Child of the Crossfire: A True Story

by Alcyon Ruth Fleck

Oscar was brainwashed, trained in guerrilla warfare, captured, tortured, and orphaned -- all before he was 10. His quest to find his heavenly Father and earthly father takes many unexpected twists in this true story of survival and triumph.

Genres: Nonfiction

223 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1999

About the author

Alcyon Ruth Fleck served for many years in the mission field in Central America, particularly Guatemala, where her passion for working with orphaned children led to the establishment of International Children’s Care in 1978. Her other books include A Brand From the Burning, Whither Thou Goest, and Beyond Our Dreams.

Reviews

[Jessica Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story gets 5 stars. Writing gets maybe a 2. Writer switched between her perspective and the child’s perspective sometimes within the same paragraph. Also there was a lot of information repeated unnecessarily.

The story was absolutely heartbreaking and ended so beautiful.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book. Heartbreaking but up lifting as well. A very happy ending.

[Jack Blashchishen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really great book that i recommend for anyone, and especially those who are interested in Christian outreach. It tells the story of Oscar Gomez and how after years of civil war ravaged life, ICC took him in and changed his life. It's a really inspiring story, and as somebody who has visited ICC orphanages and seen the one in Guatemala that is described in this book, I found it informative, and encouraging. It shows how God transforms lives through the people of ICC by taking orphans and saying, "you are no longer an orphan. You have a family here."

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never cried so hard reading a book as when I read this one. The story is absolutely heart-rending, yet simultaneously inspiring to see the way that God can heal hurting hearts. This book gave me a deep desire to reach out to hurting children in countries ravaged by fighting.

[Jermaine Gayle · Rating 5 out of 5]

To say that this book was an amazing story of God's love, would be an understatement. Somehow this book hit so close to home, it struck a chord in my personal experience and I was in tears by the end. Salvador's life of war, being separated from his parents only to be re-united sixteen years later. His freedom from hatred, revenge, anger after giving his life to God. Tells of the power of Christ to change the heart. This story resonated with me for sure! Loved it.