With Two Hands: Stories of God at Work in Ethiopia

Hidden Heroes

by Rebecca Davis

BOOK #1 IN THE HIDDEN HEROES SERIES

Why would a crippled old man wait by the side of the road every day for twenty years? Why would a slave and a witch doctor walk for three days to find a man called Jesus? Why would a lame man purposely hobble to a tribe where he knew he could be killed?

Sixteen captivating true episodes from the ministry of missionary Dick McLellan in Ethiopia, as well as many national missionaries, show the power of God in the midst of darkness. One by one the people declared, "With this hand I renounce the devil and all his works! With this hand I embrace my Savior Jesus Christ! All I am and all I have! Two hands!" 

The Hidden Heroes Series tells inspirational stories for preteens (ages 9-12) that are suitable for read-alouds for younger children. Evangelical Protestant Christian missionaries take the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who then take it to their own people. Biographical true accounts bring the miraculous work of the gospel to life through personal testimonies of historical figures.

Sonlight Homeschool Curriculum has called the books in The Hidden Heroes Series "glorious," "marvelous," "incredible," beautiful," "challenging," "dramatic," and "exciting."

Book 1 -- With Two True Stories of God at Work in Ethiopia
Book 2 -- The Good News Must Go True Stories of God at Work in the Central African Republic
Book 3 -- Witness True Stories of God at Work in Papua, Indonesia
Book 4 -- Return of the White True Stories of God at Work in Southeast Asia
Book 5 -- Lights in a Dark True Stories of God at Work in Colombia
Book 6 -- Living Water in the True Stories of God at Work in Iran

Genres: Christian, Biography, Nonfiction, Childrens, Middle Grade, School, Ethiopia

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Librarian Note: There are several authors by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Angela Bergeron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in the Hidden Heroes series. I highly recommend this entire series! We use missionary stories as part of our daily devotional time and there are a lot out there that are hit or miss. We were looking for something great to follow up after Missionary Stories With The Millers and this was perfect. The stories in here were interesting and my kids looked forward to it everyday. Best of all it inspired us to aim for more in our prayer life and in our faith in God. I'm alternating with her Potter's Wheel biographies and other biographies in between each of her Hidden Heroes books to make them last longer. My kids are 11 and 12, but I think these would be engaging to as young as 6 and they interest me as an adult too.

[Angela Brito · Rating 5 out of 5]

True and encouraging stories of missionaries and Christians in Ethiopia. Read this aloud to my 6 year old and we both enjoyed it. I was encouraged and the gospel was clearly given many times glorifying God not men. Even though this is written for children, be aware that there are some mature elements like abusive fathers, witchdoctors, demon possession, guns and violence, etc that these missionaries and Christian’s encountered that could be alarming for some.

[Karina (Karina's Christian Reads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Number of pages: 158

Genre: Missionary Biography (Ethiopia)

Series: Hidden Heroes #1 (This series can be read in any order; each book introduces one or more missionaries from a different part of the world).

Age recommendation: The intended audience is elementary school kids, (the book says 6-14) but I’d say 8-12 because they can read it themselves. Older people (like me) might like them too.

Summary: Dick McLellan came to God through two ladies and their Sunday School. When he grew up, he decided to share this with others. He went to Ethiopia to share God’s good news and many eagerly accepted God’s message with their two hands. “With this hand I renounce the devil and all his works! With this hand I surrender to Jesus Christ! All I am and all I have!” (Based off of Warriors of Ethiopia).

My thoughts: This is one of my favourite kids’ missionary series. The author has obviously done her research, and successfully adapted the stories for younger readers. She knows how to keep her books interesting, and I found myself fascinated with the gospel work in Ethiopia.
Just in case this bothers any parents giving this to their younger children, there are quite a few witch doctors in this book; some scenes where some of the people are threatened to be shot; some where people are beaten. This isn’t really dwelt upon. The point is to show how people were and how the gospel changed them. I don’t find this an issue and I think the author dealt with/explained these facts very well for younger readers, I just thought I’d put that out there for people who might not like that.

My personal rating: This book was definitely 5/5 stars.

Link to blog: https://karinaschristianreads.wordpre...

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found parts of this book powerful and moving but it started off really rough. I was frustrated by this sentence in the first chapter: "He took that gospel to a different land where the people had never heard, in Ethiopia." My suspicion is that this is just a disastrously worded sentence - not that the author truly believes that an Australian first brought the gospel to the as yet unreached nation of Ethiopia in the 1940s. I think it is of vital importance that we are careful in the telling of these kinds of stories not to prop up a "white savior" narrative. Ethiopia has had the gospel since the 4th century. In a lot of ways the author did this successfully later in the book but I continued to be frustrated by the way this was framed as the Dick McLellan Story at the beginning and end of the book while telling the story of all of the other missionaries so import to this work in the middle. The subtitle of this book is "True Stories of God at Work in Ethiopia" and I wish the author had stayed true to that rather than bookending the collection of stories by drawing focus back to Dick McLellan specifically.

[Tina at Mommynificent · Rating 5 out of 5]

We absolutely loved this book! It broadened our faith and encouraged us all to press on, trusting God no matter what we face. It reinforced for all of us that our lives are not in our own hands, and that nothing can take our lives until we have completed our purpose on this earth. This was an excellent addition to our homeschool study of the country of Ethiopia! All five kids, ages 5-16, plus mom were thoroughly engaged. Highly recommend.

[Lydia Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

“One by one people surrendered their lives to God by lifting two hands to the Lord. “With this hand I renounce the devil and all his works! With this hand I surrender to Jesus Christ! All I am and all I have!”

This was one of my childhood books while being homeschooled. My dad read this countless of times to me and my siblings before bedtime. A very nostalgic read for me, definitely recommend!

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply amazing true stories from the mission field in Ethiopia. They built my faith and often made me choke up. The discussion questions at the back of the book are excellent, and I usually have no patience for discussion questions. Two of the three kids who could understand the stories now say this is their favorite book. One child requested that her babysitter read it. We all referred to the stories throughout our days. These Ethiopian Christians instructed us so well: they are true heroes of forgiveness, longsuffering, and faith. We can't wait to continue this underappreciated treasure of a series.

[Cala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read aloud to T(9). We’ve read others in this series too. They are fantastic missionary stories that focus on God’s Word and the power that comes through it. I think it’s good for my children (and myself) to be reminded about the people groups and cultures around the world that have been greatly affected by missionary work.

[Abigail Westbrook · Rating 5 out of 5]

We went through this as a family read aloud and absolutely loved it! So many incredible true stories of God answering prayers and bringing people to faith in Jesus throughout Ethiopia. Very faith-strengthening and uplifting!

[Brenda Kominek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome family devo

This was an excellent family devotional. It really started some good conversations about God and His power... the kids loved it and have asked to read all in this series

[Johnny Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this school book aloud to the kids at the dinner table. Stalled out a few different times. SOme of the stories are really interesting and some are just so so. Overall, gets a three. Probably of not any interest to non-churchy types.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave such an amazing testimony of the greatness of God and how miracles still exist in other countries where faith is stronger than we may experience here in the US. I loved sharing the stories with my husband and children.

[Becky Durstenfeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is written for children, but adults will enjoy it, too! I did. If you have a heart for Africa, or Ethiopia,you will definitely want to read it. It is short and quick to read. It has 18 chapters that are very short. it could be easily used by church children's classes.

[Renee Rieser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful family read aloud! My boys would often beg for “just one more chapter please!”

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first book to read in this series out loud to my kids... I think it is the best book I have read out loud to my kids and that is saying a lot as we are avid readers. This was an amazing book!!!

[Eva]

Read this aloud with my kids as part of my third grader's curriculum. I appreciated that the author kept everything appropriate level for young readers.

[Adam Balshan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars [Anthology]
(W: 3.5, U: 3.5, T: 5)
#11 out of 55 in the theme of Missions

The first book in a series called "Hidden Heroes." The truth was of the highest quality, concerning how the power of God overcame the demons of witch doctors and the hatred of Communists. Called a children's book, but appropriate for any age; its writing is clean and strongly rousing.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful missionary book about amazing ways that God showed up in Ethiopia. Enjoyable!

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading it to the kids and they enjoyed listening, but it wasn't as good as "The Good News Must Go Out"

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the stories in this book made me weep. Powerful testimonies of God at work.