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Against All Odds: God at Work in an Impossible Situation
Book by Elizabeth Goldsmith
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 23, 2026
Many years ago, Goldsmith paid a visit to my now church (long before I even knew of its existence) to give a talk on her experiences as a pioneering missionary in Malaysia. The senior church member telling me about this occasion related to me how she ended up buying Goldsmith's book from the talk and how inspired she was after reading the book. My interest was piqued and the next thing I knew, this book was on the way to me all the way from the UK.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Goldsmith's narrative on how the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF) partnered with the very few local Malaysian Christians throughout the Emergency period to plant churches, evangelize to Malaysians and disciple new believers. Interspersed in this narrative are also flash forwards to how some of the churches planted from the Emergency period to the 70s are doing in the present (late 90s to early 2000s). Much of what Goldsmith narrates are either from her own recollections, or from interviews with former ministry partners, existing pastors and former OMF colleagues who are/were involved in ministry in various capacities in Malaysia. As such, if I were to describe this book briefly, I would brand it as a candid and exciting retelling of Malaysian Christian history.
My main takeaways from this book are that God often uses the smallest actions to build His kingdom and that the little we sow now will bear fruit many generations later so, we should take heart that nothing done unto the Lord will ever be in vain. Reading familiar names and recognising the names of churches (some of which are still standing today) was humbling in that it helped me see that who I am as a Christian is a product (whether direct or indirect) of the sacrifices made over the past few decades by those who desired to give their all to Christ. A timely reminder indeed, lest I become puffed up in my own knowledge.
The only reason I gave Goldsmith's book 4/5 stars is because there were certain points in her narrative in which I didn't appreciate the simplistic way she spoke about the communists from the Emergency era, almost coming across as lacking nuance in understanding that segment of Malaysian society. Apart from that, I'd encouraged Malaysians to pick up this book at some point in time in their lives.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Goldsmith's narrative on how the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF) partnered with the very few local Malaysian Christians throughout the Emergency period to plant churches, evangelize to Malaysians and disciple new believers. Interspersed in this narrative are also flash forwards to how some of the churches planted from the Emergency period to the 70s are doing in the present (late 90s to early 2000s). Much of what Goldsmith narrates are either from her own recollections, or from interviews with former ministry partners, existing pastors and former OMF colleagues who are/were involved in ministry in various capacities in Malaysia. As such, if I were to describe this book briefly, I would brand it as a candid and exciting retelling of Malaysian Christian history.
My main takeaways from this book are that God often uses the smallest actions to build His kingdom and that the little we sow now will bear fruit many generations later so, we should take heart that nothing done unto the Lord will ever be in vain. Reading familiar names and recognising the names of churches (some of which are still standing today) was humbling in that it helped me see that who I am as a Christian is a product (whether direct or indirect) of the sacrifices made over the past few decades by those who desired to give their all to Christ. A timely reminder indeed, lest I become puffed up in my own knowledge.
The only reason I gave Goldsmith's book 4/5 stars is because there were certain points in her narrative in which I didn't appreciate the simplistic way she spoke about the communists from the Emergency era, almost coming across as lacking nuance in understanding that segment of Malaysian society. Apart from that, I'd encouraged Malaysians to pick up this book at some point in time in their lives.
December 8, 2023
A well documented and researched account of the struggles that OMF missionaries had working in Malaysia from the 1950s and how that labour has (eventually) grown fruit. Elizabeth looks at the overall situation and different areas of work and ministries using personal testimonies to illustrate them. Reading it encourages one to persevere in the calling God has given - if you cannot see the fruit now, know that it will come.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews