Voices of the Faithful - Book 2: Inspiring Stories of Courage from Christians Serving Around the World

confession: i am a sucker for a pretty book.

with that out of the way, Voices of the Faithful: Book 2, a devotional by beth moore and kim p. davis definitely qualifies for a check mark in the 'pretty' category. but it doesn't stop there. laced through the pages of this beautiful devotional are the real stories of joy, pain, unbelievable courage and overarching love of those serving in the mission fields of our planet. true accounts of a different kind of beauty.

each reading is a narrative of ordinary people living extraordinary lives simply by being obedient. broken down by months into different themes, as you read through the month, you cannot help but be moved. my favorite months were january {prayer} and november {encouragement}. january's readings reminded me of the incredible power of prayer, and how God's omnipresence is no match for the vastness of our world. november was a great reminder for me of exactly how strong a little encouragement can be for people who are up against more than we may ever imagine.

with our pace of life it's too easy to forget that there are those living out their faith in places without the conveniences we have at our fingertips, places where living out faith can be a dangerous prospect. Voices of the Faithful: Book 2 is the perfect tool to inform us of what is going on in the lives of other believers outside of our neighborhoods... and maybe even inspire some to live extraordinary lives of their own!


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

I have been wanting to get the first book of the Voices of the Faithful but never got to it. So when I saw that the second book of Voices of the Faithful was available for review, I jumped on the opportunity. I was curious to read some of the devotions. I thought it would be devotions from Christians from the past. Boy! Was I wrong…
I discovered a wonderful little devotion book which contains devotions written by Christians currently serving around the world. This Voices of the Faithful Book 2 contains 366 devotions from missionaries stationed around the globe. When I realized that I immediately thought of our friends, Al & Joane Brown and their 7 kids who are missionaries in Thailand. They serve through Compasio. http://www.compasio.org/Compasio/Compasio.html
Each month has a specific theme which is repeated in the devotions of the month. For example, the month of September is about Lessons from the Young - ie children. In a specific devotion, I read about a 6 year old reaching out to a 20 year old guy who has since came to the Lord. This devotion touched me particularly because it made me remember how my 2 year old reached out to a street person one night during a service at the church we are planting. God did indeed give me a lesson that night and I hope to never forget it.
Each page begins with a scripture and then you read a devotion written from someone in the field. The devotion concludes with a prayer specifically related to the reading. This way, you pray for the missionaries and their work and realize what God is doing around the World.
I took the habit to read the page of the day daily since I got the book. And God speaks to me in various ways - from thinking to our friends in Thailand, our Compassion kids, how my own kids minister to the people coming to our church and so on. Yes God is in the move. Keep your eyes open. Read about what He does in other countries and realize that He is indeed real.