By Lara M. Van Hulzen
This is Christian fiction at it’s best. Six teenagers embark on a mission trip to Indonesia with visions of tropical surroundings and the personal sense of accomplishment in helping a Christian village build a church. However, when the Muslim villages nearby get hostile, the pastor and his wife that are hosting the teens are murdered. The church they built is burned to the ground. This forces the group into the jungle with only the pastor’s 15 year-old son and 4 year-old daughter to lead them.
This book is one that would pull any teen out of his or her self-focused existence. The characters in the book are believable and by the end, they are people you come to know and care about.
The author does well not to sugar coat the ending or make it seem that all things work out perfectly just because God is in the details. The story is clear that God works in all situations, but there are no misconceptions that a situation like this would be easy to get over, especially for a young person.