Welcome to the Saturday Spotlight, a weekly feature hosted by Tinasbookreviews and promotes authors and the books they write. This week I have the pleasure of introducing readers to...
~EVELYN PUERTO~
Today Evelyn will be sharing some thoughts on encouragement.
Be open to new opportunities
by Evelyn Puerto
One question people often ask me is how I came to write a book. People who have known me for a long time have seen me as a consultant, as a strategic planner, as a missionary. I can understand why they are a little confused that my life seems to have taken a whole different direction!
When I was serving as a missionary in Russia I traveled to Ukraine several times to meet up with short term teams from my church in St Louis. There we met the Brynza family. All of them had amazing stories of what God did for them during the final decades of the Soviet Union, when believers faced great persecution.
When I returned home from Russia at the end of my seven years’ service, I was asked to compile the Brynzas’ stories into a book. The idea was that those of us who heard their stories were inspired and encouraged. Others might benefit from the story as well. As I started interviewing the family, they had one request. “This book is not about us,” they said. “It is about God, and what He did, how He helped us.”
And so I have tried to honor their request, and to show people how God works in the life of believers, and how His promises remain the same, even when our circumstances take a turn for the worse. In the process of writing Beyond the Rapids, Ive learned a lot from the example of the Brynza family, about faith that overcomes all trials, and leads to victory and joy.
Little did I suspect that writing this book would be the start of a new career as a writer. So I guess the lesson is be careful what you agree to do, it might just change your life!
**Evelyn Puerto left a career in health care planning to serve as a missionary for seven years in Russia. On her return to the US, she worked in missions and not-for-profit management. Her missions work has taken her to many countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa, but she feels the greatest bond with Russia and Ukraine, and she especially misses the hours she spent drinking tea with the friends she made there. Following her return to the US, she got married, inheriting three stepdaughters, two step-grandsons and a cat. She and her husband Tony live in St. Louis, Missouri.
That was very sweet! Thanks Evelyn for sharing that story and best of luck to you and your novel......
GIVEAWAY
Thanks to Evelyn, she is giving away one copy of her book Beyond the Rapids to a USA or Canadian resident. Everyone is welcome to enter (following is unnecessary) just leave a comment and a way to get in contact with you. Winner will be drawn on April 16, 2011.
Beyond the Rapids is the true story of Ukrainian pastor Alexei Brynza and his wife, Valentina, who endured persecution in a culture that was hostile to their faith as they struggled to raise their four children as believers.
Spanning the years from the Great Terror of the 1930s to the time when believing in Christ is no longer a crime, this close-knit Ukrainian family quietly persisted through the years, trusting God for everything. The Brynzas’ children, forced to choose between God and the communist system, wrestled with temptations of ambition, popularity, love, and wealth. But God heard the faithful prayers of Alexei and Valentina, and the Brynza family was able to not only survive, but to thrive. Their son-in-law, Igor Yaremchuk, adds his own testimony of coming to Christ with the help of miracles and atheistic propaganda.
Find out more at www.beyondtherapids.com
I'd like to read this, it sounds like a powerful story of faith.
ReplyDeleteTheresa N
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