About This Book:
"Giving up my plans for my life was the most utterly beautiful but most difficult thing I have ever done. As the drone of the Cessna 180 brought me out of my flashback, I smiled as I found myself right where I have, for so long, feared to go. The jungles of Africa. But somehow, though I still felt some trepidation about this new experience, it seemed right. Very right." ~ Kim L. Abernethy
After a 3 year struggle with surrendering to God’s plans, Kim finally submits to God’s calling on her life - missions, raw and heart-warming, to the country of Liberia, West Africa. These stories captured in real time from the coffers of her early journals will inspire you. Travel with Kim and her small family to an unfamiliar culture as she experiences events that could easily have shattered her resolve to continue following Christ’s dynamic plans for her life.
In 1985 Kim Abernethy, along with her husband, Jeff, followed a call from God to minister in the West African country of Liberia. She writes of the fall of one of her daughters from a two-story building, shares candid emotions when her husband had a close call with Lassa Fever, and delightfully chronicles her husband's adventures of being a bush pilot in the jungle of Liberia.
Whether you are intrigued by the stories of foreign missionaries and how they adapt to a new culture or are heading towards the mission field yourself, you will find this book enlightening and inspiring.
Inside you will find disbelief, tragedy, fear, anxiety, discontentment, and confusion, but there is also humor, delight, amazement, wonder, surrender, and a deep-seated joy as you watch how God chipped away at the walls of pride, disbelief, and stubbornness that had held Kim captive.
About The Author:
Kim grew up in the small community of Delco, North Carolina. Delco is located twenty miles west of the beautiful port city of Wilmington.
The oldest of two children, her brother, Eddie, died in 2001 after a twenty-seven year battle with terminal kidney disease. Seeing what God did in and through her brother’s life, watching miracle after miracle, served as a catalyst to strengthen her faith in a personal & sovereign God.
She attended Peace College in Raleigh, NC, receiving a degree in English and Journalism. Feeling God leading her into a full-time missionary career, she studied at Piedmont Baptist College. There she met her husband, Jeff Abernethy, and they were married in 1981 and graduated in 1982.
By December 1985, Kim, her husband Jeff, and their oldest daughter, Michelle (then 2) headed to Liberia, West Africa. It is from journals kept during the first five years in Liberia that Kim penned her first book, In This Place. From those journals comes the captivating story of her life as a young missionary wife and mother in a culture she hardly understood.
In 2002, after seventeen years living in and out of West Africa and the West Indies, the Abernethys settled back in Charlotte. For the past eight years, they have lead a dynamic campus ministry called Campus Bible Fellowship International at the University of NC - Charlotte.
Interview With The Author:
My husband and I, along with our 2 1/2 year old daughter, Michelle, were absorbed deeply into the Liberian jungle (180 miles from the capital city Monrovia) at a time when communicating with the “outside” world was still an anomaly. In the mid 1980’s, our key communication source to our family in America was through ham radio operators and by that means, we usually talked to our families only once a month.
There was never enough time to tell them all the cultural things we were learning or share the cute things about their granddaughter, so I felt the need to supplement with journals. I would handwrite the journals as events happened, but then would use my Selectric II typewriter (during electricity time - you’ll understand that more if you read the book) to type out the journals and mail them off. My mother wisely put the journals into a large manila envelope and saved them. She and my father knew my hankering for writing and prayed that I would one day use those journals to write a book.
How (exactly) did you go about writing the book? Did you take your journal entries and just add more details?
I wrote the first couple of chapters almost six years ago. Between a busy college ministry and an active family, it was difficult for me to know how to carve out the time I needed to make the writing effective. Of course, I always tried to give myself a self-imposed deadline, but being new at the writing and knowing I was going to self-publish did not help my need for discipline so lacking in the early formation of this book. Two years ago, after constantly reaming myself out for not getting serious and lamenting to my husband and family that I needed to get this book done, they rallied around and helped me carve out more substantial amounts of time for serious writing.
Not having any template on how to write from detailed journals, I just decided to dig into the coffers of the journals, make notes about the stories I wanted to use, and then started writing. There were times I found that I could not improve on how I had said something in my journal so I gave myself permission to quote directly from the journal.
What helped you make the decision of which stories to include and which stories to leave out?
That was not an easy task. Taking the advice of several friends and other writers, I stopped the constant editing and analyzing of what I had already written and just wrote the story. It soon started to weave itself into somewhat of a continuum.
After I had completely written the story, I went back and read the entire book, critically, as through the eyes of those who might read it but not really know me very well. I prayed much that God would give me the grace to know when to “let go” of a story, especially when it seemed that it was completely self-serving. Grant it, I struggled with God over at least two particular stories that I really wanted to keep in there, but no matter how hard I tried, they did not fit the spirit of what the book had become.
Honestly, I do not believe that I could have written this book in as God-honoring of a way ten years ago. While I am no where near what I need to be in Christ, I do know that He has taken more of the ME out of the story and inserted much more of the HIM in it.
Can you give us a brief synopsis of this story?
In 1985 I, along with my husband, Jeff, followed a call from God to minister in the small West African country of Liberia. From learning how to effectively communicate with the Liberian workers in my jungle home to witnessing the painful death of a young woman in childbirth, I write candidly. I tell stories of every day happenings in the life of jungle living, but also plod through the painful: when one of my daughter’s fell from an 18-foot balcony and when my husband was exposed to Lassa fever. One of my favorite things to write about were the chronicles of my husband's adventures of being a bush pilot in the jungle of Liberia.
Inside this book you will find disbelief, tragedy, fear, anxiety, discontentment, and confusion, but there is also humor, delight, amazement, wonder, surrender, and a deep-seated joy as you watch how God - little by little - chipped away at the walls of pride, unbelief, stubbornness, and independence that had always held me captive to myself. You may find yourself in these stories.
What was your key inspirational force in writing and publishing your first book?
My three daughters were the primary inspirations. Our oldest, Michelle, was 2 1/2 when we first went to Liberia. Stefanie, our second, was born in the middle of the jungle after we had only been in Liberia for ten months. Third daughter Lauren was born during the tumultuous time after our first evacuation from our ministry & home in Liberia. I wanted them to have a written account of their parents’ missionary journey in West Africa and beyond. It is one thing to be a Missionary Kid and live the life in your “home away from home”, but as they are all now young women in their twenties, I wanted them to see God in a bigger way. To always have a reason to keep trusting Him - no matter what.
Another motivation for writing this book were young missionary couples (particularly the women) who may wonder what they can expect as they enter their field of service. Though the country and circumstances may be different, I want the book to be a cultural, spiritual, and practical guide to those who will come behind us.
The third reason was for those that have always been interested in the intrinsic details of foreign missionary lives. I offer this candid missionary memoir as a means to open the door to seeing us as human, exposing struggles and sharing victories.
Where can we find out more about you and your books?
Please visit my website at www.kimlabernethy.com
My Review:
An absolutely amazing journey of one woman's answer to God's call on her life to be a missionary! You will laugh, cry and turn each page with great anticipation to see how God works in Kim's life. It is an honest and open look at the life of a missionary, with no sugar coating at all. I truly appreciated Kim's transparency throughout reading In This Place, and look forward to reading her upcoming release, In Every Place, due to be published this Fall. God is definitely seen throughout this book and Kim's life and you will be inspired and challenged to listen to His calling on your own life, and move out of your comfort zone to do what He wants for you! That said, not all of us are called to be missionaries overseas, but we are all called to make disciples, wherever we are! We just need to be willing and available!
I highly recommend this book and give it huge thumbs up!
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***I was given a complimentary copy of this book from the author in exchange for posting the author’s interview on my blog. This blog tour is managed by Christian Speaker Services (www.ChristianSpeakerServices.com)***
