nate Saint would be my top pick. Thanks, Kendra!
I am so inspired by Corrie ten Boom, that’s the one I like the most. In high school, my Sunday School teacher did an entire lesson plan on The Hiding Place. I’ve been blessed by her story and life in so many ways.
I’ve already read the George Muller and Eric Liddell books; they were both fabulous! I’d love to get through the entire series with my son (age 7 1/2). Would be great summer reading with him.
Of course, Corrie ten Boom immediately interests me because I’m familiar with the name. And I’d love to read Eric Liddle & George Muller. My girls are 7 & 9, but both at a 4th grade+ reading level, so hopefully they’ll enjoy them even reading on their own.
so many to chooes from – The Elizabeth Eliot one would be great- I have not read hers or Jim Eliot’s. Also, My kids love these and so do I. We’d all love to read the CS Lewis bio – he’s a favorite of all of ours. Karen
Great for the kids and us big kids too. Good idea.
I always learn so much from you. Now, I want to do this series with my kids. I have heard of Amy Carmichael and I have seen her quoted many times but I have no idea who she is. Maybe that should be on my to do list this summer!
One of the best books I’ve ever read was The Hiding Place. Have you read, The Savage My Kinsman? I loved that one too.
amy carmichael!