Living Faith: Willing to be Stirred as a Pot of Paint

by Helen Roseveare

"The quiet, consistent lives of Christian students drew me and began to convince me. The teaching in their Bible study groups and the assurance in their daily prayer meetings brought a sense of sober reality. They talked of faith as an objective reality, not a blind leap-in-the-dark, hoping for the best. Faith to them was something far more wonderful and real than mere believism or frightened escapism. They spoke of faith as a fact, a gift from God himself to his people to enable them to grasp and comprehend truth."

Thus starts Helen Roseveare's search for spiritual understanding of the world around her - a world that she was to have a significant impact on once her new faith led her to Africa.

Dr. Helen Roseveare has led an exciting life, dealing with people in the depths of their despair - and at their most joyous. She has also become a prolific author and sought after conference speaker - still writing and speaking at international conferences on faith and mission.

Her 'Living...' series have become instant classics and we are pleased to reprint them for a new audience.

Here, Helen tells stories of faith from her experiences that help us to understand its role in our lives and how to strengthen it.

Genres: Christian, Christian Living, Biography, Nonfiction, Christianity, Faith

224 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1980

About the author

Dr. Helen Roseveare was born in Hailebury, Herts, England in 1925. She became a Christian as a medical student in Cambridge University in 1945. She continued to have strong links with the Cambridge Inter-Collegiate Christian Union and was designated as the "CICCU missionary" during the 1950s and 1960s. She built a combination hospital/ training center in Ibambi in the early 1950s, then relocated to Nebobongo, living in an old leprosy camp, where she built another hospital. After conflict with other staff at the hospital, she returned to England in 1958.

She returned to the Congo in 1960. In 1964 she was taken prisoner of rebel forces and she remained a prisoner for five months, enduring beatings and rapings. She left the Congo and headed back to England after her release but returned to the Congo in 1966 to assist in the rebuilding of the nation. She helped establish a new medical school and hospital (the other hospitals that she built were destroyed) and served there until she left in 1973. She helped many people from different countries, and helped them when needing food, and drink.

Since her return from Africa, she has had a worldwide ministry in speaking and writing. She was a plenary speaker at the Urbana Missions Convention three times. She is now retired and lives in Northern Ireland. Her life of service was portrayed in the 1989 film Mama Luka Comes Home. Her touching story about how the prayer of Ruth, 10-year-old African girl, for a hot water bottle to save a premature newborn baby after its mother had died has been widely forwarded by email. She survived rape and trial during the Congolese civil war in 1964 because of the intervention of the villagers she had helped previously.

(Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Rohan]

Lots of stories, but perhaps her other books may be a bit more inspirational?

I did enjoy the metaphor if the "cats eyes" which guide us on the road, that God often only shows us one at a time, but it's our job to obey and follow, even if we don't know the full picture.

Also some cool stories about the power of prayer.

[Jenny Sanders]

Being stirred as a pot of paint didn't resonate with me at first. It took some explanation to realise that the writer is referring to the way that gloss pain separates into an oily top layer and a sludgy bottom layer. In order to be effective in covering a wall, the paint has to be stirred all the way through and right down to the bottom of the pot. In the same way, she argues that Jesus-followers need to be regularly and thoroughly stirred in order to be effective wherever we have been placed.

For Dr Helen Roseveare, this was many years serving as a missionary doctor in Zaire (now The Congo) working long hours, surviving the brutalities of the Simba uprising, pouring herself into students many of whom squandered their training, driving perilous roads to visit sick people and collect supplies, and working in frustratingly basic conditions. The lessons she learned and the illustrations she uses from her own life are as challenging as in the other books in the series that I've read (Living Fellowship & Living Sacrifice).

The authentic stories raise the level of impact of every point so clearly made, each with biblical references. Not for the faint-hearted, but another call to integrity in faith and the privilege of being part of God's family. I'm looking forward to the fourth in the series: Living Holiness, even though I know it won't be a comfortable read.

[Deborah-Ruth]

I have been a great fan of Helen Roseveare for years. Especially because her testimony really transformed and brought peace and hope to my life in a very difficult and painful season. In this book, Roseaveare further describes her work and ministry in the DR Congo and also intersperses it with poignant and punchy devotional wisdom. Although I have read "Give Me This Mountain...And He Give Us a Valley" and so many of the stories were repeats, I found that this book brought out a bit of a different side to her heart. It was truly an encouraging read and very well written and well thought-out.

[Lisa Jacobson]

I love all of Helen Roseveare's books, and this one is no exception.

Her writing is not polished in the literary sense — she would probably be the first to admit it. But that is almost beside the point, because what fills every page is something far more valuable: depth, honesty, hard-won wisdom, and stories so wild and so very full of faith that you finish wondering how one life could hold so much.

I always come away from her books encouraged and inspired, and more eager to trust God with my own small circumstances. That is no small thing for a book to do.

If you haven't yet discovered Helen Roseveare, start anywhere. Just start.

[Rebecca Filbrun]

A must read

Very inspirational! Clear examples of why we can trust the LORD no matter what. I especially appreciate the encouragement that things don't always turn out the way we think that they should when we follow the directing of the LORD. But that doesn't mean that we followed wrong.

[Cristina]

I has zimlech bearbeitet mit Randnotize & Co :)
Im Novämber 2013 vor Christine Mattmann übercho (inkl. Stämpu vo Minj WHP, PNG!)

Legände:
A = Atributos de Dios
L = Lección
M = Milagro, Maravilloso!
P = Principio

[Grace]

Such a clear picture of what living by faith means. Dr. Roseveare, with humility, power and grace shows what it means to live by faith as she served the Lord in the Congo. Her experiences both encourage and challenge me. A worthy read.

[Sue J]

Very humbling!

[Sara Weaver]

Incredible insight straight from the author's experience. It also happened to be something I really needed to hear.

[Jane Merson]

Full of inspiring testimonies that point to practical application in one's own journey of faith.

[Mary]

One I definitely need to reread frequently. Very encouraging, convicting and challenging!

[Hope]

Another excellent book in the series. Essential reading for every earnest Christian.