"I used to joke that if you served God long enough, He'd send you to Africa."
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Let The Seed Fall by Merica Saint John Trafford Publishing
book review by Donna Ford
One afternoon a childlike, twenty-nine year old woman walked out of the office of her latest doctor and down the street to a church. The doctor's prescriptions included a to-be scheduled visit to a psychiatrist. But right now she needed someone to talk to and the doctor's pastor was available. The woman's name was Pat and her problems multi-faceted. Her charts read personality disorder, clinical depression, and anxiety due to years of physical and psychological abuse. She had grown up in a moral household with strict rules to keep that no one explained. After leaving home, Pat tested the rules. Her drinking lead to promiscuity. A brief marriage to someone she didn't love ended in failure.
What the pastor did that afternoon was weep with her and in so doing demonstrated God's love. Pat left his office with a joy unknown before. Yet years of bad choices were not easily overcome—until God filled her with His Spirit and gave her a new first name: Merica. Then He sent her as a missionary to Alaska and Africa.
Her task was to instill others with the comfort she received from God's Word, the Bible. In Ghana, she learned that Merica in the Twi language means "one who runs with a message, one who brings joy." Let The Seed Fall is both honest and dramatic—a mostly, nonfiction account of the author' new life as a Christian. The 191-page book is well written, but be prepared for intense topics like her rapes and homelessness. There is a helpful cross-reference of Bible verses that impacted her life at significant points.