by Jessica Helm

Why would a newly married mother of three who juggles two jobs decide to join the team at Authenticity Book House (ABH)? If you know anything about ABH you likely know something about the president, Fran Joslin. Fran is not just a boss, she’s a friend, mentor, and all-around amazing human being. When Fran offered me a part time job at ABH, I couldn’t say no. Not only has Fran been a rock for me in tough times, but also the mission of ABH speaks straight to my soul—equipping the unequipped.

I hesitated to follow the Lord’s will at one point in my life because I felt unprepared. Little did I know, Jesus speaks into that. “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6 ESV).

Let me take you back to the spring of 2019, a time when my life felt like a rollercoaster. My first marriage ended, I became a single mom, and my daughter’s school (where I worked) decided to close. Talk about when it rains it pours! But amidst the chaos, God planted a seed in my heart—the idea of becoming the administrator of a Christian school. My initial reaction? “Lord, are you sure you’ve got the right person? I’m not qualified. Why would you choose me?” I have since come to realize that God often uses unlikely individuals to carry out his work.

After learning about the school’s closure, a group of parents and I gathered to pray and discuss the possibility of starting our own homeschool cooperative (or even a private school). It’s funny how life throws curveballs at you, but sometimes those curveballs lead you to unexpected blessings. As a group of parents, we landed on opening a private Christian school. The other parents elected me to run it! I asked God to provide the resources and equip me. These challenges led to many days on my knees in prayer. Boy did God deliver!

Doors flew open, a team of wise counselors appeared, and opportunities to grow professionally and spiritually abounded. Amazingly, God orchestrated the skills on my resume to prepare me for future opportunities. My journey in Christian education came to an end, but I found myself at ABH, not just helping a friend, but becoming a part of something bigger than myself.

I feel a deep personal connection to the mission of reaching rural pastors that ABH serves. Just as God placed the right people and resources in my life to start a Christian school, he now uses ABH to empower rural pastors to spread the gospel in their own communities. It’s like a divine game of connect-the-dots, and I feel pure gratitude to participate in it.

by  Fran Geiger Joslin

Giving thanks comes easily when life flows smoothly and no problems exist. I’m in that space right now. At ABH we marvel at God’s blessings. We marvel at how “God is in a hurry,” according to Pastor James, our director of operations in Africa. Friends and supporters show great interest and excitement over God’s blessings and direction for ABH.

If you’ve known me very long, you know this feeling of God’s amazing blessings wasn’t always the case. My first husband, Brian, battled brain cancer for nine years before dying from the disease. During those nine years, although we experienced blessings, we also endured intense hardships including financial distress and the fear of loss. After Brian died, at times I only felt hardship. Extreme sorrow. Loneliness like I’d never felt before.

I discovered that God’s blessings often run in tandem with hardship and pain. Sometimes we feel God’s blessings intensely because we also feel the difficulties of life intensely. The extremes give us perspective. If we didn’t experience anguish and suffering, we might not appreciate the blessings as much. We might take them for granted.

God’s Word tells us to “give thanks in all things.” (1 Thess. 5:18) It’s tempting to skip the word “all.” We sometimes tell ourselves that God surely doesn’t mean we should give thanks even in the hard things!

But if we back up a little and look at the context of 1 Thessalonians 5, we see some interesting insights. Verses 12-15 list ways to love others. The author then makes three staccato commands in verses 16-18a: “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; give thanks in all things.” Why? “For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (v. 18b).

These three commands should define us as believers. Others should see us as people who rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and who give thanks in all things. It’s easy to rejoice and give thanks when life is good. It’s easy to pray without ceasing when life isn’t so good. God wants us to practice all three things both when life is good and not so good. We can almost always find something for which to rejoice and thank God. Most of us would agree there is almost always something for which to pray.

Take stock of your own life. Would others describe you as one who rejoices always, prays without ceasing, and gives thanks in all things? If not, what needs to change? Consider listing the things for which you can rejoice and give thanks. Then record the items for which you can consistently pray. If nothing else, you can ask God to help you become more joyful and thankful.

Challenge yourself to write your own dayenu, as we did in our ABH newsletter and at our ABH Thanksgiving dinner. The Hebrew word “dayenu” means “It would have been enough.” The dayenu reminds us to show deep gratitude for each blessing, recognizing that each one qualifies as more than enough on its own. Click here to see an example from The Chosen TV series.

I’ll write a few of my own:

• If God had increased my self-confidence because of Brian Geiger’s love and belief in me, but didn’t strengthen me after his death, it would’ve been enough.
• If God had strengthened me through the experience of losing Brian and single parenting, but didn’t give me another love in Howard Joslin, it would’ve been enough.
• If God had given me a second love in Howard Joslin, but hadn’t “tricked”* me into running a ministry, it would’ve been enough.
• If God had “tricked” me into running a ministry but didn’t give me enormous blessing from training pastors and their wives in Tanzania, it would’ve been enough.

*To understand why I joke that God tricked me, read our story over two blogs that begin here.

By Erin Ensinger

Most mornings I take a three mile run. Sometimes the same old run day after day gets boring, so I speed my pace to a dash, dart, sprint, or canter. Or I slow to a saunter, amble, or stroll. Depending on the strenuousness of my exertion, I reward my efforts by sipping, savoring, swigging, or slurping a refreshing beverage.

See how much variety verbs add to our lives? And precision, too. I don’t need a string of adverbs to describe my antics. Instead of “slowly, wearily, and gratefully sitting down” I can simply “collapse” in the nearest chair. I can even choose a verb that sounds exactly like the action I describe. Read this list out loud and you’ll see what I mean: poke, sputter, flutter, crash, click, drizzle, twinkle.

Now we don’t want to go overboard in our enthusiasm for verbs. Too much “cavorting” or “gallivanting” can get downright silly and exhaust our readers. Sometimes a simple word like “run” more accurately describes an action. But with such vibrant shades of color in our palettes, why do we settle for the mundane when we could paint murals in our readers’ minds?

Nothing deadens writing faster than to be verbs. You may remember chanting the list in grammar class (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been) while heeding your teacher’s strict injunctions to memorize them but never use them. Why bother keeping these treacherous infiltrators in our language?

We writers tend to enjoy the comfort of rules. Writing feels like such a mysterious process we breathe a sigh of relief when someone lays down a clear law for us. But remember the letter of the law kills. We need to be thoughtful writers, not mindless rule followers. When we understand the why behind the rules, we make better writing decisions.

Consider the verb “is.” I think of “is” like a giant equal sign. “God is love.” If we try to replace “is” with “God exudes love” or “God demonstrates love,” we weaken the equation between God and love.

Jack Hart, author of Word Craft, says to be verbs define our world. But Hart also urges, “Don’t define the world; describe it in motion.” Would you rather write a dictionary or plunge your readers into a breathtaking experience? 

A thesaurus proves a good friend to help you trade to be verbs for action verbs. But sometimes you need to change your entire sentence structure. Let me show you four kinds of modifiers (descriptive words or phrases) that eliminate to be verbs like magic.

I took these examples from Lois Lowry’s Number the Stars, a middle grade novel about a Danish family resisting the Nazis during World War II. I want you to see that these modifiers are simple enough for middle school readers, the level for which we aim in ABH books.

Example 1: Appositive Phrase

• “One of the soldiers, the taller one, moved toward her.”

An appositive renames or describes the subject. Lowry could have written, “The soldier that moved toward her was the taller one.” Instead, she avoided “was” by tucking the description into a neat little phrase between the subject “soldiers” and the action verb “moved.”

Example 2: Participial Phrase

• “Here and there stars appeared, dotting the sky among thin clouds.”

Participial phrases begin with an –ing verb, in this case “dotting.” Instead of saying, “Stars were dotting the sky,” Lowry avoids “were” and simply attaches “dotting the sky” at the end of the sentence. 

      Example 3: Out-of-order Adjectives

• “Motionless, silent… Mama listened.”

We typically see adjectives either directly before the noun (the motionless, silent, woman) or following the noun and a to be verb like this: “Mama was motionless and silent.” Instead, Lowry sets the adjectives apart from the noun with commas, focusing our attention on these descriptive details.

      Example 4: Absolute Phrase

• “Two large dogs strained at taut leashes, their eyes glittering, their lips curled.”

The phrase “their eyes glittering” only needs “were” to form a complete sentence. The same holds true for “their lips (were) curled.” But why add “were” when you can do just fine without it? Again, setting these phrases apart from the main sentence with commas highlights the descriptive details.

Our ABH book-in-progress, Set Free, shows us these four kinds of modifiers.

• Appositive: Daniel told the story of Jesus, a friend of sinners.
• Participial Phrase: The morning sun peeked over the ridge of hills beyond the maize fields, casting a golden glow across the red earth.
• Out-of-Order Adjectives: The man’s face, well-grooved but peaceful, bore the dirt of his long journey.
• Absolute Phrase: Kofi leaned forward, his heart thumping.

Keep watch for the ways good writers use active verbs and avoid tired, trite ones. Scrutinize your own writing and ruthlessly eliminate any to be verbs serving no good purpose. Determine to breathe life, precision, and descriptive detail into every word you write.

by Erin Ensinger

Amani always attended ministry conferences without his wife. His denomination invited pastors only, and Naomi didn’t seem interested in his ministry anyway.  At home, Naomi despaired of ever feeling close to Amani. In ten years of marriage, they never spent time together, just the two of them, away from the interruptions of children, house chores, and hectic ministry schedules.

“We simply do not have time for one another,” Naomi summarized their marriage. “We live together but we are not together.”

ABH required pastors to bring their wives, however, to the June 2025 Hope for Marriage Conference in Singida, Tanzania. ABH provided conference guests with four nights in a hotel and three meals each day of the conference— the closest thing to a honeymoon many of these couples had ever enjoyed. In the uninterrupted quiet, Naomi experienced the miracle of forgiving her husband from her heart.

“I was able to extend forgiveness to everyone else who wronged me but when it came to my husband, it was a struggle,” Naomi confessed. “I think I was in so much pain that I did not know how to communicate it to him since we did not have time or knowledge of how to communicate effectively.”

During the conference sessions, ABH speakers taught through the book Hope for Marriage by ABH President Fran Geiger Joslin. Hope for Marriage encourages couples to “build a marriage that preaches” as they learn to forgive one another, partner together as equals, and cultivate attitudes of service and submission. Board President Howard Joslin also taught from his first book in the Bible for Learning series, God’s Perfect World. This book covers Genesis 1-2, including God’s plan for the very first marriage.

Instead of simply hearing about the Bible, Amani and Naomi learned how to study the Bible for themselves. Howard and Fran taught them to ask seven questions about each passage: who? what? why? where? when? how? how many? They practiced searching for repeated terms and action words to discern what the passage reveals about God and how people should respond to him.

“It is not just a marriage conference but the delivery of the materials, read verse by verse, and letting the Scripture speak for itself in a way that every one of us in the conference would see for ourselves,” Amani said of the conference’s impact.

While learning how to study the Bible, Amani and Naomi also witnessed a valuable example of how couples can work together in ministry. They watched Howard and Fran teaching the sessions together as equal partners who submit to one another. Their example ignited Naomi’s desire to serve in the church with Amani by teaching a women’s group.

“This has brought so much life to me and the church at large,” Amani said.

Naomi feels especially determined to help wives who struggle with forgiveness as she did before the conference. She gathered a dozen wives who regularly confide their struggles and taught them the conference material, seeking Amani’s input on their difficult questions.  

Naomi now experiences a new oneness in her marriage as she serves with Amani rather than observing his ministry as an outsider.

“We see the need for a marriage conference at our church,” Naomi said. “We are praying and planning to have one before this year’s end.”

(Names were changed to protect privacy.)

by Bob Jennerich

I walk my dog, Casey, almost every day. You should know something about Casey. She loves people! When the doorbell rings, she’s a seventy-five-pound missile charging to the door to greet her visitors! We always put her in the crate until our guests get settled. Then we clutch her by her collar as we introduce her to our friends. It’s chaos, but somewhat controlled.

On our walk this morning, we came to a wide-open field. I scanned the horizon left and right. With no potential new friends in sight, I unclipped her from the leash. She sprinted like a greyhound chasing a mechanical rabbit. I don’t know if dogs can smile, but she sure looked happy to me. What gave her that joy? Freedom. God created Casey to run, and that’s what she wants to do. She’s happiest when she’s free to be who God created her to be.

God created us to be free too. Paul wrote, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1).  

The Judaizers preached a false gospel.

Paul established churches in several cities in the region of Galatia, in modern day Turkey. The people there were mostly non-Jewish. Paul spent several months explaining the gospel in each church. The gospel of grace teaches how Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead. The Galatians believed! But after Paul left them to spread the gospel elsewhere, some Jewish teachers -whom Paul called “Judaizers” -arrived in Galatia. The Judaizers were Jewish Christians who insisted the Galatians had to believe in Jesus and become Jewish to be saved.

The Judaizers instructed them to receive circumcision, submit to dietary laws, and observe the Sabbath, and then God would accept them. Imagine the confusion of these new Galatian believers. Paul appointed elders in the churches before leaving, but these elders were also new in their faith. The Judaizers presented themselves as spiritual authorities citing ancient books. The Galatians began to follow Jewish law.

Paul reasserted his superior authority.

When Paul heard they had turned from the gospel of grace to a “different gospel,” he wrote them a scathing letter. No doubt, the Judaizers ridiculed Paul’s teaching and belittled his credentials, so he reminded the Galatians of his authority (see Gal. 1-2).

Jesus Christ called Paul personally and trained him for ministry individually. None of the Judaizers could claim better credentials. Later, when Paul traveled to Jerusalem, James, John, and Peter accepted Paul as a genuine apostle. Paul even dared to rebuke Peter publicly when Peter yielded to Judaizer pressure and stopped eating with Gentile believers. Only an apostle with equal status to the esteemed apostle Peter would do that.

Paul reaffirmed the gospel.

Having re-established his authority, Paul reminded the Galatians of the gospel: “A person is not justified by works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 2:16).  While Paul was with them, he had explained grace to them. Grace means when sinners believe in Jesus for salvation, God declares them righteous in His sight because of their faith, not their works.

 Paul argued that God had not saved the Galatians through keeping rules, but because they believed the gospel (see Gal. 3). The Galatians’ confusion about adding works to grace is alive and well today. All other religions of the world teach that God’s acceptance of us requires faith and good deeds. That’s legalism—the slavish performance of rules and rituals. Grace is the opposite. It frees us from trying to earn salvation. He gives it to us as a gift when we believe.

God created us for freedom.

Paul wanted the Galatians to understand that God’s grace frees us from a mountain of rules.  He wrote, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free” (Gal. 5:1). God doesn’t want to burden us with rules we can’t keep. He offers us a new relationship with Him, marked by grace. His Holy Spirit helps us live for Him, not for rule keeping. We are free!

Look at my dog’s face. Do you crave that kind of joy? Every human heart yearns for freedom. You can have it simply by trusting Jesus. Stop trying to earn salvation by rule keeping. Jesus has already done the work for you. He freed you to be who God made you to be.

Here are some questions to help you reflect on your understanding of grace:

1. Do you strive to “earn” God’s approval rather than resting in His grace? How can you shift your mindset to embrace the freedom Jesus offers?


2. Paul warns against returning to a “yoke of slavery” in Galatians 5:1. Are there any legalistic beliefs or habits in your life that keep you from fully experiencing the joy of your faith?


3. Casey found joy in doing what God created her to do. What do you believe God created you to do, and how can you live in that freedom more fully?


Bob Jennerich practiced law for many years before moving to Texas to attend seminary. He now serves as pastor of Grace Redeemer Community Church in Garland, Texas. Bob is passionate about helping believers connect biblical truth to everyday life. When he’s not preaching, he enjoys spending time with his wife and their two adult children, traveling, and exercise.

by Jessica Helm

With heads bowed and eyes closed, we gathered in the cozy kitchen of Fran and Howard Joslin’s home. I offered my sincere prayer for their safe travels and for the hearts of everyone attending the marriage conference. Afterward, we loaded their bags into the van, exchanged warm goodbyes, and sent them off with a wave. As the 2025 Tanzania team departed Winterset that morning, I couldn’t help but wonder how their journey would unfold. Would they encounter any travel delays or cancellations? After all, just the day before, their connecting flight had been grounded. All I could do was pray they would arrive at their destination on time!

As the hours ticked by, my anticipation grew. Had they made it to their first stop? Were they stuck in airport limbo? Finally, on Saturday afternoon, our first text from the ABH Tanzania trip arrived. They had landed safely! I let out a sigh of relief that could have filled ten balloons.

Over the next two weeks, my inbox became a treasure trove of pictures and videos.  I felt like I was right there in Tanzania, even though I was thousands of miles away. After months of planning and organizing, I finally witnessed the fruits of our labor. Each day brought short updates filled with stories of open hearts and challenging conversations. My husband and our three children gathered around to pray for the various requests that rolled in daily. Reports of God at work flooded in, filling me with joy and an unquenchable curiosity for every detail of their adventure.

Time flew by, and before I knew it, I received one last text from Fran regarding their travel plans. The return flight had been canceled, and there were no other flights available. She and Howard would land in Chicago with no way to get home. My heart leaped into action faster than a cat on a hot tin roof. A few quick phone calls later, I informed Fran that I would be there to pick them up.

Their flight finally touched down, and after what felt like an eternity navigating customs, the moment arrived. Howard and Fran had made it! We loaded up their bags, and Howard offered to take the wheel. I gladly relinquished the driver’s seat. Let’s be honest, Chicago driving is not exactly my strong suit.

Our five-and-a-half-hour journey became a delightful array of travel tales, dreams, and aspirations. Howard and Fran enlightened me with stories of their adventures, but the highlight was the transformations that took place in the couples attending the marriage conference. One couple arrived in separate vehicles, each with their own baggage—both literal and metaphorical. By Thursday, however, the Lord had done the work, softening hearts and paving the way for repentance and restoration in their marriage.

Howard chimed in, emphasizing how the simplest teachings can have the most profound impact.  Clearly God is at work in ABH, and this trip served as a powerful reminder that His will is indeed unfolding before us. Who knew a short drive to Chicago could feel like a trip around the world?

by Lori Nordstrom Snyder

I’ve been trying to put into words what my heart experienced on my recent trip to Tanzania with Authenticity Book House (ABH). It’s not easy to summarize something so transformative, but here’s my best attempt to take you along with me.

Before we set foot in Africa, Howard and Fran from ABH began preparing our hearts and minds. They held several meetings to equip us—culturally, spiritually, and practically. They even taught us some Swahili! While I wouldn’t say I “mastered” even a single phrase, I definitely picked up a few key words that helped bridge the gap between our worlds.

One early meeting included a Zoom call with Pastor James, the pastor of New Vine Church in Dodoma and ABH’s director of operations in Tanzania. He shared cultural insights, answered many questions, and gave us a sense of what to expect. I found that call helpful—but seeing his familiar, smiling face in person when we arrived? That was everything.

Pastor James didn’t come alone. He brought a whole “hospitality team” from his church to welcome us. And what a welcome we received—flowers, gifts, joy, and the kind of warmth that can only come from the love of Christ. I felt immediately embraced, and I hadn’t even unpacked yet.

The purpose of our trip was to host a Marriage Conference for village pastors and their wives. The goal was simple but profound: to enrich their marriages and equip them with tools to take back to their churches and communities.

On Sunday morning, we attended service at New Vine Church. We were greeted once again with big smiles and open arms. The service began with praise and worship that brought me to tears—something that would happen more than once that week. The Tanzanian people don’t just sing—they shout, clap, dance, and worship with contagious joy. I thought immediately of Psalm 47:1: “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy!” And they did just that.

Watching the children come forward before children’s church stood out as one of my favorite moments. Pastor James prayed over the children as a group. The intentionality and reverence he showed for sowing into the next generation struck me as beautiful.

Monday morning, we left the city and made our way to the village where the Marriage Conference took place. We made a noticeable shift—from a more modern church to an open-air village church with no electricity or running water. The “toilet” was a hole in the ground. And yet, we were told that this was considered a nice village church.

Each day began with a ride on the “church bus,” our lovingly nicknamed daily drive. We prayed every morning on the way: sometimes out loud individually, and sometimes Tanzanian style, with everyone praying out loud all at once! It was powerful. The Tanzanians express their prayers as passionately as their praise—fervent, unfiltered, and full of faith.

The pastors and their wives who attended the conference had never been on a trip together as a couple. In fact, they had never stayed a night away from home. They came from hours away and received gifts of five nights in a guest house, three meals a day (most get one or two meals a day), bottled water, and books from ABH to take home to their communities. A large part of our fundraising included these “gifts.”

One of the most meaningful parts of the conference for me personally was getting to photograph each couple. What began as a simple idea turned into something much more special, thanks to the team’s help in organizing, printing, and framing the portraits. On the final day, each couple received their framed photo. One pastor kissed his portrait when he saw it. I’ll never forget the priceless reactions of each couple!

The teaching each day focused on marriage from a biblical perspective. In Tanzanian culture, male dominance in marriage is the norm.  But throughout the week, we witnessed something extraordinary: change. The men softened. The women blossomed. On day one, the couples seemed very separate. By the end of the week, some husbands held hands with their wives, dancing with them in the aisles, and one husband even playfully scooped his wife up for a photo. One evening I texted my husband back home: “Every couple needs a marriage conference like this.”

On our final day, the wives honored Howard, Fran, Pastor Jaysson, and me with hand-crafted Mafuta pots—gifts of deep sacrifice. I thought about the story of the widow’s mite in the Gospels. These pots weren’t just souvenirs. They were heart offerings.

I could count so many blessings! But I brought one prayer with me—and prayed it every day: “Lord, reveal my heart and renew my mind.” And He did. Over and over again.

Tanzania changed me. God met us in every moment—in the dancing, the praying, the laughter, the tears. I went to serve, but I came home deeply served by the generosity, humility, and joy of those we met.

God is good. And His love knows no borders.

by Erin Ensinger

Edward Sabibi ran into an unexpected problem when he began translating the ABH
Study Bible. With no term in Swahili for “study Bible,” he found himself forced to coin the
phrase “Biblia ya Kujifunza” or “Bible for Learning”—the perfect title for a tool that
teaches pastors how to study God’s Word.
Most Tanzanian pastors prepare their sermons with no study notes or commentaries to
guide them. They can’t consult various translations since generally the sole version
available to them is the Swahili Union Bible. According to one scholar, the SUV uses
vocabulary familiar only to highly educated readers. The sentence structure follows the
original languages rather than imitating contemporary Swahili speech. Although the
SUV was updated in 1997, most pastors can only access the 1952 version.
Even pastors fortunate enough to attend Bible college face an uphill climb in unfamiliar
territory.
“I have personally seen during my time in Bible school how pastors from rural areas,
and even some from cities, struggle,” said Sabibi. “They struggle with terminology and
foreign concepts after being brought into a completely new world of theology, especially
with everything being taught in English.”
ABH Board President Howard Joslin aspires to arm pastors with a new translation and
an arsenal of study notes. He chose four qualities to guide his work:

• Accuracy—reflecting theologians’ best understanding of the original authors’
intended meaning.
• Simplicity—replacing unfamiliar theological terms with definitions of what the
terms actually mean. For example, “three yet one” replaces the term “Trinity.”
• Freshness—choosing synonyms so the Bible for Learning reads differently than
traditional translations. “Readers naturally pause when they see unexpected
words,” Joslin explained. “This enables students to uncover additional details
they might have overlooked.”
• Consistency—using repeated words in the same way as the original text.
Whenever a passage repeats a Hebrew word, the Bible for Learning uses the
same word in English and Swahili. This consistency teaches readers to look for
the significance of repeated words so they can more accurately interpret the
passage.
The Bible for Learning also follows a consistent format, laying out the steps a pastor
could follow in his own personal Bible study. First Joslin provides a “visual translation,”
breaking down each passage with subtitles, bullets, and other markings to allow readers
to “see” the structure and emphasis.
Then he encourages readers to ask seven crucial questions: “nani? nini? kwa nini?
wapi? lini? namna gani? ngapi?” English readers know these questions as “who? what?
why? where? when? how? how many?” Close observation forms the foundation of Bible
study as readers scrutinize the text to answer the questions.
More questions challenge readers to scrutinize their souls: “What does this passage
teach me about God?” “How should it change my thinking and behavior?” “Do I really
believe what the biblical author wrote?” Heart change, not merely intellectual
understanding, fortifies readers with a worthy motive for study.
Like ABH’s other books, the Bible for Learning will be printed as a series of bite-sized
books, with the first installment— God’s Perfect World: Genesis 1:1-2:25—available this
spring. Our Broken World (Genesis 3:1-6:8) and Jesus: God’s Perfect Son (John 1:1-
3:51) continue the story of redemption, supporting pastors in their efforts to teach the
gospel.
Joslin envisions the Bible for Learning as a team effort. He prays for others to join him in
working on translating and creating study notes for individual books of the Bible.
“God’s work is always bigger than one person,” Sabibi agreed. “I believe the Bible for
Learning is going to bring massive transformation to all those who will embrace it, I
being one.”

by Fran Geiger Joslin

People sometimes balk at the idea of spending thousands of dollars on a mission trip. Their thinking? $25,000 could feed a lot of hungry people. In our case, we could print a ton of books with the $25,000 it costs for our trip to Tanzania.

It’s true that we could print a lot of books for $25,000, but we travel with bigger goals in mind. We believe printing books and taking mission trips both prove beneficial and productive.

We can, and do, send thousands of books to African countries. Pastor James, our African director in Tanzania, believes that pastors who meet the authors or the people who send them will more likely read and learn from the books they receive. James desires to change the culture from a non-reading society to a reading and learning one. Our visits and conferences help him accomplish that goal.

Rural African pastors typically receive a junior high level of education. They learn to read in school, though they often lack access to books, especially those with biblical content. Limited access to higher education, including Bible college or seminary, leads to less reading overall. We often enjoy the privilege of gifting pastors with their very first book.

Our visits let pastors and their wives know they’re not alone in their struggles. By sharing our own challenges, we show them that even “rich Americans” face problems too. Our stories and experiences encourage them to feel heard and understood.

This May, Howard and I—along with our pastor and another friend—will travel to Tanzania to teach two four-day conferences on the topic of marriage. Tanzania exists as a patriarchal society. Men often treat their wives as property. We will study biblical passages on God’s plan for marriage. We hope to inspire pastors to break cultural barriers by loving their wives like Christ loves the church. We want to convey a balanced perspective of biblical submission and motivate couples to work as a team. James longs to see pastors working together with their wives in ministry.

We plan to model how to closely observe God’s Word in the way we teach. By asking good questions from the passages we study, we challenge couples to find answers in the Scripture. This method of teaching proves effective in teaching the biblical content and how to study the Bible for themselves.   

ABH regularly receives requests for books and teachers. We are building a team of teachers to help us train untrained pastors. We can help these pastors continue growing and learning by sending our teachers once or twice a year. We also gift them with books to encourage them to continue reading and learning on their own throughout the year.

The cost of a mission trip accomplishes much more than just sending a book can accomplish. We believe both work together as a crucial part of training, learning, and growing.

Would you consider helping us embark on this crucial journey where God changes lives?

Click here to give.

by Trevor Meers

You need a lot more than efficient shipping to deliver solid biblical training to every corner of the world. Take language alone. Native speakers translate books into their language while editors translate scholars’ words into concepts accessible for the target audience. Sometimes biblical training may even mean dipping into the farming business. At Authenticity Book House’s tenth anniversary dinner, I learned about a ministry that keeps finding ways to bridge any gaps encountered on the way to training ministry leaders.  

I headed to the dinner with both excitement and a question in my mind. I shared ABH’s burden for worldwide theological training. But I also wondered: “Does the world really need another startup Christian publisher?” Every year seems like we may have hit “peak Christian publishing,” but the feeling goes back much further than that. In the stylus-and-scroll days, the writer of Ecclesiastes already noticed that “of making books, there is no end” (Ecc. 12:12). 

But Howard and Fran Joslin didn’t take long to convince me that ABH fills a very real niche ignored by big publishers who need scale to make a profit. Ten years in, ABH proves that thinking small can actually create big results. Key ideas I heard clearly at the anniversary dinner include: 

Clear writing isn’t lesser writing. 

Most ministry books pile on words like “perspicuity” and “immutability” when the writer could just as easily say “clarity” and “unchanging.” Maybe too many pastors (and authors writing for pastors) feel haunted by the thought of an old seminary professor popping up and deducting points for talking too much like a commoner.  

ABH writers aren’t talking to the academic world, so they keep their books simple and actionable. Editors coach writers to speak understandably to a rural pastor who probably has a Bible, a roughly 7^th grade education, and little else in terms of training or resources. First, ABH writers produce English sentences that deliver meat-and-potatoes truth for hungry church leaders. Then the translation to Swahili, Spanish, and more begins. 

Smaller travels better. 

A key moment of truth for ABH came when Fran traveled to a major conference and saw herself surrounded by bigger players already doing what she attempted. Then she and Howard found the courage to reimagine ABH’s core offering. The answer lay in realizing that less truly could be more. The team dropped the original concept of regular-size books and started producing pocket-size books. These bite-size books are cheaper to produce, simpler to read, and easier to transport around the world and across borders. ABH landed on a model purpose-built for spreading biblical resources as widely as possible around developing nations.  

Books aren’t always enough. 

Wisdom calls for doing one task well. But sometimes you need to take an extra step before you can even get started on that one task. ABH’s mission is training church leaders. But in Tanzania they realized that people suffering from hunger struggle to study the Bible. So ABH provided a shipment of single-furrow plows that let pastors ramp up their agricultural production from around two acres to seven or more acres. Producing more food in less time gives pastors extra energy and capacity to use ABH books to grow their skills and make disciples.  

My own travels show the clear need for ABH’s work. I’ve worked with church leaders in developing nations on three continents. And in every country, I’ve found leaders with a sincere desire to teach the Bible accurately but almost no training or reference materials to guide them. In ABH, I see a ministry committed to a simple proposition with the potential to transform churches. And with a network of African pastors in place, ABH has the local connections to get their books into the right hands.

ABH convinced me that the world does have a place for another Christian publisher with a very specific target. And I’m looking forward to helping wherever I can.

Trevor Meers serves as a pastor at Lakeside Fellowship in Polk City, IA,
after a previous career as a magazine writer and editor. 

by Erin Ensinger

A Tanzanian pastor faces his family with a grumbling stomach and empty hands. He scrapes together spiritual sustenance for his congregation with no seminary education, commentaries, or study Bible. But his meager salary leaves his table bare at the end of the day.

“They’re going hungry,” Pastor James concluded in a conversation with ABH Board President Howard Joslin.  

This passing comment ignited a vision—not just to offer a few meals, but to purchase plows so pastors can provide a lifetime of meals for their families, churches, and the surrounding villages.

“We live in a farming community,” Howard said. “We could probably raise the money in no time.”

Howard and ABH President Fran Joslin brought the need to their small group at Redeemer Church in Winterset, Iowa. Some church members generously donated $111 each to purchase and deliver a single plow. Meanwhile, a friend longed to contribute. For years, he prayed for an insurance settlement from a car accident, but the insurance company refused to pay. When the money “happened” to come during ABH’s plow campaign, this friend recognized God’s provision and gave $3,100 to help hungry pastors.

In all, ABH raised $4,196—enough to purchase and deliver thirty-four plows—and another $400 to buy seeds. Pastor James personally delivered the plows, dropping off twenty-three plows in a region called Katavi.

“Does the ‘A’ in ‘ABH’ stand for angels?” the presiding bishop in the region joked.

A one-hour meeting with the bishop stretched to four, and then an overnight stay. Later, the bishop called the pastors he oversees, telling them to welcome James who works as ABH’s Africa director, along with ABH’s books.

“Most Americans train but leave pastors hungry,” the bishop explained. “You have saved us by meeting our physical needs first.”  

Next James headed to Singida to deliver the remaining eleven plows. Local pastors hailed James as the “Lifesaver to Pastors” and lavished him with gifts – two chickens and an acre of land. One elderly pastor asked James to be his son because of James’s walk with the Lord.

“The door is open to ABH,” the regional chairman of the Pentecostal Church declared. “You are welcome to come and train as many pastors as you like.”

Before receiving plows, the pastors could cultivate only an acre or two of land. Now they can plant around seven to ten acres, more than enough to feed their families. In three years, the pastors will have grown enough food to last ten years. But these pastors have a greater vision than simply providing for their own needs.

By selling surplus harvest, they plan to buy plows for the church planters they send out to surrounding villages. Then the church planters can raise crops, buy plows, and send out more church planters. As churches multiply, ABH’s scope grows to include more pastors and congregations starving for God’s Word.

“You’re not just training pastors but helping them take care of their families,” James summarized. “The whole region is open now.”

James headed home after delivering plows and experiencing God’s blessing in Katavi and Singida. Around midnight, his car sputtered to a stop by the side of the road. James messaged Fran to pray he could get his car fixed and make it home safely. A local mechanic “happened” to drive the streets in the middle of the night to see if anyone needed help. In less than an hour, God blessed again by sending a mechanic to tow the car, fix it, and send Pastor James on his way.

by Fran Geiger Joslin

“Buckle your seatbelt” described 2024 at Authenticity Book House (ABH). I can only imagine what will take place in 2025!

We begin 2025 by adding one more full-time staff member, Jessica. Jessica’s presence will help me immensely, as the day-to-day tasks continue to get more and more busy. Jessica proved herself over the last six months by working ten hours a week. Adding a full-time staff member comes as an answer to our prayers! Welcome, Jessica.

January 15 and 16 bring a board meeting and an ABH Day of Prayer. We implemented ABH Days of Prayer in 2024 because we saw the Lord working miracles and felt the need to ready our own hearts for God’s work. We carry on this tradition once a quarter to prepare ourselves for God’s continued work. We feel both humbled and challenged by watching God blow the doors wide open for ABH ministry, especially in Tanzania.

We begin our pre-trip training meetings in January as well. Our Tanzania team includes Howard, Jaysson (our pastor), Lori (a photographer and teacher), Carol (a Tanzanian translator), and me. Planning our conferences and preparing Jaysson and Lori for the culture in which they will teach requires much preparation.

On February 1 we will share ABH’s vision publicly for the first time in Iowa. “It’s time our friends in Iowa understand what we do,” I told my staff recently. We look forward to God opening the doors to prayer and financial support from our network here.

Five months out from our trip to Tanzania, we’ve already hit the downward slope! Howard and I both find ourselves sliding into homebase this week, trying to finish English manuscripts. Swahili translations began on the first chapter of Howard’s study Bible this month. Zakayo (the translator) wants to complete his translation before classes begin for him in January. Pastor James will begin the translation of my book Hope for Marriage in January. These books will go with us to Tanzania for use in our marriage conferences.

Looking at the ABH calendar, I feel like 2025 will fly by before we can catch our breath. In my mind the year is already half gone and we haven’t even begun!

I anticipate the need for even more staff by 2026 here in Iowa, in Tanzania, and possibly in Mexico. We need to employ our friend Pastor James in Tanzania. He has helped us so much already but without a salary. James will eventually need staff to help him manage the distribution of books and pastoral training. He will also need to employ full-time translators and a project manager.

We are receiving invitations from many different regions in Tanzania to come and train pastors. James and I are in the process of praying and strategizing to plan for managing these needs and invitations. We are also strategizing and planning for how many books we will need to print in 2025 since requests for books already exceed the number for which we can pay. These are good “problems” to have. It means God is at work, and we know God can handle what he brings us. Fund raising remains a necessary goal for 2025 as well.

Whew! Looks like “buckle your seatbelt” may also describe 2025! We feel blessed.

by Jessica Helm

I entered marriage at the young age of eighteen, full of hope and excitement for the future. I vowed to love and cherish my husband through thick and thin, eager to get my new life started. My visions of what life would look like abounded with possibilities.

Brokenness and the depravity of man swallowed up all of those hopes, dreams, and desires as I faced infidelity and a lack of honesty. The dreams I held dear shattered after seven years of marriage.

I vowed I would never again allow myself to endure such agony. I swore off marriage, convinced no man could meet my list of standards, and waited around for the next “What now, God?” moment. God’s design never included divorce, and yet I found myself packing up every shattered dream and doing life as I never dreamed – alone.

In the summer of 2022, faced with a bitter custody battle that didn’t end in my favor, I was forced to confront yet another upheaval in my life. The custody arrangement for my two children shifted to a 50/50 schedule, leaving me with an empty home and an aching heart. The silence of the house echoed my loneliness, a stark reminder of the loss of control over my own life. As I grappled with this new reality, a dear friend saw the pain in my eyes and urged me to “get away.”

And so, with a heavy heart and a glimmer of hope, I embarked on a journey of self-discovery and healing. The road ahead felt uncertain, but I needed some relief. My friend Paige invited me to join her and a group of adventurers on a journey into the Boundary Waters, a remote wilderness in Ely, Minnesota, accessible primarily by canoe. Paige, a seasoned guide in these lands, was eager to reveal the breathtaking beauty of the pristine forests, glacial lakes, and winding streams of the Superior National Forest. I willingly accepted her offer and began to prepare for our late July/early August expedition.

I wish I could say I spent time preparing myself physically for the challenges ahead, but that would be a lie. I made feeble attempts at readiness, taking the occasional hike and offering up scattered prayers. Truthfully, in the weeks leading up to my departure, I found myself consumed with inner turmoil. I wrestled with God in my heart while struggling to adjust to the absence of my children. I felt deep hurt, anger, and questioned God’s love for me. Did he not see me as a good mother? Had my failures led God to abandon me? Why did he allow the man who caused me so much pain to prosper? In my despair, I felt forgotten and unworthy of his love.

As I prepared to disconnect from the world for a week, I found myself torn between anticipation and a desperate hunger for God’s presence. I longed for him to reveal himself to me in the the wilderness, to show me I wasn’t alone, and that he still loved me. God remained irritatingly quiet, and I was desperate for answers.

My friend Paige, along with her husband, her mother, her college friend, her husband’s best friend Tim, and I all embarked on this wilderness trip together. Despite our varying skill levels, we found that our strengths complemented each other, forming quite the crew.

Paige and I shared a canoe on the first day of paddling. As we navigated the waters, we discussed the unexpected twists and turns life threw our way, marveling at how far we’d come. Paige revealed her plan to mix up the boat assignments each day, ensuring that we all get to know each other better. She also mentioned we would each share our testimonies throughout the week and urged me to prepare myself. Paige kept bringing up Tim’s name, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that something brewed beyond my control. I pushed the thought aside, though, focusing instead on my wavering faith in God.

Twelve treacherous yet serene miles later we finally reached our first campsite. We filled the night setting up tents, cooking over an open fire, swimming, and engaging in deep conversations. Paige shared her journey to finding Christ and the trials she overcame, emphasizing God’s unwavering faithfulness. Exhausted from the day’s journey, we all collapsed into our sleeping bags, but the weight of Paige’s words and God’s unwavering faithfulness hung heavy in my heart.

I awoke with anticipation and eagerness the following morning, yearning for a moment of solitude with God. The beauty of my surroundings lingered in my mind – the towering pine trees, the crystal-clear water, the absolute stillness enveloping me – as I sat with my Bible, journal, and the book Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortland. In his book, Dane writes,

The point in saying that Jesus is lowly is that he is accessible. For all his resplendent glory and dazzling holiness, his supreme uniqueness and otherness, no one in human history has ever been more approachable than Jesus Christ (p. 20).

This notion of God’s approachability left me bewildered, especially as I pleaded with him for a different outcome, only to receive a resounding, “No!” in return.

As I engaged in a fervent dialogue with God, I felt his unexplainable peace wash over me, challenging my beliefs and urging me to see his goodness. The following day mirrored the first, as we embarked on another thirteen-mile canoe journey while forging deeper connections with one another. Despite our fatigue, we set up camp, cooked over an open flame, and shared our testimonies again. My turn to speak came this evening. Like Paige, I accepted Christ as my personal savior in my youth. I shared with the group my uncertainties about God’s plan for me, including the need for clarity and guidance from him.

The next morning, I rose early once more to immerse myself in God’s Word. Dane Ortland’s words echoed in my mind again,

Jesus can no more bring himself to stiff-arm you than the loving father of a crying newborn can bring himself to stiff-arm his dear child. Jesus’ heart is drawn out to you (p. 55).

At that moment, I envisioned my own children and the depth of love I feel for them. As a parent, I must at times make tough decisions to protect and provide the best for my children. A necessary part of that role includes saying “no” to seemingly good opportunities. It never diminishes my love for them, though, just as God’s love for me remains unwavering despite the challenges I face. I now confronted the series of lies I so elegantly weaved together in my mind and believed. God’s Word contradicted my thinking.

Placed in a boat with Tim for an eight-hour paddling journey, I decided to break the ice with a round of questions. What started as a simple conversation quickly turned into a deep and meaningful exchange. Tim shared his testimony of faith, hope, and resilience in the face of adversity. His experiences mirrored my own, and I found myself drawn to his strength and character. As we talked, I found a familarity in the structure of our conversations.

Unintentionally, we began talking through the items on my list of traits for a future spouse. It began to clearly see God at work in our midst. Throughout our trip, God’s presence felt palpable. From setting up camp to exploring God’s creation, every moment fueled a sense of purpose and connection. As Tim shared his desire to walk in obedience with the Lord and his hope for a future family, it became clear to me that God was up to something amazing.

We gathered for a final evening of sharing testimonies and affirmations. Each person in the group spoke words of encouragement and admiration, highlighting the unique qualities they saw in one another. After our discussion, we ventured into the night to gaze upon the stars. The night sky was a breathtaking sight, more beautiful than anything I had ever seen before. The stars shone brightly, and shooting stars streaked across the sky, leaving us in silent awe of our Creator. In the end, this journey was not just about paddling through the waters or setting up camp. It was a journey of self-discovery, faith, and connection. As we prepared to return home, I knew God’s hand guided us every step of the way.

As the sun rose the next morning, I found myself perched on a rock overlooking a vast lake. In the quiet stillness, I reflected on all God accomplished in my life that week. Opening the pages of Gentle and Lowly, I came across a passage that struck a chord deep within me.

The battle of the Christian life is to bring your own heart into alignment with Christ’s, that is, getting up each morning and re-placing your natural orphan mind-set with a mind-set of full and free adoption into the family of God through the work of Christ your older brother, who loved you and gave himself for you out of the overflowing fullness of his gracious heart (p. 181).

Tears welled up in my eyes as I realized the truth. I had been living a lie, my heart out of alignment with God. But in that moment, I understood God’s unwavering love for me. He sent his son to die for me out of the abundance of his gracious heart.

I am not a failure.

God is not punishing me.

My story is not over even though life is difficult.

In the midst of chaos and heartache, it sometimes feels impossible to comprehend how tragedy can turn into something good. Beauty out of ashes. But we serve a God whose heart overflows with grace. My time on that rock came, not as the end of my story, but as a moment of realignment. And as I continue my journey, I see evidence of God’s faithfulness woven throughout.

My transformative experience in the Boundary Waters took place two years ago. God worked miracles in my life there. Not only did God bring healing into my soul, but he also blessed me with my new husband, Tim.

Through Tim, God healed my deepest wounds and showed me the true meaning of Christ-like love in a marriage. My question, “What now, God?” transformed into a resounding declaration of “What’s next, God?” Truly, His power and grace know no bounds.

by Dianne Taylor

A gold couch nestled in our little living room provided me with my first image of caregiving. As a child I knew this couch was special. It contained a hidden bed my mother could fold out whenever an emergency arose.

When lightning flashed off the shiny insulation of our attic bedroom, my sister’s and my frightened screams caused my mother to pull out the bed. Dad carried us downstairs and tucked us in. We felt safe and protected with my parents sleeping nearby.

Through my childhood this bed came out to hold my grandmother as she went through an extended illness, me when multiple teeth came out and I sported puffy cheeks like a chipmunk, and one of my sisters as she battled a particularly serious case of mononucleosis. Each time my mother brought comfort and care to the person on that fold-out bed.

As I grew older, I observed a wider world of caregiving. I watched my aunt and uncle care for my father’s mother until she died from heart disease. I watched my friends’ families open homes to aging parents. I saw wives care for injured husbands and one mother care for a disabled child. It never occurred to me to wonder what all this activity felt like for the caregiver—not until I unexpectedly became one myself.

My husband experienced a mysterious debilitating illness in middle age. Our routine of life came to an abrupt halt as Mark lost much of his mobility and some cognitive functions. Eventually he could no longer work and our dreams of what we thought our future might hold fell like a rock to the ground.

Just as suddenly, I entered the world of caregiving. I entered a world where routine moved into the background and the unexpected became the new normal. In this world my own work patterns forcibly changed to provide what Mark could no longer supply. My participation at church and in our social world changed as well. My plans held no guarantees. I began to learn how God’s presence was the strongest truth I could hold to, to get through each day.

Mark and I are not unique in this experience which led me to write Caregiving: A Path Toward God. All around the world life changes for people as accidents occur, wars are fought, and illnesses strike. Caregivers arise and face challenges beyond what they may have imagined.

In working on Caregiving I sought to understand caregiving from a biblical perspective and to find hope in a role that often includes chaos. I started with two basic truths:

1. God calls me to care for my husband and one of my sisters, since my parents’ sudden deaths a few years ago.
2. God promises to equip his children for what they experience in life, both the heartaches and joy.

I then sought to understand how God teaches us to respond when forced into this type of role. I also explored how pastors and spiritual leaders can contribute, as they often take on caring for caregivers.

My writing journey led me to look at dynamics shared by most caregivers:

1. How to manage new circumstances when God changes the paths we think we will travel in life. I soon recognized how these difficult twists in the road brought Mark and me to experience blessings and relationships we might never have known.
2. How to refresh relationships that take on different dynamics when a person becomes ill or survives an accident. I learned how losses can potentially bring a new sense of connection with some creative fine tuning.
3. Dealing with burnout but taking advantage of our never-interrupted ability to talk with our heavenly Father through our most trying moments. I began looking for realistic ways to gain refreshment and practiced leaning heavily on my relationship with the Lord through prayer. I find this path leads to growth of hope.

My mother made her caregiving actions look effortless. Yet looking back I see her frequent moments of prayer and the help she often received from friends and family. I’m sure there were many moments when she and my father found strength in each other.

Life can bring change to any of our worlds in a single moment. Caregiving: A Path Toward God seeks to understand how to face the change. Will we follow a path toward God or shut him out? Join me on this journey as you face your own challenges. I pray for all of us that God would continue to grow our hearts. I pray pastors and spiritual leaders will seek to serve those caring for others following biblical teaching. I pray we walk the paths God prepared for us in a way that leads us to serve him and know him more fully.

by Erin Ensinger

Sometimes ABH books sprout wings and fly farther than we dared dream. We may never know how a copy of Shepherding God’s Church travelled from Tanzania to Malawi’s Dzaleka Refugee Camp, but Pastor Jacob prays for hundreds more books to follow.

A refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Pastor Jacob is one of over 50,000 people crowded into a camp designed for 10,000. Refugees from Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, and Somalia have called this former political prison home since 1994, according to www.dzaleka.com. The camp sits forty-one kilometers from Lilongwe, Malawi’s capital city, according to unhcr.org.

Five hundred churches also make their home at Dzaleka. But few of the pastors know Scripture or understand their pastoral role. Some participate in adultery. Pastor Jacob possesses a generous vision but few resources to help them.

With a PhD in theology and church planting, Pastor Jacob has already planted the Berea Pentecostal Mission Church in various regions of Malawi. Classes began in September at his Berea Pastoral Training Institute of Africa. He plans to teach—and feed—thirty pastors for free over the next two years. Each pastor will receive a certificate at the end of their training course.

But what is school without books? In a series of text messages, Pastor Jacob pleaded with ABH President Fran Joslin to send books for his students.

 “I have seen your books are very good and can help pastors and church leaders here in Malawi,” Pastor Jacob texted Fran.

Without a printer at the camp, the project of supplying books seemed doomed. Pastor Jacob could ask his students to download the books to their phones—if only they had a good Internet connection. Hope dawned when a pastor in Tanzania offered to get the books printed and send them on the bus route to Dzaleka. He also agreed to make his location in Tanzania a printing hub to send ABH books throughout southern and eastern Africa.

Within days, 250 copies each of Shepherding God’s Church and Discipleship: Following Jesus rode the bus to Malawi. Pastor Jacob announced their arrival with a text to Fran exclaiming, “”Praise the Lord, Fran! I received books. God bless you. I am very grateful.”

Future shipments will include A Walk with the Wounded (a book about pastoral counseling) and Widowed, since Pastor Jacob said many widows live at the camp. He also hopes to use ABH books at a conference this fall for 300 pastors across Malawi.

“Our God is great! We continue to pray for Satan to be defeated in Jesus’ name,” Pastor Jacob concluded in a text to Fran.

by Erin Ensinger

I read stacks of books on writing before I realized the good ones all give similar advice:

• Even published writers find writing difficult.  
• Voracious readers make great writers.
• Make yourself write regularly, even when you’re busy or don’t feel like it.
• Revise; revise again; and then revise again.
• Find a capable reader to comment on your drafts.
• Pay attention—everything you read, see, and experience is fodder for your writing.
• Write for writing’s sake rather than for publication since very few people attain fame and fortune.

I found comfort rather than frustration in reading the same advice repeatedly. I came to see how straightforward beginning and maintaining a writing life can be. Perhaps we complicate things because we’re scared to take ourselves seriously as writers. Maybe dreams of writing feel more fun than the daily discipline of a writing life.

I also felt pleased to realize I don’t need to buy the entire writing section of Barnes and Noble. A few carefully-chosen volumes can provide a lifetime of guidance. Read on to discover the books I found most helpful as an ABH writer specifically. Studying any of these books feels like taking a college course on writing, minus the hefty fees—all you need is a library card!

On the Writing Process

On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction, William Zinsser

Feeling depressed over your failure to write the next great American novel? Take heart. Zinsser praises nonfiction as “the new American literature,” encouraging writers to find the genre that feels most natural to them. He also loves those hallmarks of ABH style—simplicity and clarity—and gives practical advice on how to achieve them.

Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction, 2^nd Ed., Jack Hart

Stories comprise the heart of ABH books. We tell Bible stories, our own stories, and stories from the cultures we serve. Stories help us teach truth, cultivate hope, and show what following Jesus means in real life. Stories build bridges since many of our readers come from storytelling cultures. Storycraft discusses the art of telling true stories, including why stories matter and how to tell other people’s stories ethically.

On the Writing Life

Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott

Lamott talks less about specific techniques and more about how to live the writing life well. I smiled when she admonished writers to consider their motives. We should not write primarily to be published but because writing helps us see clearly, think deeply, and give of ourselves, according to Lamott. ABH authors already know the best reason to write – for the Kingdom, of course! (Sensitive readers be warned: Lamott’s humor can be a bit rough around the edges!)

The Way of the Writer: Reflections on the Art and Craft of Storytelling, Charles Johnson

Johnson, a fiction writer, gives valuable advice to all writers on the disciplines necessary to the writing life. ABH writers can gain practical suggestions on reading habits, journaling practices, making time for writing, and much more.   

Grammar and Style Handbooks:

Our Mother Tongue: A Guide to English Grammar, Nancy Wilson

If you need a refresher course on English grammar, this simple guide takes you through the basics. Wilson frequently uses passages from Scripture and classic literature, rather than contrived sentences, to illustrate her teaching. Tidbits on the history of the English language lend color to this sometimes tedious subject.

The Elements of Style, William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White

This one slim volume contains most everything you need to know about style. Get it, read a point or two every day, and apply it to your work. Now you’re well on the way to simple, clear, yet elegant writing. 

Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace, Joseph M. Williams

Style takes you even deeper into that skill essential for ABH writers—composing uncluttered, hard-hitting sentences. Williams helps us diagnose our writing, providing remedies for snarled sentences and baggy paragraphs.

The Christian Writer’s Manual of Style, Robert Hudson

Should I write “Jesus’ disciples” or “Jesus’s disciples”? Does the closing quotation mark go before or after the punctuation? If you’ve ever lost sleep over questions like these, grab a copy of this guide immediately. ABH editors follow the CWMS as we review manuscripts. Keeping a copy on your desk today may mean less revision time tomorrow!

Do you have a favorite writing book that inspires and challenges you? We’d love to hear about it in the comments!

by Fran Geiger Joslin

A friend of mine feels the Lord nudging her to write. Her question to me? “How do you figure out what to write about?”

When just dipping your toe into the writing waters, begin with a topic you already know. Writing about something familiar to you eliminates the need for research. You can trust your own information.

Also, write about what ignites your passion. Your writing will begin with one leg up if you feel fiery passion for the topic. The passion will naturally rise to the occasion if you draw on your fury, hunger, or obsession, for example.

Next, write a short, simple outline. Don’t try to flesh it out yet. Start by writing a sentence and then a paragraph. Flesh out your outline. Now complete a first draft, making the effort to enhance your wording, grammar, and reading level. Consider your audience and your purpose.

Another consideration  comes when you write for any purpose other than for yourself. In that instance, you must think about what other people find interesting or possibly what your boss asks you to write. This can prove a little tricky because you may not know anything about the topic, and it may not spark any passion. In that case, challenge yourself to great writing even if the topic feels a little mundane. Great wording goes a long way.

How does one accomplish “great wording,” you ask? Active words, words that draw vivid pictures in the mind, and words that grab attention all work together to create a beautiful masterpiece. Use your thesaurus to help you find imaginative words. It’s not cheating. It’s being resourceful.

Enjoy the process and open your mind to learning. Your readers will thank you.

by Fran Geiger Joslin

Writing can feel overwhelming and difficult, especially when getting started. I recommend writing a paragraph or blog-length article first. Then go back through your piece, tweaking it with each tip below to gain more interesting content. The more you practice following these rules, the more your writing will improve.

1. KISS—The acronym, “keep it simple, stupid” works well in writing. Although I love great descriptive words, I recommend shying away from words the average person won’t know. You lose readers when trying to impress with big words.
2. Put great action words to use. Instead of saying, “George had some cherries,” say, “George gobbled up a handful of cherries.”
3. Eliminate as many “to be” verbs as possible (am, are, is, was, were). If you use them sparingly, they will pack a bigger punch. Instead of saying, “Sarah was going to the store in anger,” say, “Sarah stomped angrily to the store.”
4. Replace words like “have, had, and has been” with action words. Instead of saying, “Ralph had played baseball for the Texas Rangers,” say, “Ralph played baseball for the Texas Rangers” or “Ralph once played baseball for the Texas Rangers.” The past tense usage of the word “had” can often take a hike. Instead of “Sharon has pneumonia,” say “Sharon contracted pneumonia.”
5. Repeat words sparingly. Only use repetition to make a point. Utilize your thesaurus to find great words. I highlight repeated words and then one by one find new words to replace them.
6. Never begin a sentence with a preposition: In, with, about, etc. Instead of saying, “In February, I put up my Christmas decorations,” say, “I finally packed up my Christmas decorations around Valentine’s Day.”
7. Instead of vague words like “it, them, they, this, etc.” use clear subject words even if you restate the subject for clarity.
8. Welcome editing. Even the best writers need editors. Make your editor your best friend. It’s his job to make you look good. Embrace the learning and “tweaking” process.
9. Join a writers’ group. Writing without input and guidance from others will fall flat.
10. Hone your craft. Constantly challenge yourself to better writing, and practice, practice, practice.

by Fran Geiger Joslin

Authenticity Book House represents a rising from the ashes, a living corporation pulled from the hardness of life for the glory of God. The foundation of this statement sits on the reality that God loves to take the pain and defeats of our lives to create something new.

ABH began in the mind of my husband, Howard, and the continued shaping of ABH comes from our joint journeys and the battles the Lord continually lays before us. Let me start with the early years.

As a missionary kid I grew up convinced of the high calling of missions. Similarly, Howard so yearned for a life in missions that, when proposing to his first wife Ann, he asked if she would agree to live with him in a yurt in Mongolia. Apparently she said yes. They married in 1985.

As the years passed, my heart continued to beat for foreign missions, yet I found myself planted in Dallas, Texas. How could this lead to a missionary life? I remember sitting at a red light in East Dallas, when I finally surrendered. I realized the Lord placed me in this city with my family as my mission. My husband, Brian, and I served our children as each fought for their lives against asthma. In 1999, while the kids were still young, Brian received a dreaded diagnosis of brain cancer, leading to his own harrowing fight for life. Almost nine years later—July, 2008—I found myself widowed with three children at home…still in Dallas.

Howard’s journey saw similar hardships. In 2006 at the age of forty-four and twenty-one years into marriage, he earned a ThM degree from seminary—preparation for future ministry. Less than twenty-four hours later he suffered a heart attack. Less than a month after that, Ann received a terminal cancer diagnosis. In May, 2008, Howard himself faced widowhood with four children and this time, a battle for his faith.

The Lord joined our paths a couple of years into widowhood while deep in depression. Our desperate loneliness found refuge, relief, and rejuvenation in another compatible match. We married and blended two families with a total of seven children.

So what of missions? We entered middle age, confused by God’s plan of placing us “on the bench” for so many years. Yet, out of Howard’s grief emerged a book, Honest Wrestling, describing his personal confrontation with faith. The path to publication held great frustration and thus began the seed for the ministry of ABH. The Lord blessed Howard’s move from employee to independent consultant so he could nurture the ABH seed.

I agreed to join, offering him sixteen hours per week of my time. I quickly found myself pouring forty hours into ABH, and my business card suddenly carried the title of president! The mission the Lord so carefully prepared us for—through many detours—rose to life.

ABH established itself on three main pillars: to serve authors, translate resources, and fund missions. It sought to make the publishing process author-centric, allowing much needed stories and biblical insights to see the light of day. In our early years, translated materials travelled to East Africa and 20% of net royalties aided international pastors.

ABH received its official 501c3 non-profit status in 2016, simultaneously receiving an invitation to gain counsel from two Dallas businessmen with a heart for non-profit ministries. These men listened to our story and examined our two-year-old ministry seedling. Howard and I left with a great challenge designed to strengthen ABH’s roots—narrow the focus to rural pastors as the target audience, simplified writing, and bite sized books, but keeping a heart for those who suffer. A new tagline arose: simplified pastoral training in bite-sized books.

Since that time Howard and Fran moved to Iowa, unsure of what God would do with the ministry. We followed God’s leading to join up with another organization and then followed his leading two years later to go back on our own and focus fully on the mission given to us in 2016. One word in the tagline changed to include anyone who needs biblical training: simplified biblical training in bite-sized books.

It took us a couple of years to stabilize, and now we watch in awe as God explodes the ministry, answering our prayers for more authors, more staff, and pastors who need our books. As we enter the second quarter of 2024, we anticipate holding two events to showcase our ministry and raise funds. We are writing more books at a time than ever before. We also anticipate a trip to Tanzania in 2025 to hold a marriage conference for pastors and their wives. Our own pastor and his wife, along with another couple from our church may join us.

New hope and excitement continue to rise as the Lord blesses the mission of ABH.

by Erin Ensinger

My childhood shares some uncanny parallels with Laura Ingalls.’ When I turned seven, my pioneer parents packed up our Ford Escort and fled the civilization of our small paper mill town. Staking a claim in the backwoods of Maine, we lived in a trailer without running water or electricity while my father built a small cabin. Family fun time meant picking up the nails my father dropped, filling water jugs at the spring, and gathering wood for our stove.

We watched the sun rise every day while careening back down the mountain toward town, dodging moose along the way. Our destination? The one-room schoolhouse taught by my mother and her best friend. There I learned, among other things, how to yodel, braid rugs, and make lucky guesses on multiple choice tests. I remember next to nothing of the academic topics which worksheets rendered lifeless, but I do remember the books.

After the recess hour of galloping imaginary horses over the bare parking lot “playground,” we gathered in a sweaty circle around Mrs. Jamison. We could draw or crochet or just sit spellbound while she led us into the worlds of Charlotte’s Web, Johnny Tremain, and The Wind in the Willows. Waiting after school for my mother to herd her students homeward, I took Mrs. Jamison’s advice to “make a nest” of blankets in the library – a lofty name for four shelves of books in a closet-sized room.  Those narrow walls fell away as I plunged headlong into Nancy Drew, Chronicles of Narnia, and Rainbow Garden. Other times, Mrs. Jamison would slyly pass a book off to me as though it were some contraband item. I met Old Mother West Wind and Anne of Green Gables this way.

But the books weren’t limited to school. At home my mother read us the Little House series on repeat. Weekends found my brother and me riding our bikes three miles to the village for penny candy and puffing back, handlebars laden with library books—National Velvet, Misty of Chincoteague, The Wheel on the School. Before my dad drove the last nail into our cabin, he constructed the floor-to-ceiling bookshelf of my mother’s dreams. Whatever the deficiencies of my elementary education, the wealth of books provided ample compensation.

Two decades later as a freshman English composition teacher, I witnessed firsthand the results of childhood book deprivation. I nearly tore my hair out over students who had spent twelve years in school but couldn’t write a clear sentence. Explaining the elements of grammar made no difference. Patiently pointing out their errors and providing revision suggestions availed nothing. Assigning classic works on the writing process proved futile.  

When my own children approached school age, I longed to protect them from a similar fate. I had already wrestled with God about homeschooling, gradually working my way from the “You can’t be serious, Lord,” stage to tentative enthusiasm. But as I considered what I would actually do each day with my tiny scholars, I wondered, “What is education, anyway? What kind of education nurtures writers?”

We embarked on our educational journey with these questions unanswered. I simply clung to the hope that filling their days with books would somehow work wonders. As we read book after book together, a pattern started to emerge, soothing my anxiety. All the great heroes, thinkers, and writers we read about had one thing in common – excellent books. Young Ben Franklin lived on bread and butter to afford Pilgrim’s Progress. Thomas Jefferson set himself a grueling reading schedule: science books before dawn, law from 8:00 to noon, politics and history in the afternoon, and literature until bedtime. Nathaniel Hawthorne read Shakespeare and Milton for himself while still a boy.

None of these stories were new to me, but taken one after another in rapid succession, they burned an impression on my mind. The answer seemed so simple now. You can’t wring out of someone what was never poured into them. My writing students couldn’t write because good writing hadn’t saturated the atmosphere of their childhood. No writing curriculum can beat the simple act of reading, performed faithfully day after day for a lifetime.

For those of us who tend to complicate things, we may rebel against the idea of simply reading. In a frantically busy and perpetually distracted age, we may long for the convenience of a writing program that proposes distinct steps to a concrete result. But if we can free ourselves from these objections, we’ll soon discover the beauty of walking through life in the companionship of great books.

Keep in mind, though, that not just any reading will do. As my graduate school professor exhorted me, “You must read widely and deeply.” Read fiction you enjoy, certainly, but challenge yourself to a courageous reading life. If you normally read historical fiction, launch out into fantasy. If you always read contemporary works, pick up a classic. Consider C.S. Lewis’s advice: “It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between (“Introduction”). Libraries these days are ridding their shelves of anything written before this current century, to the great detriment of our vocabularies, intellects, and moral vision.

Read alone and read with friends. My friends and I started a simple book club which I believe has survived because of its simplicity. We meet once a month and while the children run wild, we take turns summarizing the chapters we read. Then we share observations, questions, and personal impressions. No complicated discussion questions or literary analysis techniques required.

If you didn’t have a childhood rich in books, don’t despair. Each time I sit down to read aloud with my children, I feel like I’m redeeming yet another small part of the education I never had. It’s never too late to read, and the books we missed as children can speak to us profoundly even as adults. If you, like me, are a tired mother who tends to nod off over her books, consider the advice 19th century educator Charlotte Mason passed on to us from a well-read mother: “‘I always keep three books going—a stiff book, a moderately easy book, and a novel, and I always take up the one I feel fit for! (“Mother Culture”).’”

Here are some of my favorite resources for nurturing a satisfying, challenging, adventurous, and downright fun reading life:

The Literary Life Podcast

Book Girl: A Journey Through the Treasures and Transforming Power of a Reading Life, Sarah Clarkson

The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had, Susan Wise Bauer

The Read-Aloud Handbook, Jim Trelease

Citations

Lewis, C.S. “Introduction to Athanasius’ On the Incarnation.” chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.bhmc.org.uk/uploads/9/1/7/7/91773502/lewis-incarnation-intro.pdf

“Mother Culture.” The Parents’ Review, vol. 3, no. 2 (1892-93), 92-95. https://www.amblesideonline.org/PR/PR03p092MotherCulture.shtml.

by Fran Geiger Joslin

If writing a book ever crossed your mind and you investigated publishing, you know all about publishing perils. I spent some time this last month reading about the perils of traditional Christian publishing. The number one peril, it appears, is the necessity of a platform. Understandably, for-profit Christian publishing houses must sell books to make a living. A book needs to sell—and it needs to sell well—or it won’t make a profit. That’s basic business 101. Understandable.

A time existed long ago when a publisher believed in a well-written book with a great message, and they spent money advertising it to be sure it sold. Somewhere along the line publishers started expecting writers to also be great marketing execs.

That said, amazing authors exist out there who will likely never turn the eye of a publisher. Why? They aren’t public enough, celebrity enough, or have a large enough following. No huge numbers exist to translate into sales. They get tossed to the curb even if their book may make a huge difference to the Kingdom.

That leads us to the next peril: self-promotion. It seems one must promote self—or hire someone else to promote you—to build the needed platform. And then the question becomes, “Is it godly behavior to promote self in an effort to promote Jesus?”

This poses a huge conundrum. If God gives us a message, how might we get that message out without crossing the line by promoting self instead of promoting Jesus? I struggled with this when I wrote my first book, Widowed: When Death Sucks the Life out of You. I wanted to encourage and help widows, but I didn’t want to praise self. I also didn’t have the time required to work at marketing the book full time. I had a job. “Lucky” for me, I run a publishing house myself. Mine just happens to exist as a non-profit publisher which provides books to rural pastors and church leaders around the world.

So, what might we find as an answer to the platform and self-promotion conundrum?

We must look at—and pray through—several factors:

1. What is God’s plan for your life? Honestly ask God what he wants for you and your writing. Wait for him to make the answer clear to you.
2. What is your personality and your gifting? Honestly look at whether you are cut out for the promotional stuff. Do you have the time, energy, and desire to do it? Is it worth the time and effort for you?
3. How might you use your writing gift to honor the Lord even if you don’t publish a best seller? Research other options. Maybe you can publish in a magazine or in a smaller scale publication.
4. What is the goal of your book? Consider your audience, your message, and your financial needs and goals.

Honestly listen to God’s direction. Can God use your book in smaller settings? Can you afford to give it away? Would you be satisfied to sell it on Amazon as a self-published book? Would you feel honored if it changed only one life?

If you could find satisfaction in getting your message out and changing lives without making money on your book, ABH could fill the publishing need for you. Platform isn’t an issue for us. The message, the writing at a junior high reading level, and the usability in other cultures are the issues for us. Although we pray this changes over time, we make very little money on our books ($50.00 in 2023). We raise money to give them away. The satisfaction level for me, though, far outweighs the loss of income. When I hear that my book changed one life, I rejoice that God knows who needs the book, and he uses my experience to change lives.

Maybe that can also be your story.

Contact us at ABH: abhinfo@abhbooks.com

by Fran Geiger Joslin

I listened as a young man poured out his woes. His wife recently experienced a miscarriage. His heart is broken. He lost his biggest client last week. Without thinking, I blurted out, “The devil kicks you when you’re down.”

I often hear widows list all the circumstances in their lives that fall apart—in addition to the loss of their spouse. Widows feel overwhelmed anyway, but I marvel at how often the devil adds “fuel to the fire,” and they can’t seem to catch their breath.  The devil definitely kicks us when we’re down.

What I forgot recently? The devil also kicks us when we’re up. The Lord abundantly blessed us at ABH these last few months. We’ve made efforts to raise funds to help print books at times, but in the last year or so, little bits trickled in. I wanted to appreciate the Lord’s provision as he sees fit, but at times I admit I felt a little disappointed.

More recently, I made a few pleas to churches I thought might consider helping us out. To my amazement, God provided $3500 from one church alone! As we celebrated that gift, more gifts poured in. We felt overjoyed and profusely thanked the Lord.

And then it happened. The devil kicked me before I could catch myself. In my frustration I forgot to use grace in my words and hurt someone deeply. That crafty little beast sneaked in and used me to discourage someone else.

The devil definitely kicks us when we’re up. He doesn’t want to see us flourish. He doesn’t want us to represent God well. He wants to destroy all that is good, especially the blessings that God provides.

Lord, help me to remember to watch my mouth when things are up and when things are down. Help me to represent you well in everything that I do and say. May you get the glory for the great things you have done. And, may I never forget to “be sober-minded” and “watchful,” keeping in mind that “the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (I Peter 5:8). May I not be that person.

Let’s all remember this as we enter a new year. The devil doesn’t like it when the Lord blesses. Be on the alert because the devil kicks us when we’re up and when we’re down. But, praise be to God who wins the victory over the devil!

by Fran Geiger Joslin

My mind recently calculated the meaning of the words in John 1:14, “The Word became flesh.” And he “dwelt among us.” I’ve heard those words so many times that I rarely stop to think about them anymore.

The author of the book of John refers to Jesus Christ as “the Word.” Jesus Christ–God’s son—arrived on earth as a human infant. He literally put on flesh to be born as a human being. He not only put on human skin, but he humbled himself to become a baby who spent nine months in a woman’s belly. We’re told he was smart and wowed the rabbis with his knowledge as a child, but he still began his human life as a needy newborn. His parents marveled at his cuteness and would’ve taken pictures just like we do if they owned a camera.

Sometimes we don’t stop to think enough about what Jesus gave up in order to become flesh and live among us. We know he gave up his rights. He submitted to his Father, obeying his direction to come to earth. Philippians 2:8 tells us “he humbled himself by being obedient to the point of death.” Luke 22 tells us he didn’t want to die. In fact, although he came to earth for that very purpose, he begged God to not make him die. He did submit to the Father, however, and gave up his life for a greater purpose.

The one thing Jesus did not give up? Being God. Our finite minds can’t quite comprehend how he could remain God but become human as well. It might seem to us like he either has to be God or man. Jesus lived as both. He lived with human flesh and human emotion, which allowed him to feel pain both physically and emotionally, but he never lost what made him God.

He literally lived among us. In the TV series The Chosen, creator Dallas Jenkins beautifully shows Jesus’ humanity. He cuts himself and dresses a wound. He tires after a long day of serving others. Jesus jokes with the disciples, and even gets a little annoyed with them at times. He was fully human, but also fully God.

I recently wrote about how God created Adam and Eve, intending to live with them. God’s desire all along was to dwell with his people. When Adam and Eve sinned, it broke the relationship with God and made it no longer safe for them to stroll with God in the garden of Eden. This relationship between God and man remained broken for a very long time.

Jesus came to earth to heal the divide between God and man. Coming to earth allowed him to dwell among us again. He walked and talked with humankind. He felt the pain of life on earth. He cared for, and healed those who were sick. And then he did the unimaginable! He gave up his life that we could live eternally with him.

And here is the real reason for Jesus’ birth:

 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.…the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. (Luke 1: 32, 35)

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)

Good news! We have a savior who saves us from our sins!

Merry Christmas to all!

by Erin Ensinger

When I asked ABH President Fran Geiger Joslin to speak to my freelance writing class at Cairn University in 2017, she challenged me to think twice about whether I really wanted her input. She never gives the typical advice on topics such as how to get published, make a full-time living as a freelance writer, or market work on social media. Her message encompasses something far more simple yet far more earth-shattering.

Fran’s message? Write to change just one person’s life. Write to advance Christ’s kingdom.

Why hadn’t I thought of that? Why had I never encouraged my students in this way?

Somewhere between the campfire services of my youth, where I yielded my whole life to God, and the mediocrities of my suburban Philadelphia life, my eternal perspective blurred.

Yes, Lord, I’ll go to Africa, Kosovo, Haiti, anywhere. I’ll do anything you ask, I promised in my teens and twenties.

But in my thirties, that “anything” started to look a little different.

Will you give up the possibility of full-time teaching and writing to stay home with an infant and toddler?

Oh boy. Well, I never really considered myself a kid person, but since you asked, I’ll give it my best shot.

Will you focus on worshipping me instead of worrying so much about doing things for me?

Hmmm, since you gave me two kids who are allergic to sleep, it’s going to be a little tough to squeeze you in, but I’ll see what I can do.

Those “anythings” kept me so busy I wondered if I had only made up a third “anything” whispering beneath the frantic din of life with my two-under-two.

Write. Use this gift I gave you. Stop making it so complicated. Start with the opportunities right in front of you.

For years I struggled with a haunting fear that if I took my writing seriously, it might become an idol in my life. Of course God would require me to sacrifice the thing I love most, right? Isn’t that how it worked for Abraham with Isaac?  

Enough of crippling guilt! I took the plunge. I stopped dreaming of becoming a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and started writing for my local newspaper, academic conferences, book review websites—anything and everything that seemed within reach.

These somewhat scattered efforts yielded the pleasurable adrenaline rush of seeing my words, my name, in print. Like experiencing a runner’s high, I basked in the glow until it inevitably faded. A rush. Is that really all I sought from this writing life?

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God…” (Matthew 6:33)

I sang the song to my girls on countless sleepless nights, but when Fran spoke to my writing class, I realized I was the one who had fallen asleep.

One groggy morning I flipped through Jennie Allen’s book Anything looking for something besides coffee to sustain me through the day. These words beckoned from the page: “And God is saying, Look up. This is going fast. Your life here is barely a breath. There is more, way more,” (2011, 71).

More than my name at the top of an article. More than a check in the mail. More than a “well done” from an editor. My coffee grew cold in the mug as I stared unseeing out the window, pondering the new dreams beginning to unfold for my writing. Dreams of no longer conforming to the writing and publishing patterns of this world. Dreams of writing to make God famous, to heal one heart. Dreams of storing up treasure in heaven even if I never earned one cent on earth.

With the baby still blessedly sleeping, I grabbed my computer and dashed off an email to Fran. I told her I didn’t know how her words impacted my students, but I for one would never think about writing the same way. Could she help me find a way to write for the kingdom? And so my journey of writing and editing with ABH began.

As a staff writer now for ABH, I’ve spent the last six years wrestling with the “more” God might want for my writing. I knew from the first that ABH offered no promise of fortune and fame; I realized later that God also never promised to save multitudes through my writing. He may want to touch just one, and I need to be okay with that.

Our great God is also the God of the widow’s mite, the mustard seed, the little boy’s little lunch. He’s the heartbroken father lavishing all he has on one prodigal son. I can’t simply replace earthly ambition with spiritual ambition and pretend I am writing for the kingdom. Each day I must take my eyes off myself and release my work into his hands. Each day I must pray he distributes the loaves as he sees fit and feeds whomever he chooses with them.  

As my former writing dreams fade, my soul awakens to a grander prospect. How about you? What if God wants more for your writing than you ever dared dream? Will you bring a mighty God the small offering of your writing? And will you trust him whether he heals one hurting heart or multiplies your offering to the multitudes?

by Fran Geiger Joslin

How much does it take to make me smile?

Well, most people would say I smile all the time, but I mean what does it take to get me really excited?

The answer? Not much—and yet, so much! Let me explain.

I work among writers. Good writing makes me so happy! If I receive a manuscript or a blog article that strings great words together, I could get out of my chair and dance a jig. Great writing is hard to come by, believe it or not. When I see it, I laugh out loud with excitement!

In a ministry where the buck stops with me, I constantly ask the Lord questions like, “What’s next? What do I do about this situation? How do I expand the ministry?” I constantly pray over our authors, our leaders, our staff, donations, and the people who read our books.

For years I have prayed for a team of great writers. It’s easy to get discouraged when two or three of us are writing but producing very little. I know we can’t meet all the needs out there if we constantly work at a slow pace.

We often meet online with authors and potential authors. When I speak for just a few minutes with someone I feel can enhance our ministry with their message and their writing, I shout, “Hallelujah!”

Let’s be honest. I’m not good at fundraising. As a matter of fact, I hate it. I’ve been pressured in the past to give. Because of that, I never pressure anyone to give. I pray about it and figure the Lord will take care of us. This year, I did reach out to a few churches to see if they would consider helping us out.

There was a time when I prayed for a million dollars. I can tell you that would certainly bring me joy! These days, though, I rejoice over every donation we receive, knowing the Lord can put it to good use.

This year the Lord has brought a lot of things together for us. We are building a great team of authors. We are building a translation team. The donations are rolling in. Africans and Mexicans are begging for more books. This year? I’m dancing and singing, and shouting, “Hallelujah!” There is no greater joy than to see your prayers answered. To see them answered all in one year? Now, that will make me not only smile, but I might just get out of my chair and dance some kind of jig.

by Nicole Geiger

Prayer takes place daily at ABH where we regularly ask for expansion. Sometimes it feels as if we move too slowly, receive little support, and come to work with next to no motivation. It’s difficult to trust that we’re making a difference when forward movement seems scarce. At times we struggle not to doubt God’s calling to ministry in the ways we understand.

Over the last few months, however, we can barely keep up with our own answered prayers! Our Administrative Editor currently has two manuscript drafts waiting in line for her attention. More authors interested in writing training material for pastors are stepping forward. We’re in the beginning stages of working with them as they write books of their own. Our own staff is writing three new books we hope to put out by next year. 

This year we published our first book in quite some time. This book (A Walk with the Wounded) teaches church leaders how to emotionally shepherd their churches. We have already given away hundreds of copies of this book, not only to local churches and individuals in the U.S., but also across the globe! A long-time pastor friend of Fran’s (president of ABH) asked for hundreds of our books to give away at a pastors’ conference in Kenya. We were able to help him print 600 books. What a joy it is to do exactly what we’ve been called to do! 

From the very beginning of ABH, Fran and Howard Joslin felt compelled to provide pastors in rural areas of the world with biblical training material to which they wouldn’t otherwise have access. In recent years, between health struggles and the inability to travel on our usual missions trip to Tanzania, our opportunities to serve as we hoped have been limited. We continued to push forward, trusting in Gods timing, and now we often feel like we can’t quite handle the workload! God provided the staffing we needed, donations to continue work, authors for more content, and the ability to provide pastors with much needed biblical training material. 

Nine months into 2023, we feel blessed and thankful to serve the Lord who provides. We are excited to make new contacts and expand our collection of material. We appreciate everyone who prays with us daily. And we thank the Lord for donations that help provide books to those in need. You are an answer to prayer. 

Would you consider donating to help ABH continue providing books to train rural pastors around the world? Click Here.

Or, would you like to join us in ministry by praying regularly for ABH? Click here for our monthly prayer calendar.

“Immanuel touched the pages of his Bible with new respect.

More than ever, he thirsted to fully understand the words of this book.”

by Fran Geiger Joslin

“God is calling you,” urged the older men in the church. Immanuel’s “anxieties rose.” In response to the statement by the older men, his mind filled with doubt and questions. How on earth was he to take over as pastor of his church? He was far too young!

When the missionary came to visit his town, Immanuel saw his need for a savior, and asked Jesus to change him. He began meeting with his pastor every week to study God’s Word with other young people. Then he began visiting the sick and needy alongside his pastor. The next thing he knew, he found himself helping in the church service on Sunday mornings. He loved spending time with his pastor in this way—until everything changed.

Immanuel’s pastor suddenly fell sick and died. Immanuel felt lost. His friend and mentor left him stranded and now the elders of the church want him to take over as pastor! What was he going to do?

Shepherding God’s Church by Jeff VanGoethem chronicles Immanuel’s progression from new believer to disciple, and then to pastor. Like so many pastors in his culture, Immanuel quit going to school at age thirteen. His father needed help tending their animals. Although he loved to learn, he experienced few opportunities to do so.

When the visiting bishop of his church encouraged him to become pastor, he also informed Immanuel that he could learn more in a nearby town. Immanuel attends a class once a week where he learns from the book of Acts about elders, overseers, and shepherds. Additional classes include lessons on devotion to God through prayer and Bible study, as well as what kind of character a pastor should possess.

A good read for anyone wanting to understand the role of a pastor and/or leaders in a church, this book targets rural pastors with minimal opportunity for biblical education. It is literally a first step in understanding pastoral leadership. You will learn along with young Immanuel what it looks like to serve the Lord in ministry.

Author, Jeff VanGoethem, graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary with a ThM degree and later a DMin degree. His continuing forty-year ministry focuses on pastoral work and teaching. During frequent short-term mission trips to East Africa he trains and mentors pastors and church leaders. A former pastor of Scofield Church in Dallas, TX, Dr. VanGoethm serves in his “semi-retirement” as Pastor of Spiritual Development and Missions at East White Oak Bible Church in Carlock, IL.

Pastor Jeff feels passionate about helping young pastors grow in their roles and in their walk with God. He wrote Shepherding God’s Church in story form, as many pastors he mentors come from story-rich cultures.

Pray for Pastor Jeff to find the time in semi-retirement to complete more books in this series. They are desperately needed.

Click here to get the book in English or Swahili. To order large quantities, contact ABH at abhinfo@abhbooks.com.

by Erin Ensinger

As a seven-year-old, I donned a pair of lens-less sunglasses rummaged from a box of cast-off clothing. Those glasses worked like a magic charm. I put pen to wide-ruled notebook paper and the words of my first mystery thriller gushed forth. After all, John Boy Walton never sat down to journal without his trusty glasses. Every writer possesses some special secret that makes it magically just happen, right?

Visions of Anne of Green Gables scribbling madly away by moonlight guided my view of writing inspiration for years. Writing stories and poetry seemed as natural as skipping rope in my childhood years. But as I grew older, the wells of inspiration dried up in the face of practicalities and peer pressure. Learning to drive a car and do laundry took precedence. I feared my teenage friends would find my story-writing habit peculiar.

One day my uncle, a poet himself, asked me what I wanted to do when I graduated from college.

“I want to be a writer,” I replied without hesitating.

“What are you writing now?” he asked.

Gulp. “Nothing,” I admitted to myself. When the words stopped flowing, I stopped writing.

Looking back several decades later, I can honestly see some good in those “dry” years when my pen stayed quiet. Writers need time to experience many different people and aspects of life before they can offer perspective to readers. I believe the Lord used my years as a social worker, teacher, and mother to mature me before allowing me to write.

And yet, and yet…the yearning to write never died. Finally I decided I didn’t want to go through life wanting to write but never writing. Finally I took practical steps toward my goal.  

My decision to find a way to write meant accepting a lower income. It meant taking absolutely any writing opportunities that came my way, whether paid or unpaid, lowly or glamorous. It meant late nights as a small town newspaper reporter trying to get the paper out after covering yet another raucous town meeting. It meant making time to write amidst the demands of motherhood. It meant accepting editing suggestions I didn’t like.

Above all, it meant deciding to write for the Kingdom rather than fame. And with that decision I realized writing means service, not self-glorification. I finally gave up my childhood notions that writing should be easy and fun. Some days, every now and then, writing feels gloriously easy, freeing, fun. But most days it feels like hard work.

You have to make time to sit down and do it. You have to commit to writing when you don’t feel like it or can’t find time for it. You have to keep writing with no guarantee of being published. You have to write because God created you to write.   

I find great encouragement in the honest words of writing teacher William Zinsser, who in On Writing Well tells of a blunt talk he gave to starry-eyed writing students:

I said that writing wasn’t easy and wasn’t fun. It was hard and lonely, and the words seldom just flowed…I then said that rewriting is the essence of writing. I pointed out that professional writers rewrite their sentences over and over and then rewrite what they have rewritten…I said that writing is a craft, not an art, and that the man who runs away from his craft because he lacks inspiration is fooling himself.

There now, isn’t that uplifting? Doesn’t that make you want to grab a pen and stare down a blank page? Okay, okay, I know it doesn’t immediately sound encouraging. But just think: if seasoned, published writers find writing difficult, face days when each sentence seems a grueling ordeal, and find themselves revising every blessed word, then why should we despair under similar circumstances?

Writing difficulties don’t mean you should look for a new hobby. Writing difficulties simply mean writing is difficult. And so, aspiring writer, I encourage you to take an honest look inside. Do you truly want to be a writer? How will you begin to move yourself from dreaming about writing to disciplining yourself to write?

What resources can you access to spur you on your way? Who can you turn to for editing advice to sharpen your skills? Where can you look for writing opportunities? When in your day can you devote a specific time to writing?

Make a plan and take a step today.

by Nicole Geiger

As I grew up, I always felt very proud of my mother for starting Authenticity Book House. I watched her suffer the loss of my father, fall in love several years later, then write a book on grief. I admired her for following her instincts on something about which she felt great passion.

The struggle to get my stepdad’s book, Honest Wrestling, published led to the idea of creating a publishing company where Mom and Howard could help authors get their books published. When it came time to publish Mom’s book, Widowed: When Death Sucks the Life out of You, ABH was there to make it happen.

In the church I never saw much focus on mental health. I didn’t see any focus on helping those who suffer from it. I also didn’t see many Christian companies run mostly by women unless the ministry was for community outreach or childcare. The way I saw ABH address those issues was something impressive to me. They exemplified honesty, openness, and humility when approaching hard topics.

I appreciate their honesty about pain and suffering. They show compassion. No emotion or situation is too big or small for them. They never call someone’s salvation into question just because they struggle with certain issues.

When offered the opportunity to work with my mom and others at ABH, I was excited. I felt honored to add my own perspective. I wanted to help change what I saw mishandled in the church and in the Christian community.

I love talking about the harder topics. I hope to change a few minds on things that previously caused harm to young women in the church. I want to shed light on ways of thinking that open the door for more people to feel God’s love.

I continue to be impressed by the strength of character and integrity ABH staff shows again and again. In addition to the content we provide, the loving and respectful relationships cultivated among the staff encourage me greatly. I’m proud to help provide resources to those who have none. I’m also proud to participate in a ministry where topics transcend culture.

by Erin Ensinger

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine you live in a remote village in—well, you pick the place. Perhaps Mexico, Peru, or somewhere in Africa. You trusted Christ for the first time when missionaries came to your village two years ago. Several others chose to trust Christ at the same time. Missionaries came again to spend a few weeks discipling you and the other new believers. Suddenly you found yourself the pastor of a small but growing church in your village. You never received more than a middle school education and just a few precious weeks of biblical education.

Now people in your church start coming to you with their problems—serious, complicated problems. Adultery, domestic violence, desperate poverty. How can you point them to Christ in the midst of their suffering? Where do you even begin?

A Walk with the Wounded, ABH’s newest book, offers practical help for people in ministry with no access to seminary or professional counseling training. These church leaders may not even have a word in their language for the concept of counseling. In some cultures, counseling may be understood as admonition or discipline. Such rebuke only deepens the wounds of hurting people. 

In A Walk with the Wounded, we define a biblical counselor not as someone who stands far off issuing judgments, but as a mentor who walks alongside the suffering person. The counselor shares peoples’ burdens with Christ’s compassion while shining the light of God’s Word on their problems.

Since we at ABH love to teach through stories, A Walk with the Wounded focuses on the story of Rhoda and Simon, a couple struggling with alcoholism, abuse, and bitterness. Their pastor Moses, a new believer, struggles with his own feelings of inadequacy as he counsels them. This fictional story is based on real scenarios  encountered by ABH staff.

Readers can watch the counseling process in action as Simon and Rhoda work through repentance, forgiveness, setting healthy boundaries, and finding their identity in Christ. After the story portion of each chapter, we dive deeper into specific counseling skills and how to apply Scripture to various counseling scenarios. Each chapter ends with Bible study questions to help readers dig deeper into personal application, finding healing for their own hearts even while learning counseling skills.  

In writing A Walk with the Wounded, I worked with a team of professional counselors and also drew upon my own experience as a former social worker in the mental health field. We seek not to bypass professional counselors, but to equip those in ministry who must counsel without professional training. A Walk demonstrates how biblical counseling, whether in a professional office or a remote village, must always “be bathed in prayer, led by the Spirit, and rooted in God’s Word.”

A Walk with the Wounded offers insight not only to pastors, but also to pastors’ wives, church leaders, and mature believers who wish to help people walk with Christ in their suffering. Even Christians who do not participate in a counseling ministry can find encouragement and insight from A Walk with the Wounded. As members of God’s family, we are all charged to share each other’s burdens and to spur one another toward love and good deeds.

by Fran Geiger Joslin

My literary agent friend, Mary DeMuth, recently posted a blog on why she turns authors down. This inspired me to talk about how one might accomplish publishing with Authenticity Book House (ABH).

First, you must know that writing is rarely a money-maker. According to wordsrated.com, only one to two percent of writers ever get published. Why? Ninety-five percent of submitted manuscripts are sub-par.[i]

Second, you must understand how ABH’s non-profit status sets us apart from other publishers. Our main target audience is pastors, church leaders, and church attenders in rural areas of the world without access to higher education. We produce 4” x 6” books with no more than 16,000 words to make the content easily and quickly understandable. Also, small books can travel the world for less cost. We are all about helping those who may own only a New Testament. Many also feel blessed to own one book of any sort, much less a commentary or study guide.

So, what is an author to do? Personally, I see writing as ministry. If God gifted you with the ability to write, I hope and pray you use that gift for the advancement of God’s kingdom. I also hope you want to produce material that is well-written.

Regarding publishing with ABH, here are a number of things that will increase your chances at publication. Notice they are not all related to your writing ability.

1. Hone your craft—Learn the basics of better writing by joining a writers’ group or taking a writing class. Heed the advice received and practice, practice, practice.
2. Recognize that editor suggestions are business, not personal—Because your editor is outside your head, he/she can look at the big picture, evaluate your material from an unbiased perspective, and make valuable recommendations. It is your editor’s job to make you look good. Together, you can create a great book.
3. Respond with a humble heart—Believe me, we regularly “tweak” each other’s writing in our office. Everyone—including the best writer—needs an editor.
4. Use your writing gift as ministry—Understanding that making money as an author is rare, ask God how he would like to use your gifting and walk through the doors he opens for you.
5. Write at a junior high reading level—This may sound crazy to you. The majority of our readers, however, don’t receive much more than a 7^th grade education. We focus on the unique niche of writing on a level that all can understand.
6. Use culturally generic illustrations—Consider story-telling that is understood in a third world country. For example, those of us in the western world wouldn’t think twice about a comment such as, “I picked up fast food for dinner.” Many in rural third world countries would have no understanding of what that sentence means. Even cell phones (especially smart phones) are not universally used.
7. Write biblically accurate material with a bent toward training—ABH’s number one desire is to produce biblically-based training material. While this can take many different approaches (storytelling, Bible teaching, etc.), its source must come from Scripture. We have turned down material that is based in experience only.

Benefits to writing for a non-profit publisher:

1. You can make a difference to someone in another country—The reach of ABH goes beyond the U.S. to other countries like Tanzania and Mexico, for example. You could write something that changes a life somewhere else in the world without ever going there yourself.
2. You get your name on a book—At ABH, money is not the reward. The joy comes with seeing your own name on a book, knowing God will use it. You can say you are a published author.  
3. You get direct access to the staff at ABH—Because we are a small publisher, you get personal attention.
4. You get free editing—All through the process, we make suggestions to improve the manuscript for accuracy and audience clarity. Our staff and volunteers make final edits to assure the manuscript is publication ready.
5. Your book could get translated into numerous languages—We work with missionaries and others in ministry around the world. If they like our book, they often translate it for the people with whom they work.
6. Great blessing—Recently we heard of a girl who was suicidal as a result of her sexual abuse. She spent years hating herself. After reading Mary DeMuth’s book, Not Marked, this girl found hope and healing. Now happily married, she finds joy in life again. When we receive input on how one of our books changed just one life, we feel very blessed. No money in the world can take away that feeling.
7. You get a say in the final cover and draft of your book—We want to love how your book turns out, and we want you to love it too. 
8. You get to keep the copyright—We allow you to keep the copyright to your own manuscript. This allows you to post it on your own website and/or publish with others (if they don’t require you to publish with them only).

The downside of publishing with ABH? Money.

We don’t make much money. In fact, we raise money to give books away. The blessings far outweigh the income, however. Because of this ABH opted to avoid paying royalties to its authors. Would you consider using your writing skills as ministry? Think about it. You can become a missionary without ever leaving your home and put your writing skills to kingdom use at the same time.

[i] https://wordsrated.com/odds-of-getting-published-statistics/#:~:text=Within%20the%20book%20publishing%20industry,the%20level%20the%20standard%20required.

Pictured above: Fran and her Swahili translator share the joy of publishing Widowed in two languages.

by Nicole Geiger

More than ever, we hear conversations surrounding young people leaving the church. I’ve heard sermons accusing the youth of losing their path, falling into sin, and turning their backs on church family. Abandonment and spite spit from the pulpit, calling people to action, without understanding the cause.

I, like many of my friends, left the church when I became an adult. We speak frequently about how the church let us down individually and collectively. None of us left because we didn’t believe. The one place, promised from childhood as the safest and most loving, left us feeling hurt and abandoned. My friends’ stories are not mine to tell, but I offer some of my own. I do not speak with judgment and condemnation, but with compassion and hope that we might fix what has been broken.

As children in Sunday school, we were told Jesus loves us just as we are. He opens his arms and his home to all, no matter your past. He instructs us to act with kindness and obedience above everything and we will be rewarded. God has a plan; we must trust it. All sin is equal in the Lord’s eyes; all you have to do is ask for forgiveness and your slate will be wiped clean. Because Christ loves us, we must show others his love through our actions. But as I became a young woman, that is not the God that I saw reflected in the congregation.

At ten years old I lost my father to cancer. The following weeks and months, multiple adults in the church told me I didn’t pray enough. If I had just believed more, my dad would have been healed. I felt offended and confused. How could they assume I hadn’t pleaded for my dad’s life? The responsibility of curing brain cancer through prayer somehow got placed on a child, as if he wasn’t in hundreds of other prayers. I, however, looked at these grownups and wondered if they had ever read Job. Having read the book several times myself by this age, I remembered Job’s friends who told him to repent when he had done nothing wrong. I wondered what horrible sin these Christians thought I could have committed as a child that the Lord felt taking my father was a just punishment.

At thirteen, I joined a new church. My mother had remarried. I gained four new siblings and wanted to give their youth group a chance as I was unhappy with the one I currently attended. The head pastor’s sermons frequently judged those suffering with mental illness. He called them vain, accusing them of not loving the Lord as they claimed. “If you truly loved God,” he would say, “how could you possibly hate his creation – yourself? By giving in to anxiety or depression you’re letting the devil into your heart and mind. You’re weak, and not a part of the flock.”

Everyone in my family at that time was experiencing depression, but we rejoiced in the Lord anyway. We took medication and went to therapy to help us work through our pain in healthy ways. We worshiped at home and at church. I sat seething in the congregation wondering how the pastor could teach such things when 1 Peter tells us there is no shame in suffering (2:19, 4:16). But in fact, there will be grace when it is unjust.

I remained at the church because of the kindness and accommodating nature of the youth pastor. He welcomed me with excitement and open arms. When I entered high school, he moved on and, after a few months, we met our replacement. Around this time, I left public school due to bullying. I struggled to feel included and liked by my friends in the church. I noticed the staff offering disproportionate attention, support, and even gifts to other students. This new pastor seemed to have no time or interest in getting to know me or any of my hardships. His wife, however, seemed far too interested in my “behavior.”

It began with disapproving looks and tight smiles when she greeted me on Sunday mornings. It moved quickly into singling me out in groups. When I attended youth swim events, she instructed only me to wear a t-shirt over my dress-code-enforced-one-piece bathing suit. During “big church,” if I sat next to one of the boys in a pew, she pulled me aside and pointedly suggested I would be a distraction to them. I should go sit next to some of the girls, even if they weren’t particularly nice to me. Our conversations always seemed to circle back to modesty and submission, although I dressed conservatively. Comparisons to other girls my age (whose bodies hadn’t yet changed as mine had) took place frequently. It seemed that she had deemed me a Jezebel based on something totally out of my control. I didn’t understand her concern over my effect on the boys. After all, Matthew 5:29 tells them, “If your eyes cause you to stumble, gouge them out and throw them away.” She treated me as a temptation instead of a teenage girl looking desperately for connection.

I began to feel unwelcome in the church I had been attending for several years, but I continued to go. When the opportunity arose for me to work at a Bible camp over a summer, I quickly asked my new youth pastor for a reference. To my confusion, he seemed somewhat hesitant, but provided one.  I returned several weeks later excited to share my experience and my growth in my relationship with the Lord. I thought this would finally be the moment I could make a connection with the leadership team. I walked into youth group Sunday morning full of hope. As the youth pastor passed by me, he smiled and casually remarked, “The prodigal son returns!” My heart dropped into my stomach. Had he forgotten I was away doing ministry work? I looked around the large room and realized in a swift moment that nobody seemed to notice my absence. I received no questions about where I had been or about my time away. Nobody even came to say hi. They didn’t care. I sat through the message feeling nauseous and abandoned. I left directly after, sobbing the entire drive home and into the evening.

I took a few Sundays off after that, grieving the family I had been told existed in the church. I didn’t know if they had decided my relationship with the Lord was a facade, or simply that my body caused too much sin to be saved. I wondered who they thought they were to, at best neglect me or, at worst condemn without knowing me. Eventually, I decided it didn’t matter what they thought. I’m one of God’s children and just because I didn’t fit into two churches didn’t mean I wouldn’t find one where I did.

At seventeen years old I began visiting new churches alone. I sat through fear mongering sermons. I walked out when sermons talked about homosexuality as if it’s something disgusting and more horrifying than other kinds of sin. I resented the performative and bribing nature of others. I cried after listening to men condemn women from the pulpit, saying our place is to be quiet and submissive. They said our only job was to be a good wife and mother; there’s no leadership for us outside of childcare. I ranted to my mother after misleading messages about salvation solving suffering on earth. I attended churches where no one spoke to me at all. I got my fill from strangers telling me how church hopping is shameful. After all, every church provides community. What was I looking for that I couldn’t find?

Exhausted, I felt conflicted about the God I knew and the one I saw reflected in the congregation. Nobody seemed to believe the same thing. The love and kindness I had been taught to expect as a child seemed non-existent. Everything appeared judgmental and shame based. I wanted no part of it.

Many arguments exist against leaving the church. At times it feels like I’ve heard them all. I’ve been told I’m too sensitive, too picky, too progressive. Ironically it was church that taught me to be those things. I’m compassionate to others’ life experiences. I won’t sit through blasphemy or Scripture taken out of context. I want every person from any walk of life to feel welcomed into the congregation and to feel loved. In the end, it was not a lack of faith that caused me to walk away from the church, but an absence of community and an abundance of disillusion.

Picture above originated on apastorsheart.com.

By Fran Geiger Joslin

Asked to write a story about my husband and me, I consider the topic a difficult one on this day. Like any other holiday, Valentine’s Day draws many emotions for me. I could brag about the love I share with Howard and tell our crazy love story, but my gut throws me in another direction.

I feel the gamut of emotions on Valentine’s Day. I feel grief because my dad died on February 14. This celebratory day exists as a death anniversary for me. I also feel sad because my first husband spends this holiday—and every other day—in heaven instead of here with me.

I feel joy and thankfulness, however, over the fact that the Lord granted me a new husband who loves me dearly. I find myself immensely blessed, and usually by the end of the day (after wrangling with all of the other emotions), I can turn my attention to the gift of Howard and enjoy time with him.

Don’t you love how our society picks a day and names it for something in order to spur our economy, yet with seemingly no thought given to the emotions it provokes in millions?

Many singles often sense pressure to jump into a relationship—sometimes any relationship—to avoid the pain of being alone on the day someone else decided they should celebrate love. They feel left out on this day our culture tells us to bask in the joys of love, and failure becomes the tag line.

Widows and widowers suffer enormous loss and find themselves reeling yet again, silently screaming for equilibrium, and begging the day to end.

Still others rejoice over their love, celebrate it voraciously, and post it all over Facebook for the world to see.

We all enjoy a good love story, but many avoid the topic when it comes to Valentine’s Day. I know people who stay far away from social media altogether on this Day. It seems to them like a competition. Who loves whom more?

My son tells me he wants a woman who understands his love for her 365 days a year. He thinks it’s ridiculous to set aside one day a year to declare your love for each other. Love should shine all year long. What a brilliant child!

So, what do we do with this date on the calendar? If you know me at all, you understand my penchant for authenticity. I encourage people to embrace the truth. Feel whatever you feel and respond accordingly—on any day of the year—as long as you manage your emotions without hurting others.

If Valentine’s Day strikes you with pain:

• Avoid social media, find some trusted friends to hang out with, or hide altogether.
• Throw your own “singles” party or watch a sad movie—whatever helps you survive.
• I give you permission to bask in the sadness for a day.
• Try not to despise those who celebrate love, however. Hang on for February 15, which arrives as a brand new day without all the messy strings attached.

If you find yourself blessed with love, celebrate it! Gush over it. Tell him or her how much they mean to you. Go out to dinner if you can find room at a local restaurant. Enjoy the romance. Participate and revel in your relationship, thanking God for His marvelous gift—unless, of course, you choose to celebrate it 365 days a year instead.

But, please, consider the feelings of others. We can express Christlike love to others by choosing to celebrate our own romantic love privately.

Remember the “Love Chapter?”

Love:

• is patient
• is kind
• does not envy
• does not boast
• is not proud
• does not dishonor others
• is not self-seeking
• is not easily angered
• keeps no record of wrongs
• does not delight in evil
• rejoices with the truth
• always protects
• always trusts
• always hopes
• always perseveres.

Love never fails.

Bottom line? However you decide to celebrate Valentine’s Day, as long as your actions fall into the categories above by putting other people’s needs above your own, you choose well.

Ponder this: What emotions spring from you on Valentine’s Day?

*Originally posted on FranGeigerJoslin.wordpress.com in 2016.

By Nicole Geiger

As we near the end of 2022 it feels natural to look back and weigh all that we’ve accomplished over this past year. We celebrate our wins and try to figure out what went wrong with our failures. Sometimes we feel as if all we could do to make it through the year is survive.

As ABH looked back on our year, we felt as if we hadn’t accomplished much. Our new website went live, and we finished one manuscript, but it didn’t feel like enough. Maintaining our daily tasks seemed to get in the way of our bigger projects. Monthly blogs, prayer calendars and newsletters, along with regular office responsibilities, took up most of our time.

Adding free downloadable study resources to our website seemed like a win but trying to find the time to upload them became difficult. Many more sit waiting for uploading, and as we grow, we hope to add materials from many more authors and pastors.

While it’s discouraging to make slow progress throughout the year, we must remember to trust God’s timing over our own. Living up to our own idea of success can get in the way of the progress we have made and the plans the Lord sets for us. We must be kind to ourselves.

After recognizing that we are not working on our own time, we felt more encouraged! Getting a business on its feet is a lot of work. We decided to celebrate all the meticulous tasks we completed that lead to our “big wins.” We set ourselves up for success in 2023 by getting all the little things done this year. The finished manuscript is lined up to be translated into two other languages. There are plans to begin on two other books and several months of plans for blogs and social media outreach.

It can feel impossible to make good progress. Be kind to yourself while getting back into the groove of life. To make strides, we must crawl first. Celebrate the little steps that set you up for larger victories. We are on God’s perfect timeline. Take comfort in accomplishing things on his schedule.

by Erin Ensinger

Christians love big words. We toss around terms like “redemption,” “justification,” and “sanctification” – terms that leave unbelievers scratching their heads. Or how about “discipleship?” Sure, we use that expression all the time, but can we define it clearly and simply? Too often we think we can check off the discipleship box because we attend Bible study, complete a service project, or try to act like our pastor. Discipleship, according to Dr. Thomas Golding is much harder but also more rewarding.

In Discipleship: Following Jesus, Golding defines discipleship as “following Jesus, becoming a student of the perfect teacher as we learn his way of life.” As we draw close to Christ, we learn to think, act, and love as he did. Then we help others follow Christ along with us.

Golding traces the pattern of discipleship throughout the Gospel of Mark, but first he starts in Genesis. He explains how the Creator God planned discipleship from the moment he made man in his own image. In Genesis God commanded humanity to be fruitful and multiply in order “to fill the earth with people who look like him.” Because Adam and Eve sinned, their descendants filled the earth with a distorted image of God. But Jesus’ death and resurrection provides hope for a new world where believers conform perfectly to his image.

In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus chooses a special group of men to be with him. “Simply being with Jesus is one of the most important parts of discipleship,” Golding asserts. He also points out three steps all disciples take to follow Jesus:

• • Recognize who Jesus is. The disciples first needed to believe that when they saw Jesus, they also saw God. “And not only that, they saw a perfect demonstration of what God intended for every human being who ever lived,” according to Golding.

• • Understand Jesus’ mission. The disciples recoiled from the idea of a king who served instead of ruled, who died instead of conquered. They didn’t understand when Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world.

• • Remain faithful when Jesus’ mission leads through suffering. Jesus’ death clued the disciples in to their own fate. Because Jesus suffered, they too would suffer. Suffering reveals two kinds of disciples. Disciples like Judas turn away or even become enemies of Christ. Disciples like Peter fail, find forgiveness, and learn faithfulness.

Twenty-first century disciples should also expect to flounder at times. Jesus’ disciples struggled, yet over time they became pillars of the church, authors of the Bible, and examples to generations. “Jesus could always do a better job by himself than by using flawed human beings, but he chose to train others and pass this method on to us,” Golding encourages.

Golding moves helpfully from theology to practicality as he encourages seasoned believers to make new disciples. He advises leaders to start small with just a few believers who seem ready to follow Jesus more closely. Then he offers specific strategies for Bible study, prayer and Scripture memory together. As the new disciples grow, they can begin serving with older believers, taking on more responsibility over time.

Golding casts an inspiring vision by sharing stories of discipleship from his time as a pastor in the U.S. and Australia and also as principal of Adelaide College of Ministries in South Australia. Golding concludes, “Potentially, we might stay busy with all kinds of activities in the church, but Christ commanded us to make disciples. He promised he would be with us along the way.”

Discipleship: Following Jesus provides valuable encouragement for disciples in all stages of their journey. Would-be disciples hear the Gospel message embedded throughout the book and are invited to respond personally to Jesus’ call. Long term disciples who feel weary from the trudge find fresh hope in stories of Jesus’ forgiveness and sustaining strength. Disciples longing to effectively disciple others find a simple starting point and practical strategies.

Where are you on the discipleship path? Pick up a copy of Discipleship: Following Jesus and answer the call for a closer walk that draws others closer to the Savior too.

To download or purchase the book in English, click here.

by Fran Geiger Joslin

“I managed to live a full year without Brian, but suddenly I faced the task of living the rest of my life without him. At this same time others expected me to ‘move on.’

 I could barely move at all, though, for the reality of Brian’s death sucked the life completely out of me.”[i]

The moment I wrote the final line in the paragraph above, the words struck me as the right subtitle for a book on widowhood. Although forced to keep living physically, the life I knew died with my husband, Brian. I couldn’t make sense of it. I struggled to stay out of bed even though sleep eluded me. Death came to me in the form of daily living.  I felt as if life had been drained completely out of me.

My daughter describes the same feelings in a poem she wrote at the age of seventeen, reflecting on the memories of her loss at the age of ten:

We all died that day,

But only he went on.

               The rest of us were left to haunt the earth,

                              Our moans and sobs sending people in every direction.

               Food came to us in masses,

                              But the dead don’t eat.

               We kept it just in case one of us resurrected.

                              Every last lasagna went into the trash.   

               We continued to possess our bodies,

                              And no one noticed we weren’t us.

The one person with whom I shared everything could no longer be reached, even on the phone. The feelings of complete and utter loneliness made me feel crazy. I went to the bookstore soon after Brian died and bought a bunch of books. I needed to know I wasn’t alone and that I could make it. I hoped someone would provide an answer for me in all those books.

Brian died at the end of July. By October when Halloween decorations began showing up in yards all around me, I felt highly offended. Fully aware of the condition of Brian’s body, I couldn’t stomach the displays of skeletons and graves strewn mockingly around my neighborhood. I wanted to hide away in my bedroom.

One day I read about a mother who lost two children. Nancy Guthrie, in When Your Family’s Lost a Loved One voiced her hurt by the same displays in her neighborhood.[ii] Finally, I didn’t feel so terribly alone! I began sobbing, almost screaming out that somebody understood.

Although I found some help and camaraderie in the books I read, I still felt frustrated. Most of the books written by Christians softened the blow of grief by over-spiritualizing it. “Just trust God,” they implied. To me, those words were a cop-out. I trusted in God, but my heart lay in shattered pieces, and I couldn’t figure out how to put it back together. I needed help but couldn’t find it.

A friend of mine lost her husband a few years after my Brian died. I laid in bed one night wrestling with the Lord over why another person ended up alone. I know death happens. I know we all experience death at some point. But now I experienced widowhood personally and grieved for everyone else who joined this widows’ club.

I may not qualify as an expert on much, but one thing I know: what widowhood feels like. As I lay in my bed wrestling with the Lord over my friend’s loss, my thoughts switched to what I would say to a new widow. As if the Lord struck me with lightning, I sat up in bed, flipped on the light, and began writing. Before settling to sleep, an outline for a book sat on my nightstand.

I decided to write the book I needed. I longed for someone to speak the truth about the cavernous pit of sorrow, as well as the hope of renewed life on the other side. I also desperately wanted to know how to get there.

People who grieve often find it hard to focus. They may find it hard to read an entire chapter in one sitting. I wrote Widowed: When Death Sucks the Life out of You in small sections instead of long chapters. Each chapter stands alone, sorted by topic. I wanted grievers to find the subject matter they need without the frustration of reading the entire book.

I interviewed many widows and widowers, and I tell some of those stories in the book (names changed, of course). I pray all who read it will find support, encouragement, and hope.

In general, people who haven’t personally experienced the loss of a loved one don’t understand those who grieve. As a result, they don’t know how to encourage their friend or family member. They often put pressure on the person to “get over it” and “move on.” They push us to remarry when the thought of remarriage nauseates us. They want us to be happy, but they don’t understand the despair we must trudge through in order to find joy again.

I found myself regularly teaching friends how to love me through my pain. As a result, I decided to add a section at the end of each chapter in the book for those who love the griever. We all know people who grieve, but we don’t all know how to love them through their pain. This book not only gives them insight into what their friend/loved one goes through, but also provides suggested tips on how to love them through many different scenarios.

Who was my target audience? Of course, the biggest target is widows and widowers. I have since learned, though, that divorce, the loss of anyone you love, and traumatic events can also suck the life out of us. Friends who’ve experienced those kinds of losses tell me that Widowed: When Death Sucks the Life out of You ministered to them as well.

This book is ultimately for everyone:

• The widowed
• Those who love the widowed
• Pastors
• Counselors
• Those who suffer hardships
• Those who want more understanding

   

[i] Fran Geiger Joslin, Widowed, When Death Sucks the Life out of You (Plano: Authenticity Book House, 2018), page 22.

[ii] David and Nancy Guthrie, When Your Family’s Lost a Loved One (Carol Stream: Tyndale House, 2008), p. 160. wo

To download a copy of Widowed for free or to purchase a copy, click here. This is a 4” x 6” abridged version (16,000 words) of the original book (60,000 words). Download in Swahili or Spanish.

To order the larger (original) version, click here. This book provides lots more information, quotes, and suggested help, but does not include notes to those who love the griever.

by Nicole Geiger

Can you explain the gospel in a quick and easy way? Often when sharing the gospel, we only have a few minutes to get through the message. Instead of explaining it well, we ramble and fumble for words. The ability to communicate the gospel simply is important. At ABH we simplify all of our content for easier understanding. The gospel is the most important message we share.

First, let’s answer the question “What is the gospel?” Simply put, “gospel” means “good news.” Sharing the gospel, then, indicates how we share the good news of Jesus. You can easily break it down into three sentences:

• Jesus died for our sin according to the Bible.
• Jesus rose from the dead according to the Bible.
• We need to trust/rely only on what Jesus did for us.

At the core, what defines Christianity is our belief that Jesus rose from the grave and granted us access to Heaven. In return, trust and devotion remain the only thing asked of us. We must understand the magnitude of Jesus’ sacrifice in order to share this good news with others.

What a daunting task for Jesus to enter this world as a sacrifice! But he gave himself up to save us. No matter our background or laundry list of sins, Jesus took that cost upon himself to offer us forgiveness and eternal life. How incredible to be loved like that!

Many find the “Three Circles” method of sharing the gospel helpful. You can use this method with a pen and paper or with sticks and dirt. Draw three separate circles (see picture below). Each circle represents our human brokenness, God’s perfect design, and then Jesus. With arrows pointing to the next circle, you can use the following three points that correspond.

• Sin moves us from God’s perfect design to brokenness (now & forever).
• Trust Jesus moves us from brokenness to Jesus
• Follow Jesus moves us from Jesus back to God’s perfect design (now & forever).

This is a slightly more detailed, but effective method. While most often used in more rural areas on mission trips, it can be applied to sharing the gospel in any environment. You can also apply the following Bible verses:

• Genesis 1-3 (the perfect creation and the origin of sin)
• Romans 5-8 (the work of Jesus to remove our brokenness)
• Revelation 21-22 (the future restoration of those who trust Jesus and the entire creation)

Howard Joslin has created an outline for a book that goes deeper into the practice of sharing the good news. We will begin the writing process soon. With simplicity, precision, and more thorough examples, we are excited to add this book to ABH’s collection. We pray this not only helps rural pastors, but every-day people to feel more prepared when ministering to others. 

by Nicole Geiger

Sexual assault is one of the most horrific kinds of sin. Though common, the marks left behind for the victim to carry feel particularly ugly. Both in a culture that values purity, and in one that sees sexuality as a choice, stripping a person of the decision to consent leaves deep scars. There’s nothing more personal than one’s body and deciding with whom to share it. Whether you believe in saving yourself for a spouse or the freedom to choose, any unwanted touch, words spoken, or forcing of any kind causes horrific harm.

Mary DeMuth’s book, Not Marked, tells her own story of innocence being stripped away. She shares how it affected the rest of her life, as it does with any assault victim. It changed her relationship with trust and intimacy, something that seems to come easily to others. She describes the weight of trauma on the shoulders of a woman who walked through life with no one believing her. 

Teaching abstinence without addressing sexual abuse can cause immeasurable damage. While saving yourself is admirable, I rarely hear people speak on the agony of feeling like you have failed in that task.

In middle school I went to a girls’ Bible study before class. The leader taught on purity and brought in a wedding dress from the 80’s. She displayed it on a mannequin and placed black duct tape on the sensitive areas of the white dress. She explained that this was an example of what happens when you allow a man to touch you. I remember vividly how she ripped the tape off. I watched as beads and rhinestones tore from thread and scattered around the room. “You lose value,” she said. “Who would buy this dress? No one. It holds no value after being ruined. Who would want to marry you when you’ve already given away everything you have?”

I was thirteen and had already been assaulted. Men often spoke to me as if they owned me. As a young woman, the teachings I received focused on how not to tempt men, keeping them on the right path. Virginity was a gift for my husband, and if I did not have that to offer, I had no chance of a good or biblical marriage. Nobody mentioned what happened to my purity if the choice was not my own. I had to assume it did not remain intact.

I always heard rapists were the lowest of the low, the worst kind of person, monsters among men. In reality, they are frequently someone you know and trust.

As I grew older and saw victims speak of their abuse, I began hearing people blame those preyed upon. What were you wearing? Did you flirt with him? Why would you put yourself in that position? If you were drunk, how can you be sure you didn’t want it? What did you expect to happen?  Men are driven by lust; you cannot expect them to control themselves. Don’t ruin his life over your mistake, your miscalculation.

I couldn’t make sense of it. How had I enticed a man as a child? What could I have possibly done to tempt him? So, I fled into myself. I saw it reinforced again and again that I had no value, I wasn’t pure enough. I failed at the one job given to me. The crime committed against me when I was little more than a toddler had deemed me dirty, unworthy.

Feeling as if I already lost the prize of purity, I began to believe I deserved mistreatment as I grew older.  Why should my “No” be respected if there was already a stain on my soul? What was one more? Who would believe that I woke up to a close friend taking me after I had gone to bed? Who would care that a man I once trusted mocked me as I pleaded for him to just let me go home? What did it matter that I pretended to sleep while he groped me and pleasured himself? At least he didn’t rape me.

It was not that I didn’t speak up. It was not that I didn’t tell people. It was simply my fault. 

It was somehow up to me to take on the responsibility of men who trudged through my protests as if they were harsh terrain, an inconvenience, determined to get to their destination.

I am but one in a group of many who carry the violation of unwanted desire. How does one begin to heal from that burden of blame?

Mary’s book is not one of hopelessness, but of healing. With honesty and transparency, she walks with you through the memories clouded with horror. She describes the loss of self and the feelings of failure. Mary is candid about her struggle with God and seeking the answers to how he could let this happen. She guides the way to forgiveness of those who harmed you, even if you don’t feel they deserve it.

Mary gives permission to feel broken. She explains the steps you must take to allow the Lord to help you heal. She makes sure you don’t feel alone. She emphasizes that the victim is not at fault. No one is charged with the crimes committed against them. There is no stain on a soul against whom sin was committed. Mary’s book provides a much-needed beacon of hope in a sea of pain.

In addition to Not Marked, Mary offers several other books on the topic of sexual abuse. Her books are available on Amazon. In her recently published book, We Too, Mary dives deeper into our “unspoken crisis”. She consistently guides the way to healing and teaches the church how to support victims. She lovingly points out how we have been failing such a large group, not only in our congregations, but in the world. To love like Christ we must open our arms and throw out our judgments. We must make the church a safe place for the vulnerable.

In the United States someone is assaulted every sixty-eight seconds. On average one out of six women experience rape, or attempted assault. While it is less likely, one in thirty-three men are also victims (https://www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence).

by Fran Geiger Joslin

Missionary martyrs in history often serve to spur missionary movements. The 1956 murders of Jim Elliott, Nate Saint, and others in Ecuador were no different. Missionaries going to primitive locations around the world became more common.

On the heels of the Ecuador murders, missionaries in the 1960s understood sacrifice. They entered remote lands to share the gospel of Jesus, knowing the risk of losing their lives. My own father, influenced and challenged by those willing to die, offered up his own.

My parents went to the mission field in 1959, serving the Lord in what we now call Papua, Indonesia. At that time this area of the world lived in near stone-aged conditions, wearing grass skirts and gourds for clothing, carrying bows and arrows, and regularly participating in tribal warfare, which included cannibal feasts.

Our dads trekked mountains to reach the unreached. Without knowing a stitch of the language, they found ways to reward the nationals for helping to hack out air strips in the mountains. This allowed small Cessna airplanes to deliver family members, mail, lumber, cattle, and anything else we might need.

Unable to calculate the cost—and possibly unaware of a cost—to their children, these missionaries followed the expectation of sending their children to boarding school. Homeschooling materials didn’t exist back then, so missionary kids attended boarding schools run by other missionaries. Sadly, these house parents were usually inexperienced and untrained in caring for children, especially more than one hundred of them at one time.

As a group of children all attending the same boarding school, we became family. We called each other’s parents “Aunt” and “Uncle.” We often experienced traumas together. News of our own fathers facing the threat of death affected the entire group. We watched our classmates whose families were affected by tragedy, not knowing how to feel ourselves, and wondering what it must feel like for them. Other times while at home, we witnessed tragedy while sitting by the home radio, receiving news as it happened.

As expected, missionaries at times gave their lives for the sake of the gospel. Because of the mountainous terrain and unpredictable weather conditions, airplanes went down. Pilots and missionaries alike lost their lives in tragic circumstances. Most of us remember hearing pilots on the radio reporting downed airplanes, the following days of searching for a crash site, and then reports of no survivors. This affected us deeply, offering no way to process the information, the grief, or the fears that ensued. This was “normal” in our world.

In 1968, two missionaries trekked into a new territory to take the Good News to an unreached tribe. Phil Masters and Stan Dale went with nothing but good intentions, but the villagers felt threatened. They shot Uncle Stan and Uncle Phil full of arrows and then enjoyed a cannibal feast in their honor. Ten children (including one unborn child) lost their dads that day. Two women were widowed.

I, personally, will never forget watching one of the widows, wondering how she kept a smile on her face. Attending school with her children also impacted me, as I’m sure it impacted others. Questions plagued us, but we dared not ask them: What must it feel like to lose your father, especially in such a traumatic way? How did they attend school and act like they were okay? What does one say—or not say—to these children?

It appeared we were to go on normally and not ask questions. To my knowledge and memory, we received the facts but no further discussion took place. My father’s life had been threatened on numerous occasions but, so far, he had escaped alive. The biggest question on all of our minds, I’m sure: “Will I be next?”

Still processing the murders of our two uncles, tragedy crushed us once again. Only three months later a Cessna airplane crashed in the exact location where the cannibals martyred our Uncles Phil and Stan. This airplane included a pilot (Menno Voth) and a six-member family (the Newmans). The only survivor? My sister, Leah’s fourth grade classmate, nine-year-old Paul Newman.

The cost this time? The pilot’s wife widowed, her toddler fatherless, and Paul Newman orphaned. Just like all others, this tragedy affected every missionary on the island, but also every child at boarding school. This time felt more personal, for some reason. Maybe as children we couldn’t comprehend the amount of pain involved in losing your entire family. Maybe we experienced enough pain three months earlier. Maybe the cumulative effect of numerous tragedies put us over the edge.

What made this tragedy even more heart-wrenching? Paul’s DNA aunt and uncle “rescued him from the jungle” and took him to the United States to live with them. All communication with his friends in Papua ended. I’m sure his family did what they perceived to be in his best interest. They also took in a nephew whom they barely knew. We recognize and appreciate that sacrifice.

One thing we all understood: how unfathomable the amount of pain that existed for Paul. Fifty-four years ago, over one hundred children felt the enormous loss of their friend about whom they worried and for whom they prayed. We grieved on his behalf. During all these years, prayers went up and questions remained. Whatever happened to Paul Newman? Is he okay?

Here and there we got tidbits of news. He married. Years later, his wife died. (I exchanged words with the Lord over that one.) We continued to wonder and pray.

A Papua reunion in Orlando, Florida took place during the Fourth of July weekend of 2022. Our long-lost friend appeared as one of the speakers. We felt honored to reconnect with Paul Newman, share our concerns for him, and ask our questions.

From the podium Paul shared with us the details of his own story. He described the weather conditions, the cloud cover, and the tree stump that clipped the wing, ultimately downing the airplane in which his family died. “On the second largest island in the world, a sovereign God…allowed a little Cessna 185…to fly up the wrong valley and crash near a path that led to a bridge that continued to the village…where the warriors who killed Stan and Phil…lived.” Only a sovereign God can do that. Paul crossed the bridge on hands and knees, desperate to escape the burning airplane and seek refuge from the rain and stormy weather.

At the reunion in Florida, Paul revealed to us the pain of losing his Papuan family in addition to his parents and three siblings. The lack of communication with his “jungle friends” left him devastated, feeling that no one cared.

He returned to Papua in 1991 to visit the crash site and ask unanswered questions. Unknown to Paul at the time of the crash, the Papuan warriors were out for blood. They kept track of the death count in terms of brown skins (the nationals) to white skins (the missionaries). After the ambush on our uncles (two dead white skins), another skirmish a month later, and now the crash (six dead white skins), the death tally equaled nine brown skins to eight white skins. Taking Paul’s life would even the score. Perfectly justified in their culture. One leader in the village refused to allow an even score. He protected Paul’s life, offering him refuge in his own home.

Paul’s visit in 1991 reconnected him with the man who saved his life.  A piece of the wreckage still sat atop the man’s hut twenty-three years later—as a memento, no doubt. Maybe as a reminder of the little boy whose life he touched only briefly.

Paul’s visit informed him of the details of his own protection and rescue, realizing that, had his father or the pilot lived, they would’ve been killed by the villagers as well. God used this child’s life to bridge the gap between these cannibals and the missionaries. Who would ever dream that the life of a nine-year-old could make all the difference!

A church was eventually planted in the village that killed Stan and Phil. Saving Paul’s life began a chain of events that softened the hearts of the villagers. Missionaries rewarded the village warriors with many thank you gifts, and the warrior cannibals eventually gave their lives to the Lord. Some of the very warriors who shot and ate our fellow missionaries became leaders of the church.

Of course we always rejoiced over the repentance of the village warriors and the church that sprang up. We needed to know something good came out of the terrible tragedies. We also needed to know Paul was okay, that God brought healing to our friend and fellow boarding school classmate. The lack of information remained the piece that haunted us.

What relief we all felt at the reunion to see that Paul still walks with the Lord. He understands God’s sovereignty over the details surrounding the plane crash, the loss of his entire family, and his own life. He remarried. He’s okay. As children we all sensed the enormity of his pain. On some level, Paul’s pain affected us, and we prayed for our friend for fifty-four years.

Thank you, Lord, for taking care of Paul and allowing him to be okay. Thank you for showing him your amazing grace and allowing him to see how much he was loved and missed.

Thank you for bringing healing and closure to a group of people by allowing us to see into Paul’s life. Thank you for showing us the beauty that came out of such a terrible tragedy. Thank you for allowing us to know Paul is okay.

Thank you, Paul, for sharing your story and allowing us to ask too many questions.

Pictured above: The Newmans with the Lockhart girls (l-r: Leah-the tallest one, Alice-with checked top, Fran-in light pink, Beth-in red) about a year and a half before the crash. Paul is partially pictured on the far left behind Leah with two of his siblings, Joyce and Steven. His parents are standing at the back with unborn Jonathan.

Pictured below: Paul in 2022 with his new wife, Sandy.

Part 2:  Happy Ending by Nicole Geiger

The moments that define us as believers often start with us staring at the sky asking “What could you possibly be doing, God?” Nobody gets an easy ride in this life. In fact, we are promised pain and struggle. There is nothing more human than to feel, but how do we trust the Lord’s plan when we feel as though he ripped a part of ourselves away? 

            In 2012 Howard Joslin partnered with a small publishing company to put his book Honest Wrestling into print. He narrates the process of losing his wife to spleen cancer and the intense reality of holding onto faith when life felt void of hope. Howard desperately wanted to help others with his story but unfortunately it didn’t sell well. Devastated and humbled, he started realizing the extent of the difficulty it takes to place Christian content into the hands of the suffering within the boundaries of the United States. If that reality exists in the U.S., how do people in more rural parts of other countries get resources?

            That same year Howard excitedly began preparing to start his Ph.D. The summer before classes began, Fran’s adventurous spirit led her to miscalculate a risk while hiking in the mountains of Colorado. She shattered her ankle boulder hopping, which required surgery followed by months of recovery. Fran needed more care than Howard cared to give. He withdrew from his program, and once again found himself at a loss. How would he minister to others if he couldn’t teach? He felt as if his dream was crushed along with Fran’s ankle.

                                                            ************************************************************

            Over the next year Howard and Fran began brainstorming. Howard brought ideas to Fran and she helped him think through them realistically, narrowing down the achievable. If Howard found it difficult to finish his biblical education in the U.S., how much harder must pastors around the world find it to receive biblical training at all? Would it not answer their prayers to receive biblical and pastoral training in their own language? What would it take to provide that answer? 

In 2014 the couple launched Authenticity Book House (ABH), finally breaking into the world of ministry through publishing. ABH desired to provide easier publication for authors with important messages. ABH also desired to place biblical resources into the hands of those in ministry around the world.

Fran originally agreed to work on the ABH project for sixteen hours a week. It quickly became clear that she was the lady God had put in charge so they agreed she should take the title of president. ABH has gone through many phases while finding the niche where they were most needed. Now re-launching, ABH focuses on accessibility. Using volunteers and employees, ABH strives to provide content in as many languages as possible. Simplified Biblical Training in Bite-sized Books is the mission. They want people from all walks of life to learn from their materials—both educating the mind and healing the soul. ABH hopes to see people learn from the materials and then teach others what they learn.

            In addition to books, ABH added Bible study guides and notes to the website. They are available as free downloadable pdfs. The aim? Making scripture more understandable. To continue serving authors as well, writers who publish with ABH and/or teachers who contribute study materials are not under an exclusive contract with ABH. They retain copyrights to their own material.

                                                            ************************************************************

            Although Howard and Fran didn’t see this version of ministry for themselves in the beginning, every “no” that discouraged them ended up leading them exactly where they wanted to go. Fran, who yearned to write for years, published her book Widowed: When Death Sucks the Life out of You to provide comfort and hope to those who grieve. Her passion for those in pain offers her opportunities to comfort men and women in multiple countries. This passion also led her to work on a new book about biblical suffering.

            Howard doesn’t stand in front of a college classroom like he originally dreamed. Instead, he began a small unaccredited Bible institute in conjunction with his church. His passion to teach others how to study and teach scripture became a reality. Eventually, his content from these classes will appear in book format. They will also be made available for purchase or as a free download on the ABH website. Some of his notes on other topics are already available. His love for organization makes these easy to understand with color coding and charts.

            Together Howard and Fran encourage their writers to tackle the difficult topics that people experience on a daily basis. They work to destroy cliché answers to the authentic tragedies in life.

             Howard and Fran Joslin spent many years deep in heartache wondering what God could possibly be doing. Finally, it became clear: he was transforming them into exactly what he needed to show others his glory. God used books to develop and encourage them. He now wants them to provide books to develop and encourage others.

                                                            ************************************************************

ABH is always looking for volunteer writers, editors and translators. If you feel led to contribute your gifts to help the ministry, contact us at abhinfo@abhbooks.com

Part 1: Plot Twist

by Nicole Geiger

Playing in the rafters of a shed in Papua Indonesia, Fran Geiger Joslin heard the gospel for the first time in 1964. At three years old she gave her life to the Lord, and again at seven just to be sure. Growing up on the mission field, God was a daily part of her life; however, what kick-started her personal relationship with the Lord was a book.

Bored at a guest house in 1972, she initially thought nothing about pulling Not My Will by Francena H. Arnold from a bookshelf. The story of a young woman going through the hardest of trials only to watch the Lord turn her life into something beautiful spoke volumes to Fran. At eleven years old she saw a kind of devotion she desired for her own life. She found comfort in seeing God turn tragedy into triumph and for the first time she felt a personal connection to him.

In the following years that connection stayed strong as she studied Bible and missions at Philadelphia College of Bible, and then married her sweetheart, Brian Geiger. The first few years of their marriage passed with bumps here and there, but in October of 1999 Brian received the devastating diagnosis of brain cancer. To the family’s despair, doctors didn’t offer much hope long term.

 Searching for comfort and encouragement, Fran met with two friends who gifted her the book Let’s Roll.  Fran gained a new perspective on her future by reading Lisa Beamer’s story of losing her husband on 9/11. Instead of hiding away and grieving privately, Beamer used her now famous name to bring glory to God. Inspired, Fran wondered if writing about her own experience would help other people in similar situations. She brought this idea to her friends who committed to pray for her as she pondered her path.          

Fran journaled regularly about the lows of suffering through chemo and radiation, and the highs of persistent love and raising three kids. Throughout it all she held to God’s promise that in the end her family would be taken care of. In July 2008, after nine years of battling cancer, the Lord called Brian home.

Overwhelmed and devastated, Fran’s family barely functioned in the following months. Desperate for reassurance, she sought out the book that changed her life as a child. Rereading the protagonist’s loss of both her husband and child, Fran realized that God had put this book in her hands thirty-five years before she needed it. Although experiencing a season of deep grief, she found once again that Not My Will changed her life. Fran recognized God must love her intensely to place this promise of not only suffering, but of grace and healing, in her hands at eleven years old.

At a church in small town Iowa in 1980, Howard Joslin approached a guest speaker to ask a few questions about his sermon. Throughout the conversation, a question arose. “If you died today, would you go to Heaven?” Unsure of his final destination, Howard thought of all the hate he harbored toward his abusive father. Also, what would people think, and how silly he would look, praying with this man? A voice in the back of his head reminded him of the magazines he collected at home and told him if he was going to do this, they’d have to go. All of them. Despite all his fears, at seventeen Howard gave his life to the Lord.

Over the next six months, the woods by Howard’s family farm became his sanctuary. He would take his Bible, light a fire, and study scripture alone. Slowly, he burned his magazines until nothing remained but ash. The peace he made within himself extended to his feelings about his father. Although his father remained unchanged, Howard committed to showing him love while receiving none in return.

In addition to studying agricultural business, Howard began reading Christian literature at Iowa State University. The first book, God’s Smuggler, by Brother Andrew, told the tale of a Romanian pastor who smuggled Bibles into Russia. Instead of hiding his actions, he carried the Bibles visibly, defending himself only with prayer. Electrified by the power of God, Howard felt led to bring the gospel to others. After trying a few organizations on campus, he joined Campus Crusade for Christ. Throughout his time with them, his passion for ministry grew and he met his wife, Ann Yarnell. After college and four kids, the Joslin family found themselves moving to Texas to pursue Howard’s dream of attending Dallas Theological Seminary. Eight years later, right after graduating from seminary, their worlds were rocked.

In May 2006, the day after receiving his diploma, Howard was admitted to the hospital for a heart attack. Only days later Ann received the diagnosis of spleen cancer. Although Howard recovered relatively quickly, the next couple of years were dedicated to keeping Ann alive. Throughout that time they clung to the promise of life after death. Howard used his updates on Ann’s health to challenge friends and family on prayer. Tragically, two years to the day of her initial tests, Ann left her pain behind for Heaven. 

            A mutual friend frequently remarked that, while they suffered separately, she often received the same updates from both Howard and Fran. After months of hearing about the other, Howard sent Fran his favorite book on grief, A Grace Disguised by Jerry Sittser. Sittser tells the story of losing his wife, daughter, and mother in a car wreck and his journey to find happiness once more.

The timing of his gift felt perfect as Fran neared the end of her rope. She wasn’t convinced she’d ever be okay again, or if she was even allowed to. This book gave her permission. Sittser encouraged her that even if life would never be the same, it could be good. Forever polite, Fran sent a thank-you card back to Howard through their mutual friend.  Unexpectedly, Howard felt as if he had received a love letter. Feeling foolishly possessed by the thought of a woman on whom he’d never laid eyes, Howard enlisted his daughter’s help to create a Facebook account. In July 2010 Howard took the first step to send Fran a direct message and by November they were married.

The couple shared a desire for ministry but struggled to work it into their lives with five teenagers under their roof. While Howard worked full time he continued wrestling with how to impact others. One day it hit him. Throughout all of their suffering, one thing consistently ministered to them. After some time of prayer and talking with Fran, it was decided: Howard was going to write a book. 

Nothing brings Howard and Fran more joy than to see the Lord bring beauty out of their ashes! Authenticity Book House is just that.

Coming soon: the full ABH story.

Stay tuned.