JENNA
Jo-Anne Berthelsen
Ark House Press
From the Author:
I love to see God’s people living full and fruitful lives, working harmoniously together with one goal in mind – to serve God wholeheartedly as each of us is called to do. I believe that in Scripture we see how God has gifted and equipped both men and women to minister to others – it is not a matter of gender but rather of giftedness, as each one puts his or her energies into doing what he or she has been called and gifted to do. In this way, the body of Christ functions at its best, as Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 12. So in telling Jenna’s story as she pursues God’s call to train for ministry, I wanted to encourage women in particular, but also men, to step out and become all God purposes them to be and to respect and value one another in the process.
I wanted to show too how damaging it is, on both a personal and corporate level, when we criticise others in the body of Christ and hold onto attitudes such as envy and lack of forgiveness and also when we lose our Christian integrity and are less than honest with ourselves and with others.
Finally, God clearly calls each of us in Scripture to grow up in our faith and become mature followers of Jesus Christ. As my readers follow Jenna’s journey and see how she learns to overcome her self-doubt, stand firm in her faith, and begin to develop and use her God-given gifts, my hope and prayer is that they too will grow in their faith and be drawn closer to God.
Jo-Anne Berthelsen
Reviews
Jenna Ramsey always puts 100% effort into all she undertakes and when she says “Yes” to God’s call to begin training for ministry, it is no exception. She is not surprised by her family’s negative reaction to her decision but their attitude only serves to reinforce her determination to succeed. And succeed she does.
Jo-Anne Berthelsen’s latest book jenna sensitively and wisely confronts the bias, prejudice and the subtle and often not so subtle put-downs that are frequently part of life for women in ministry. Although the book is fiction it is easy to identify with Jenna’s pain as she fights to take her place first at Bible College and later in the Church.
jenna is an must-read for any woman thinking of entering full-time ministry in 2011. It is a book for a time such as this.
A delightful extra was the personal message from God to Jenna at the end of each chapter. DS
LAURA - ‘Be Thou My Vision’
LAURA - SHORT LISTED in CALEB 2010
Jo-Anne Berthelsen
Ark House Press
Only rarely does one read a book and can say at the finish, ‘This book has changed my understanding!’ but Jo-Anne Berthelsen’s gem laura - Be Thou My Vision is one such book.
Before she is three years old cancer is diagnosed and to save Laura’s life, her parents Ken and Margaret Harding agree to the removal of their daughter’s eyes. Laura is destined to live in a sightless world but her determination and her courageous spirit prevail. Her competitive spirit drives her to win and she attends school, lives independently, attends university and is involved in the full range of extra curricular activities. At university she received distinctions and high distinctions and with her heightened sense of hearing she excelled in the area of music. Her excellent memory more than compensated for other’s notes with the result that she outclassed them in the University debating team.
Laura achieves this despite, or maybe because of, the pain she suffered as a result of the rejection and ridicule she received from other children in her early life and the many negative responses she and her mother received from educationalists in the Government system.
Laura’s home life had its disadvantages not least being her dad’s inability to stay away from the pub. Despite this her dad was an encourager and made many good decisions regarding Laura’s future. One of these was that Laura was to be treated normally and as much as possible do everything that everyone else did. She was to swim, climb, go hiking and all the other things her brothers and sister did. Her mother was a former teacher who did all that was possible to educate Laura to the full and way above what was considered normal for her age.
laura - Be Thou My Vision - is a gem of a book inspired by a real life story and is a ‘must read’ for any parent, grandparent, or educationalist who works with children who are in any way challenged.
LAURA: ‘BE THOU MY VISION’
Jo-anne Berthelsen
Ark House Press
From the author of the Heléna stories (Heléna and All The Days of my Life) comes this honest and heart-warming account of how a blind person learns to cope with everyday situations. The story starts with Laura’s childhood as she struggles with her blindness at school and amongst her family members. She develops many coping skills to become a university student and then going on to teach visually impaired children. It was very moving to read about her courageous attitude and her developing trust in God. Many of the issues raised in the book would make it a good novel for further discussion – about disabilities in general, tackling life issues, triumphing over difficulty, God and the incapacitated, faith sharing and teaching. HB
LAURA
Jo-Anne Berthelsen
Ark House Press
At the tender age of three Laura is diagnosed with tumours in her eyes and, to save her life, has both eyes removed. Her father finds solace in alcohol. Her mother is exhausted caring for the large family, and especially for her blind daughter. Schools are unaccommodating, children are cruel, and Laura has to overcome huge obstacles to be educated and to live as normal a life as possible. Throughout her life she feels and hears the call of God, but her family can’t understand how a loving God would allow her to suffer. The story is told with great sensitivity and intelligently tackles the difficult questions about suffering, faith and forgiveness. WN
Laura is available from our member author's website. Or from your local Christian bookstore.