WHERE LOVE LEADS YOU
By Ruth Stranex Deeth
Onwards and Upwards. 164 pages. £8.95
ISBN 978 1 907 509 391
Where love leads you is the true autobiography of a lady missionary who served the Lord in Uganda, Tanzania and England with the Bible Churchman’s Missionary Society (BSMS).
The style is easy to read and she is very honest about her own limitations and shortcomings. Although not outstanding in any way, she knew that the God who had called her to serve him was a great God and could be trusted whatever the circumstances. That trust was greatly tested after working in Amudat, Uganda, for ten years when, during a military coup, she was arrested, falsely accused of ‘confusing religions’ and deported to England. She vividly describes the experience of those days when she sensed the loneliness, uncertainty and fear of being in a filthy prison. These first ten years of her missionary career are certainly the most interesting part of the book and it is so evident that she greatly loves the people of Amudat and developed a good understanding of their customs and daily way of life while working there as a nurse.
She later went to serve for 15 years in Murgwanza, Tanzania, where she was asked to start a cassette ministry, something she had never done before. This again challenged her trust in God.
Finally she returned to England and worked with the Anglican Church in Burbank, Hartlepool, fulfilling a rather varied ministry, and makes mention of her experience of Re-entry Syndrome. She had left Africa with a hole in her heart. However, she totally immersed herself in the work in Burbank, but never forgot the ten years that she worked in Amudat and kept in touch with those whom she had met in Tanzania. It is evident that she loved her work for the Lord and knew that God is faithful even is dangerous circumstances.
Please note that this book upholds the traditional practices of the Anglican Church such as confirmation and christening and, in the later pages, mentions the practice of casting out ghosts from houses.
Pat Davies,
served as a missionary in Spain with GBM for 38 years;
is now retired and attends a church in Pelsall, West Midlands
