Happy Friday everyone! It’s good to be here on Diversity Between The Pages. This is my first post on this wonderful site, and I am excited to share great fiction with you. For my inaugural post I chose Red Ink by Kathi Macias. While this book has been out for a while, it is a very relevant read. Set in China and in the US, this book highlights the plight of believers in hostile nations and the role of Christians in the West as prayer support. Hope you enjoy it!
ABOUT THE BOOK
A young Chinese woman, Zhen-Li raised to observe the party line, including its one-child-per-family doctrine falls in love with and marries a Christian, and adopts his faith. Though the couple downplays their Christianity in an effort to survive, Zhen-Li’s family is appalled, and she and her husband are ostracized. When she becomes pregnant for the second time and refuses to have an abortion, the persecution begins in earnest. Zhen-Li’s parents, under pressure from the government, pay to have Zhen-Li kidnapped and the baby aborted. It is then Zhen-Li decides she must live up to her name Truth and take a firm stand for her faith, regardless of the consequences, and so she begins to regularly teach children about Zhu Yesu Lord Jesus and to distribute Christian literature every chance she gets. Based loosely on the life of Christian magazine editor Li Ying, currently serving a ten-year prison sentence in China, the story of Yang Zhen-Li tells the desperate tale of her incarceration and separation from her family, as she continues to minister to other prisoners, and even to her guards.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kathi Macias is a multi-award winning writer who has authored nearly 30 books and ghostwritten several others. A former newspaper columnist and string reporter, Kathi has taught creative and business writing in various venues and has been a guest on many radio and television programs. Kathi is a popular speaker at churches, women’s clubs and retreats, and writers’ conferences, and recently won the prestigious 2008 member of the year award from AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association) at the annual Golden Scrolls award banquet. Kathi “Easy Writer” Macias lives in Homeland, CA, with her husband, Al, where the two of them spend their free time riding their Harley.
MY THOUGHTS
Red Ink is another great book in the Extreme Devotion series by Kathi Macias. The novel follows the life of Zhen-Li, imprisoned for spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ in the oppressive environment of China. While the book focuses on the hardships, persecution, and oppression of Chinese Christians, it also takes a look at the ongoing call for prayer by all Christians.
Julia and Laura are elderly residents in an assisted care home. But their days of ministry are not over – far from it. These two prayer warriors continue to pray for their fellow residents and families. When they feel the call of God to pray for someone in China, they are obedient to the call. They heed God’s leading to pray specifically for a woman at risk in China – you decide who that might be. Ever open to opportunities to pray, they also begin fervent prayer for a fellow resident and her granddaughter.
Zhen-Li lives a life of extreme devotion, continuing to share her faith even within the walls that imprison her. Laura and Julia are also extreme in their devotion, continuing to be in prayer and in tune with their Lord.
Red Ink is an eye-opener into the trials of Christians in China. It is also a heart-opener for those who heed its message of fervent prayer and bold living for Christ. If you want to learn how to live a dynamic life in Christ, pick up Kathi Macias’s Red Ink to get a glimpse of just what it might take.
Highly Recommended.
(I received a complimentary copy of Red Ink from New Hope Publishers. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
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