Catching Their Talk in a Box: The Life-Story of Joy Ridderhof

by Betty M. Hockett

Catching Their Talk in a Box follows Joy Ridderhof into Honduras, Mexico, Alaska, the Philippines, and Africa. She and her helpers face lack of money, wartime restrictions, equipment needs, mechanical breakdowns, travel hardships, and uncertainties. Through it all, answers to prayer multiply. The organization she creates, Gospel Recordings, continues to record the Good News for those with no written language. Betty M. Hockett captures the spirit and dedication of Joy Ridderhof, a one-of-a-kind woman. She tells Joy’s story especially for children, but promises, "People of all ages will find inspiration in this faith-filled life." Catching Their Talk in a Box is the fifth in the "Life-Story from Missions" series of ten books.

Genres: Biography, Christian, Nonfiction, History, Childrens, Geography, School

76 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

This might have been a fascinating story, but the *terrible* writing killed it.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is so poorly written I couldn't even read the whole thing. Joy's life story has plenty of great storytelling potential, but the author didn't pull it off. I'm surprised that Sonlight, the homeschool curriculum that we use, includes this book because they normally have a high standard for quality literature.

[Emmie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Catching Their Talk in a Box is one of our history read aloud books from our Core C with Sonlight.

This book was excellent and gave me chills throughout. It is the story of Joy Ridderhof who was a missionary to a large portion of the world in the mid 1900s for 45 years. This was like reading George Mueller with stories we hear from a dear friend and Worker in the Field in Africa and it was beautiful.

At 13 Joy was saved by the grace of God and immediately saw the need to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Early in life she went to Honduras and saw the need to get the Word of God into the language of the native people of the country. As she saw the needs around her, she took all of her requests to the LORD and, like George Mueller, she never told anyone of her need but took it to the LORD in prayer and watched Him provide everything she needed to do the work He gave her to do.

Joy's work was focused on getting Bible stories on records for people in their native language and providing a player for them to listen to the stories. It is incredible to read story after story as she traveled all over the world, recording stories and giving the Gospel to unreached people groups in their native language. Today our friend is doing the same in Africa and teaching others to tell the stories also!

I cannot recommend this book enough! It is a beautiful picture of God's grace and provision as well as a much needed reminder of the power of prayer!

Five stars for this missionary biography!

[Claire Kizziah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great biography of Joy Ridderhof and her faith and mission work. It's amazing how many languages she and her fellow mission workers recorded. It's an great demonstration of how the Lord provides.

[Emma Grace Blumer]

Amazing story - good overview of her life & work for the Kingdom! And great memories made reading it with Regina. “Let’s just go! God will provide! “

[Jamey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short book contains the stories of Joy Ridderhof’s life - a missionary who traveled the world to record the Gospel in as many languages as she was able. Her life was characterized by how she trusted God implicitly, rejoiced in every circumstance, and prayed without ceasing until the day of her death. God used her to reach many, many people for Christ, and her life is a testimony and inspiration to Christians the world over on what God can accomplish in a person totally yielded to His leading.

(I only gave it three stars because as it was written for children, the writing was more simple and straight forward than what I usually enjoy. The message itself is excellent.)

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be completely honest, I wasn't expecting much from this little book. But oh, how I was wrong as evident by my kids' responses to the story! It was fun following the storyline of missionary Joy Ridderhof around the world as she trusts and prays to God to help her spread the gospel by means of a phonograph. My kids' questions ranged from "what's a phonograph?", "why does the African tribe talk in clicks?", and my personal favorite, "what is the gospel?" (yikes, I haven't explained that term before??!)

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sure the story is one worth telling; I only wish it had been told better. The writing is very choppy and hard to push through. We made it up to chapter 9 and then skipped to the last page and half that wrapped up the story.

[Tye · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book gives good insight into the life of a missionary.

However the writing is bland.

[Lydia Goddard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Savannah and I were not very into this story. Yes, her trust in God is amazing, but the way the writing is and the way the story is told we didn't like.

[Brittany Larkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joy still did not tell people when she needed money. If anyone asked her how her work was financed, she always replied, "It doesn't matter if the need is $10 or $1,000 God sends us the right amount by the right day in answer to our prayers of faith."

Joy lived so close to God that now and then her friends had a hard time knowing if she was talking to God or to them. She often prayed out loud while she drove as well as when she rode with others. Joy felt free to talk to God about everything, at any time or place.

Dr. Robertson McQulikin, whose father had so greatly influenced Joy said, "Joy was no ordinary person. She was one with joy-filled faith. She was a real pioneer because she did things others thought were impossible. She recorded more languages than some people said existed. She was instrumental in developing new ways of presenting the gospel."

[Kalyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love faith stories. They are always so encouraging and redirect my gaze to Christ. I read this story with my second grader for school. Both she and I were continually surprised and amazed by God’s provision for Joy, her team, and her work as we read the story. My second grader said, “Man! God always gave them everything they needed right on time! Never too early, never too late!” I love that stories like this are growing her little faith as well.

This is the story of Joy Ridderhoff, founder of Gospel Recordings. It follows her life’s work of recording the message of the Gospel in well over 3,000 languages all over the world from Spanish speakers in Honduras, so Eskimos in Alaska, to tiny tribes in Africa who only speak in clicks. It was an amazing story!

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joy’s life story is absolutely amazing. No wonder Joy experienced miracle after miracle—-getting the gospel to all nations is the very plan of God! It was humbling reading how God used an ordinary person like Joy (as well as her close friend and co-worker Ann Sherwood, who is mentioned frequently in the book) who had such faith. They truly rejoiced in ALL circumstances, setbacks, and trials.

I only docked a few stars because I felt like I had to frequently improvise while reading aloud to my kids for clarity (writing could be choppy at times, or it would include too many extraneous details that I would have to omit to maintain my kids’ attention and understanding.)

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

“[Joy’s] letters always included two things: ‘I am praying for you by name,’ and ‘Are you practicing rejoicing? Remember the hard things make good rejoicing practice.’”

Joy Ridderhof was a truly joyful woman. I so appreciate this champion of faith. I often find in these books that I read to my children a message for me. Are you going to learn to practice rejoicing even through suffering?

Yes, the hard things are the most worthy of praise for we realize we are not in control of our lives and learn to trust Him.

[Jenni Jex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This biography is about a lady named Joy who went around the world recording people telling the gospel in their native languages and then giving away records and phonographs to anyone and everyone so all could hear the gospel message even if they did not have a Bible yet in their own language. The story was interesting but the writing style was not engaging and seemed to leave a lot out of Joy’s personal life. It’s written for children, but I think more authentic struggle could’ve been included to make Joy seem more human. I was definitely encouraged to practice rejoicing!

[EronMarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My children are four, six, seven and nine years old. They did have a little trouble following the details, but I believe the message was there. Having faith that God will always answer prayer. Believing that when God leads, He will provide the whatever it takes to complete the mission. I enjoyed the message that the gospel was spread to so many people in so many different languages. The children also enjoyed the pictures of the missionaries. As their teacher, I wanted to children to learn that it’s important to spread the gospel message.

[Jessica Kirsch · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of my least favorite missionary stories in our curriculum. It's hard for kids to relate to, particularly as the tech described is so outdated. Additionally, the story is rather wandering, instead of directed around a central theme. I found it difficult to keep their focus. Joy sounds like an incredible woman of faith and action, and she would be well-worth learning about, but this particular book was not written in an engaging way.

[Boyschool · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate to dog a good missionary story like this but the dialogue was so repetitive I lost my kids attention two chapters in. “Joy rejoiced!” “Joy rejoiced!” “Joy rejoiced!” Everything arrived “just in time” so many times it became almost irritating to keep believing it. I feel a lot more could have been done with the story of Jot Ridderhof than this book produced, and I feel awful saying it.

[Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's about Joy and her friends trying to teach people about God on a radio in a bunch of different languages. I like how it teaches people about God. At the end I found it really boring. You can see I rated it 2 stars but that was just about the story. But, do please read it if you don't know about God.

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a read aloud for my kids homeschool curriculum but it was a challenging one for them to follow at times, especially my 6 year old. I didn’t love the writing per se, but the story is fascinating and you can barely keep up with the miracles, answered prayers and journeys of this mission-minded woman! It creates great conversations.

[MJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A powerful reminder of God’s daily provision , but it was written on a 3rd grade level. God did amazing work through this woman, and I would love to have read about her and her accomplishments in a more detailed biography.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting story about Joy Ridderhoff, the founder of Gospel Recordings. My daughter enjoyed the book.

[Melynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

📖 w/ Grace

[Good · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read to my boys for school. Good for young kids.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Encouraging story of Joy Ridderhof that my children and I read. She was certainly a remarkable faith-filled lady!

[Dorothy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could barely finish this book for tears of joy over what this sweet lady accomplished for Christ!

[Sydney Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few theological issues, but overall it was a great story.

[Taren Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is always nice to read stories of missionaries and their hard work, dedication and how God works in such unpredictable ways

[HisPresence MyHome · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read to my daughter as a read aloud. Very sweet stories of the gospel being shared!

[Samantha Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Encouraging and inspiring!