Peanut Butter Friends in a Chop Suey World
Now in its tenth printing.
Amy is determined to be a good missionary when her family moves to Taiwan. But the neighbor girls laugh at her, and Sunday services at the Chinese church become an ordeal. It seems that the only place she feels comfortable is at the English- speaking school with her “peanut butter friends.”
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Author’s Notes:
This book practically wrote itself because it was my life on a kids level. I took an American girl and thrust her onto the mission field in Taiwan and let nature take its course. The issues Amy faces are real issues MK’s face every day. I saw many of these things happen in the lives of kids I knew in Taiwan. My own daughters, however, grew up in Taiwan and didn’t have to make many of these adjustments.
Since this book first came out in 1994 I keep seeing it pop up in the most unusual places. I’ve met adults who read it as a child and are now serving the Lord on their own. It has now been printed ten times with three different covers.
The Lord has used this simple book to teach kids about missions and even prepare kids for the mission field. Organizations that use it to teach cultural issues include Ethnic Harvest, GO International, World Missions Bookstore and Association of Christian Schools International.
Bob Jones University Press uses it as a companion novel to their third grade Bible Truths curriculum.
Though written specifically about Taiwan, it can help the reader understand cultural adjustments that need to be made in other countries too.
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Two Sides to Everything
“While his mother recuperates from an accident that has left her partially paralyzed, Josh leaves Denver and goes to stay at his Uncle Hamish’s New Zealand sheep farm, where his faith in God is strengthened as he faces new challenges.”
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Author’s Notes:
Writing this book taught me a lot about raising sheep. Uncle Hamish became a real person to me. I lived with him in my mind for several years before his character developed into this book.
The visual picture I had of him in my mind was one of a friend of ours. The artist patterned the pictures of Uncle Hamish after Ken Thompson.
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Moose
“Moose is a miracle-a huge, clumsy, honest miracle. But living with a miracle can take a lot of patience, especially when Moose still struggles with smoking and controlling his language. Cody wonders if the other Christians at Moose Peak Bible Camp can love Moose enough to give him a chance.”
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Author’s Notes:
When a totally obnoxious person becomes a Christian he suddenly changes into a loveable sweetheart with no problems, right? Not Moose. This light-hearted book shows the value of friendship to a new believer.
I had a lot of fun writing this book. Cody and Moose helped me have compassion for the “Moose” in my own ministry. I started writing this book as a sequel to Two Sides to Everything but my editor persuaded me to put it in its own unique setting. So don’t be surprised if Moose seems a bit like Neville in Two Sides to Everything.
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Careful Enough?
Missionaries are illegal in China, yet God is calling Daniel’s parents to move there and establish a house church. Daniel has a choice—stay in America for his last year of high school, or spend ten months in a country where he can only say the word “Christian” to trusted friends.
Once in China, Daniel discovers that there is a fine line between being cautious and being ashamed of his faith—between disobeying man’s law and upholding God’s commands. As the strain of constant caution increases, Daniel wonders if being a missionary is China is really worth the risk.
(I wrote this book in 2008 using a pen name. I’m now able to reveal that I am the author.)