Rebekah Brown reviews Helen Roseveare: A life in her own words.
“Can you thank me for trusting you with this experience even if I never tell you why?” (p.630). Triggered by five months of brutal captivity, this question from the Lord pestered Roseveare (1925–2016) throughout her 20 years of Medical Missionary Service in the Congo and in the 30 years of international speaking that followed.
Her honest story reveals how she wrestled in her faith not only during moments of deep darkness and despair, but in the ordinary frustrations of life tainted with fear and self-doubt. At each turn Roseveare cast her burdens on the Lord and found comfort and sustaining grace in His timely word and encouragement.
This new publication contains all three volumes of Roseveare’s autobiography. Give Me This Mountain (1925–1966) recounts her early years of coming to faith, training as a medical missionary, sailing to the Belgian Congo, establishing medical services in Ibambi and then a medical centre in Nebobongo. It was following her return from furlough and to a newly independent Republic of Congo that the uprising came. Roseveare suffered brutal captivity and rape for five months before her rescue in 1965, and she was unable to speak about it at this stage.
He Gave us a Valley (1967–1977) recounts Roseveare’s return to the Congo for another seven years, following a year in the UK to recover! She was a changed woman, and there were more challenges ahead. Roseveare’s internal dialogue is both raw and resonating. Her reflection on her captivity is not overdramatised, nor the mundaneness of medical missionary life minimised; both stretch and challenge her trust in her Saviour. She returned to the UK in 1973 after 20 years of service.
Digging Ditches (1978–2005) is my favourite of the three and asks: “Was it worth it?” This recounts years of worldwide speaking as well as her return to Nebobongo to make a missionary video and later to open a new surgical unit. It is in this volume where the internal dialogue ramps up. Whilst she may not set out to be instructive to the reader, her ability to speak God’s truth into her own self-doubt is remarkably helpful and reassuring – with, of course, God’s grace!
A great holiday read that is both gently convicting and deeply challenging.
Book information
- Helen Roseveare: A life in her own words, Helen Roseveare, Christian Focus, ISBN 978 1 527 111 394, 663 pages, £19.99
