Amy Carmichael is an important missionary our children should know about. She led a very interesting life that was full of adventure. She was also a mother figure to many little girls. However, she remained single her entire life as she served the people of India.
Heroes for Young Readers, Amy Carmichael – Rescuing the Children, is such a sweet little book for children. I love how the entire book is set to rhyme. Therefore it’s much easier for kids to pay attention. But besides that, this is a wonderful way to introduce them to an incredible follower of Christ. This book highlights Carmichael’s compassion and love towards the poor and needy.
The book starts off describing how even as a child, Carmichael was sensitive to the needs of the poor. She promised to serve them when she grew older, with the help of God. As a young adult, she blessed her community by reaching out to the young “shawlies” in England. These women were marginalized and poor, who were very much looked down upon by Carmichael’s peers. She then went to India to serve the people there. Her commitment to the children, specifically the young girls sold for temple service, is beautiful. She chose not only to love these children who were sold by their families to serve in the temple, but she also taught them about Jesus. Carmichael saved these girls physically from a life of servitude. But even more importantly, she gently pointed them to their Savior, Who saved them spiritually and eternally.
Another book that speaks about Amy Carmichael is called, “Can Brown Eyes Be Made Blue?” This book speaks to Carmichael’s adventurous, mischievous streak. Carmichael is presented as very much a little girl who loved to do the things that other little girls loved to do. She even rowed a boat out to sea with her brothers! Although they got lost, they were thankfully found because of their collective loud, rambunctious singing! The book also touches on how she innocently questions the LORD why He created her with “very boring brown eyes.”
But towards the end of the book, Carmichael realizes that even the color of her eyes were not an accident. They were purposely made brown by the same loving God who also loved and cared for other little girls halfway around the world in a country called India. They too shared the same brown eyes. And if she did have the bright blue eyes she yearned for, perhaps she would not have been accepted by the people. She certainly would not have been able to serve these girls in the same way.
God’s ways are not our ways. Praise God for that! These books are wonderful illustrations of how an ordinary young girl can be used in extraordinary ways by a faithful and good God.
These are wonderful books for your young children! We highly recommend them! Our kids have really enjoyed them!
