How does the Holy Spirit move in the hearts of people? What—or should we say Who—causes them to search for meaning in life? If you are looking for insights, this book is truly full of inspiration. Our God is at work and is completely in control.
In On the Trail of the SPIRIT Dordt College professor Jim Schaap tells the stories of 16 people coming to know the Lord...
—no actually of 17. And we see that many more family members are positively affected. Each story is unique yet all have one common thread: they each came into contact with Him by listening to the Back to God Hour radio programs. As the book itself says, this is the story of Back to God Ministries International as told through the stories of changed lives.
Author Schaap is a well-known Professor of English at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the radio ministry of the Christian Reformed Church, the staff of Back to God Ministries International (formerly, the Back to God Hour) engaged Schaap to interview a variety of people who came to know and love Jesus through these radio broadcasts. The result is our being able to “listen in” to these very engaging testimonies.
As an example, I was intrigued to open this book when I saw that Serguei Sossedkine is one of the stories. Having been born and reared in Soviet Russia, Serguei came to the United States to study at Kuyper College (then known as Reformed Bible College). I came to know Serguei when he was one of my student workers at the college. Now I was eager to learn more of how he came to love the Lord in a newly vibrant manner while still in secular Russia. As a student Serguei had left an impression on me when he mentioned that in the Russian language the word for Sunday is roughly pronounced vascrosanya (meaning Day of Resurrection). As a young boy, Serguei was always puzzled why that day of the weekend was called Day of Resurrection. Why? What resurrection? Well, reading his testimony as told to Schaap, we learn the rest of his story. And, today Serguei is the Russian language voice for the Back to God Hour International. Our God is amazing! How inspiring in how He works!
In addition, Schaap relates the pilgrimage of Seattle businessman Leonard Reynolds who said “prosperity had its pitfalls” and Leonard had some concerns in his family life. He and his wife were looking for some good, solid answers and started listening to Christian radio. They discovered that the Back to God Hour sounded solid. They contacted the ministry which put them in touch with First CRC in Seattle. Another timing of the Lord.
Schaap also introduces us to the Mingone family in Campanis, Sao Paulo, Brazil. And, then we meet Tokyo resident and radio listener Hirotsugu Mochida who heard the solid preaching of the Word in ‘the Museum of Religions’ that is Japan. Then we meet James Robinson and his wife of Albuquerque—more testimonies to the Lord’s grace!
But, Schaap relates a most unusual twist that developed after he had submitted the completed 16-chapter manuscript. A friend mentioned to Schaap that Dr. Keith Sewell at Dordt College also had had early contact with the Back to God Hour. Having recently completed his book-length manuscript, Schaap went to Sewell’s office to learn Sewell’s story. The author then added a Preface in which we read the testimony of his fellow professor at Dordt, Keith Sewell. As a young man Sewell had worked in a bookstore in London where he came across a copy of Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin. This sparked an interest leading him to search out Christian radio where he came across a preacher who had an American accent, the Back to God Hour.
And, we could go on and on—D’Sousa of Scarborough, Ontario; Mitchell of Gary, Indiana; Clark family of Oklahoma City; Carmans of Canton, New Jersey; Nascimento of Campina Grande, Brazil; Hashimoto, Siveri, James, Torres, Yuan, and Adams. Each resulted in a life changed. We learn that each of us is called to witness. The Holy Spirit does the converting within the heart of the hearer. As the writer of Hebrews put it: “And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell of them all…whose weakness was turned into strength. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect” in their faith [Hebrews 11]. In these 16 chapters, the testimonies of these people coming to an intimate faith in Jesus Christ is written so that we, too, might be encouraged in our journey. Read, enjoy, and be built up in your faith as together we journey toward that better place prepared for those who believe.
~reviewed by Dan F. Bloem
ON THE TRAIL OF THE SPIRIT by James C. Schaap [c. 1999 The Back To God Hour, Palos Heights, IL 60463]. Personal copies are available from BTGMI. Also, a copy is in the Trinity church library.