The Edge of the Field
by Austine Royer Smith
LitFire Publishing


"Many times I have been rescued and ministered by His Angels."

A dedicated charity worker, author Smith recounts some of the steps that led her from America to Haiti and back again, seeking to do the work she believes God calls her to. After doing missionary work in Haiti, she was told by the Lord to purchase land there to start a charitable center. Money for this purpose would be provided by her books, but she was not a writer. Amazingly, the way was open for her to write books, sold in aid of her plan. The way was often thorny, but soon she traveled to Haiti to look at land for sale. After some interference from a local farmer, and with the help of a woman friend, she was offered a plot of land for free from people who shared her vision. Her book cites the many women who assisted her in wonderful ways along this path.

Smith’s episodic memoir comprises stories of the many miraculous circumstances that guided her as she strove to assist the poorest of the poor. Direct dreams and messages from on high are vividly described, along with the reasonable religious counsel she gives to those seeking her aid, more than once preventing a suicide. Her style is direct and honest, and though many might find her accounts nearly unbelievable, they exude a satisfying sense of excitement and joy. She is careful to balance the sour with the sweet, showing her own failings and weaknesses with frankness and humor. She compares herself and other women highlighted here to the biblical Ruth, who, a stranger in a foreign land and having few resources, gleaned the leavings on edges of the field after the harvest. This new book from Smith will doubtless reach her supporters and gather a new harvest of readers for her devotional endeavors.

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