selection for our church book club, From her upbringing as a child of Presbyterian parents through her challenge at University to jettison her childish Christian beliefs, we follow Isobels search through the Scriptures for reality in Christ.
It is a classic example of missionary biography without being unrealistic, She faces squarely her challenges to faith, to commitment, to trust in God for provision, and for all the patience that is involved in preparing for missions and finally going.
A biography to challenge ones faith and gain more empathy for missionary candidates,
Isobel Miller gave up God for worldly pursuits, But as graduation approached and her engagement was broken, she questioned that decision, "If You will prove to me that You are, and if You will give me peace, I will give You my whole life, " God heard Isobel's prayers and responded, Her search ended, and He gave her a whole new life of fruitful missionary service in China, "The search is not ended, We have only begun to explore
our eternal, unfathomable God, " Isobel Kuhn
Loved: First, I love this quote because it so perfectly explains where I am at, I am only just begun to know God and feel that I have so much more to understand about Them! Other quotes I loved and learned from: "We need to worship and to adore as well as to analyze and explain.
" OOOOOHHHHHH how I LOOOOOOOOVED this, Yes! We need to take time for all of these things, and I think this hits on a tension I feel between the brain and the heart of religion sometimes being pitted against one another, but they are both needed.
Lastly, I just loved how this woman was portrayed, and I want to be like her!!! "Her radiance, rippling laugh of joy, and overflowing hospitality was something to cuddle down into.
I was duly hugged and kissed, then shown into a big firelit room" HAPPY SIGH,
disLiked: I wish it had told more about why she decided to follow Jesus again, She briefly said she started to read the gospels and went to church meetings because her mother asked her to, If she had explained more, I feel it would have been more powerful,
Learned: that I divide the world into two types of people!! and I am ashamed to say this out loud, but it's true! Isobel expresses this in the book, "I was selfish.
I had whimsically divided the world inot two classes: people who interested me and people who did not, " How guilty I am of this!! I decide who I am interested in and pursue those relationships based on shallow things like, "It takes her a long time to get her thoughts out" and "She seems "too holy" to me", and "I don't think I'll have a lot in common with him".
But what if I took the time to get to know them Life would be richer,
Lingering questions: My lingering question is attached to what I disliked, I want to know more about why she decided to follow Jesus again, What was so compelling
Stars I absolutely loved it!!
Stars I enjoyed it but wasn't wowed,
Star I intensely disliked this book, Missionary Isobel Kuhn writes with grace and draws us into the grid of her daily life and contemplations as she pursued the call to serve God before she ever set foot on the mission field.
Isobel Kuhn and her husband John served as missionaries in southwest China, Ministering among the Lisu people, they continued the work begun by pioneer missionary, James Fraser, sitelinkBehind the Ranges: biography of J, O. Fraser of Lisuland, Southwest China By Searching is Kuhns candid account of how she sought and found the Lord,
Was there anything that wasnt questioned concerning the Bibles accuracy Yes, . . the historicity of Jesus Christ is beyond doubt, And the four Gospels are accepted as a more or less authentic record of His teachings, As authoritative as Platos were of Socrates, at least, . . So I decided to search for God through Jesus Christ to read the Gospels only, . . And now began a life at two levels, An outer level of study, worldly gaiety and pride, and an inner level of watching, seeking after Godif there was a God I always added that,
One Sunday afternoon in, a twentyyear old Kuhn was persuaded to attend a Bible class, The speaker
, . . was a very cultured, educated gentleman, I liked his quiet, refined manner of speech, He was speaking that day on the Temptation of Christ, and as he went on to give his message, he also very frankly pointed out the liberal interpretation of that passage.
Without any belligerent dogmatism, he courteously but deftly refuted their arguments, I saw clearly that he was a scholar who knew both sides of the argument, Here was a real gentleman who would never stoop to nasty remarks about an opponent, And, watching the quiet radiance of his face, I instinctively knew that here was a man who had personal experience with God,
Every Sunday after found Kuhn back at the Bible study, Through the expositional teaching of Gods Word, and the godly example of the man who proclaimed it, she discovered that the Jesus she had sought was indeed real,
And so, my head still befogged by the Mists of the Flats, my Feet were once more planted on the High Way prepared to climb, and my face steadfastly turned Godwards.
After graduating college and accepting a job as an elementary school teacher, Kuhn quickly realized she was not cut out for spending day after day nurturing eightyear olds.
But the Lord provided an opportunity for her to attend a Bible conference in Washington state, It was here she first seriously considered a call to missions,
When finally she gave a challenge to those who would surrender for foreign service, If He called, I put my hand up, . . It was not a question if I wanted to go, I was no longer my own, But then I had no clear indication it was the foreign field He wanted
The following year found her once again at the same conference.
The key speaker was James Fraser who spent the week sharing about his experiences among the Lisu,
The last night he said he needed more missionariesyoung men of consecration willing for the privations and loneliness such a life entailed, Down in my seat in the side aisle my heart thrilled with love for the Lisu people, Inwardly I prayed. Lord, Id be willing to go, Only Im not a man, Never did the vision of the Lisu tribe leave me, I dared not name it a call, but I believe that time has proved it was,
Much to Kuhns astonishment, her father invited Mr, Fraser to spend a week at their family home before he returned to China, This gave her the chance to seek Frasers advice,
Missionary life can be very lonely,” he said quietly, and then he proceeded to unfold some of his own early sufferings, I believe now that he did it deliberately to sift me, If I was truly called of God, I would not be discouraged by plain talk of the cost, . . His bluegrey eyes brooding over the sunny, sparkling ocean, he seemed talking to himself, In the quiet of contemplation, as now, they seemed to understand all the sorrows and loneliness that a human heart can know, Acquainted with grief, they were sad eyes knowing the victory possible, they were steadfast and patient,
It was then off to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago where Kuhn believed the Lord would prepare her for the mission field, In this sprawling metropolis and the various environments and opportunities it offered, she learned how to share the gospel and to trust the Lord to meet her financial needs.
Both of these lessons would prove invaluable for the twentytwo years she would spend in China,
The book concludes with Kuhn leaving the port on a ship bound for China, It was there she would marry, raise a family, and live among the Lisu to whom she had felt so strongly drawn, But thats another story sitelinkIn The Arena
Isobel is a wonderful example of someone overcoming adversity, including her own personal battles, to finally achieve going to China to be a missionary.
A very honest and encouraging account of her own life story, I was so impacted by Isobel's book, 'In the Arena' that I was delighted to find this on the shelf in my parents' house, In this book she recalls her passage from girlhood to young adulthood and the journey she took to 'the Misty Flats', a place of wandering and distanced from the God she thought she knew as a child.
The time line goes right up to her training at Moody Bible College and selection for CIM China Inland Mission, inspired by the work of Hudson Taylor who founded that work.
I love her honesty and frankness as she writes clearly about her struggles, doubts, flaws, and how she handled money and men not always well! It's not smug or holierthanthou and I feel that had I been in her sphere in the's we would have been friends.
Her passion and focus is also evidenced and I will seek out anything else from her hand confident that it will not disappoint,
I should read more Christian biographies this was great Love this book so much, How I desire to have a heart for God as she did, Such an inspiration. So, I actually read “By Searching, My Journey Through Doubt Into Faith” by her but I thought this was it, Turns out its not, its another book by her called “By Searching”, haha,
The book was nice, wouldnt recommend but it did encourage me especially at the start when she was searching for God, very encouraging, Got a big board with it but it wasnt bad either, I've enjoyed all of her books so far, This would be a great read for anyone but espcially for a struggling college students or young adults, Anyone who is struggling with his or her faith can find hope and encouragement through the experiences of Isobel Kuhn, Isobel Miller Kuhn, a Canadian missionary to the TibetoBurmese Lisu people of southwest China, wrote a number of popular inspirational books about her missionary work, This one, published posthumously after her death from cancer, treats Kuhns premissionary career from her teenage years until she sailed for China in, Kuhn has a gift for storytelling, and By Searching is nicely written, Not only will sensitive Christian readers find the work spiritually uplifting, but they will also become more aware of the differences in conservative Protestant culture between thes and the present.
J. B. Phillips paraphrases Hebrews:,, "Let us not lay over and over again the foundation truths, . . no, if God allows, let us go on, " And the four words, "Let us go on," are what Isobel Miller declared from a ship departing for the mission field to the friends and family she left behind.
In, Isobel traveled to China to serve among the Lisu people, The hallmark of her life was searching out the knowledge of an infinite God, This book is the story of the firstyears of that life, If you feel like you are stumbling through your Christian life, you'll find this book really helpful! Isobel talks about her own struggles of coming from darkness into Christ's light and backsliding! Definitely a must on the Christian bookshelf and a book you will want to reread regularly.
I read this book years ago for school and I still think about it sometimes, It really encouraged me in my own relationship with God, She dealt with depression and suicide and tells how God saved her life and how she gave her life to Him, In Finnish:Isobel Kuhnteki elämäntyönsä pääosin Lisu heimon parissa Kiinan ja Burman raja alueilla sekä Thaimaan pohjoisosassa, AREENALLA on persoonallinen kuvaus haastavasta työstä ja Jumalan johdatuksesta vaikeuksien keskellä, Elävästi kirjoitettu ETSIMÄSSÄ kertoo lähetystyötä edeltävästä ajasta, kun kristityn kodin kasvatti sanoutui irti lapsuusajan opetuksista, ryhtyi agnostikoksi ja yritti täyttää elämänsä tanssimisella, teatterilla ja seurustelulla.
Sisäisen tyhjyyden kokeminen sai Isobelin kysymään Jumalan olemassaoloa ja etsimään todellista suhdetta Häneen, Jumala osoitti itsensä todeksi ja johti Isobelin sumuisilta tasangoilta siunatuille vuoripoluille hän sai evankelistan kutsumuksen, kävi Moodyn perustaman raamat In Finnish:Isobel Kuhnteki elämäntyönsä pääosin Lisu heimon parissa Kiinan ja Burman raja alueilla sekä Thaimaan pohjoisosassa.
AREENALLA on persoonallinen kuvaus haastavasta työstä ja Jumalan johdatuksesta vaikeuksien keskellä, Elävästi kirjoitettu ETSIMÄSSÄ kertoo lähetystyötä edeltävästä ajasta, kun kristityn kodin kasvatti sanoutui irti lapsuusajan opetuksista, ryhtyi agnostikoksi ja yritti täyttää elämänsä tanssimisella, teatterilla ja seurustelulla.
Sisäisen tyhjyyden kokeminen sai Isobelin kysymään Jumalan olemassaoloa ja etsimään todellista suhdetta Häneen, Jumala osoitti itsensä todeksi ja johti Isobelin "sumuisilta tasangoilta" siunatuille vuoripoluille hän sai evankelistan kutsumuksen, kävi Moodyn perustaman raamattukoulun, ja lopulta sille areenalle, missä hän sai olla todistamassa Jumalan tekoja Lisu kansan parissa.
sitelink.