The Madness of Hope

Grandma's Letters From Africa

One of my favorite blogs is Grandmas Letters from Africa and Spiritual Memoirs 101 by Linda Thompson. Linda and her husband, Dave, worked with Wycliffe Bible Translators for three years in South America and eight years in Africa.

Linda’s book, Grandma’s Letters From Africa: Quaint I Ain’t has just been released and I cannot wait to read it. If you like her blog, you will love her book as you get a glimpse of the humor, excitement and experience of living in Africa. Take a moment to read the Preface below:
All I ever wanted was to live a quiet, secure life in a little white house with a picket fence and a rose garden, but my husband Dave—a free spirit who seldom limits himself to coloring within other people’s lines—and our adventuresome God had other plans. Just when our youngest finished college, both Dave and God hollered, “Africa!” Stunned, I asked myself, How can we leave our kids and parents and live on the other side of the planet? For months, I waited for God to convince me that He really wanted us to move to Africa. I gave Him every opportunity to either show us green lights and send us to Africa or red lights and keep us home—and He gave us only green. So I sighed, and turned, and took a radical, outrageous, blind leap of faith—! A year after we moved to Africa with Wycliffe Bible Translators, our daughter-in-law Jill gave birth to our first grandchild and I discovered I was not the traditional, quaint little grandmother I always envisioned. No, I had stumbled into adventures most grandmas couldn’t imagine—a hippo charged me, a baboon pooped in my breakfast, a Maasai elder spit at me, and I drank tea from a pot cleaned with cow’s urine. I decided to write down those stories, and more, in letters to my granddaughter, Maggie. I knew she was too young to understand them then, but I also knew that someday she, and my future grandchildren, would grow up and enjoy my tales. Recently the right time arrived. I gathered my old letters and compiled them for the grandchildren—six of them now—and for this memoir about my first four years in Africa. Grandma’s Letters from Africa: Quaint I Ain’t is not merely an account of adventure. And, unlike many missionary stories, this is not a record of saving lost heathens. This is my story about balancing God’s call with responsibilities toward my husband, children, grandchildren, and aging parents. It’s my record of everyday life in a behind-the-scenes, yet important, role. It recounts hilarious incidents and frightful ones, joys and heartaches, answered prayers and those God seemed to leave unanswered. Grandma’s Letters from Africa: Quaint I Ain’t is my story about falling in love with Africa, its people, and the work—both official and unofficial—God gave me. Above all, it’s a chronicle of God’s heart, His delightful creativity, and His amazing power to help those in need.
Grandparents and soon-to-be-grandparents, read this book and give a copy to all your grandchildren old enough to read. In it, you will discover how to leave a life-impacting legacy for the children of your children. You will laugh and cry your way through Linda ’s four incredible years in Africa … away from her children and grandchildren, but connecting with them in powerful ways as she skillfully weaves a tapestry of how her life made a difference. Don Parrott, President, Finishers Project

Buy Grandma's Letters from Africa

Grandma's Letters from Africa is for sale online atAmazon, Barnes and Noble,Borders, and through your favorite independent book seller.

I hope you take a moment to hope over to Linda’s blog and consider reading her book. I can’t wait to get my copy. Grandma's Letters from Africa is for sale online atAmazon, Barnes and Noble,Borders