Through Many Dangers
$23.95
Click the PDF to read an excerpt!
Review by Annemarieke Ryskamp, from The Outlook, Vol. 71, Issue 6
Review by Ken Kolk, retired professor of history
Review by John Van Dyk, from Christian Renewal, February 19, 2022
August 1862. Eighteen-year-old Harm van Wyke finds his quiet life in the Dutch Reformed community of Holland, Michigan, upended by the American Civil War. When it becomes clear the war will not be as easily won as once believed, President Lincoln calls for 300,000 volunteers to defend the Union. Harm’s minister, Rev. Albertus van Raalte, encourages the young men of his community to join the cause. Harm’s father bitterly opposes the idea. Harm hesitates to leave his home, but when his friends portray the war as a grand adventure, he gives in and joins them. Together, some eighty boys and young men from Holland join the 25th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
As Harm and his friends travel to army camps in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and then Louisville, Kentucky, they face daily temptations to forget God and turn from their faith. Fellow soldiers think nothing of taking the Lord’s name in vain. They gamble, drink, and “forage” from neighboring homes and farms. Harm and his friends gather regularly to sing the old psalms and discuss the Bible, but still, on occasion, they stumble and fall.
As the war progresses, the boys from Holland battle Confederate General John Hunt Morgan in Western Kentucky, and endure an arduous march to Eastern Tennessee where they join the fighting around Knoxville. Later, they take part in General Sherman’s prolonged and bloody Atlanta campaign. Along the way, Harm and his friends face the harsh realities of war—exposure, disease, injury, and death. In the midst of such hardship, Harm’s faith is tried at every turn. His greatest conflict turns out to be spiritual. Will God give Harm the strength to stand for what is right, even if he finds himself opposed by friends?
_
P.M. Kuiper is a member of the Protestant Reformed Churches. In his free time he enjoys wandering the great outdoors, writing, reading good literature, and playing guitar. He resides in West Michigan.
Paula Barone is a member of the Protestant Reformed Churches and a former academic support teacher. She enjoys drawing, reading, and indoor rock climbing. She also lives in West Michigan.
Click here for the ebook.
Letters from Katie Luther: A Novel
$14.95
Click to read sample
Ave and her best friend Katie lived for many years as nuns in a convent in Nimbschen. But one day the two women and several other nuns decided they must flee the convent for the city of Wittenberg so that they could worship the Lord in a way pleasing to him.
After their respective marriages, Ave moved away from Wittenberg, while Katie remained in the city with her new husband, Dr. Martin Luther. Over the years, the women wrote each other many letters and remained close friends and “sisters in the Lord.”
Now, in a novel set almost three decades later, Ave has received news that Katie has died. Determined to share her friend’s story, Ave begins to relay her memories of Katie and share the letters she has kept for all these years. Her desire is only that we learn what her friend Katie came to learn over fifty-three years on this earth: trust in the Lord, who strengthens the hearts of all who hope in him (Psalm 31:24).
Read reviews by Kristin Dykstra, Sarah Mowery, Eva and Mina Boekestein (The Outlook), Ronald Cammenga (Standard Bearer), and Dr. Jason Van Vliet (Clarion).
- 208 pages
- softcover
- ISBN 978-1-944555-53-5
eBook version available
Letters from Katie Luther (eBook)
$14.95
Click to read sample
Ave and her best friend Katie lived for many years as nuns in a convent in Nimbschen. But one day the two women and several other nuns decided they must flee the convent for the city of Wittenberg so that they could worship the Lord in a way pleasing to him.
After their respective marriages, Ave moved away from Wittenberg, while Katie remained in the city with her new husband, Dr. Martin Luther. Over the years, the women wrote each other many letters and remained close friends and “sisters in the Lord.”
Now, in a novel set almost three decades later, Ave has received news that Katie has died. Determined to share her friend’s story, Ave begins to relay her memories of Katie and share the letters she has kept for all these years. Her desire is only that we learn what her friend Katie came to learn over fifty-three years on this earth: trust in the Lord, who strengthens the hearts of all who hope in him (Psalm 31:24).
Read reviews by Kristin Dykstra, Sarah Mowery (Perspectives), Eva and Mina Boekestein (The Outlook), Ronald Cammenga (Standard Bearer), and Dr. Jason Van Vliet (Clarion).
- 208 pages
- ISBN 978-1-944555-54-2
Paperback version available
Through Many Dangers (ebooks)
$19.95
Click the PDF to read an excerpt!
Review by Annemarieke Ryskamp, from The Outlook, Vol. 71, Issue 6
Review by Ken Kolk, retired professor of history
August 1862. Eighteen-year-old Harm van Wyke finds his quiet life in the Dutch Reformed community of Holland, Michigan, upended by the American Civil War. When it becomes clear the war will not be as easily won as once believed, President Lincoln calls for 300,000 volunteers to defend the Union. Harm’s minister, Rev. Albertus van Raalte, encourages the young men of his community to join the cause. Harm’s father bitterly opposes the idea. Harm hesitates to leave his home, but when his friends portray the war as a grand adventure, he gives in and joins them. Together, some eighty boys and young men from Holland join the 25th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
As Harm and his friends travel to army camps in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and then Louisville, Kentucky, they face daily temptations to forget God and turn from their faith. Fellow soldiers think nothing of taking the Lord’s name in vain. They gamble, drink, and “forage” from neighboring homes and farms. Harm and his friends gather regularly to sing the old psalms and discuss the Bible, but still, on occasion, they stumble and fall.
As the war progresses, the boys from Holland battle Confederate General John Hunt Morgan in Western Kentucky, and endure an arduous march to Eastern Tennessee where they join the fighting around Knoxville. Later, they take part in General Sherman’s prolonged and bloody Atlanta campaign. Along the way, Harm and his friends face the harsh realities of war—exposure, disease, injury, and death. In the midst of such hardship, Harm’s faith is tried at every turn. His greatest conflict turns out to be spiritual. Will God give Harm the strength to stand for what is right, even if he finds himself opposed by friends?
_
P.M. Kuiper is a member of the Protestant Reformed Churches. In his free time he enjoys wandering the great outdoors, writing, reading good literature, and playing guitar. He resides in West Michigan.
Paula Barone is a member of the Protestant Reformed Churches and a former academic support teacher. She enjoys drawing, reading, and indoor rock climbing. She also lives in West Michigan.
