I Saw the Light

John, I enjoyed your story. It lets the rest of us know what life was like in South Africa and other African countries. It makes me feel much more thankful that God allowed me to born in America. I also heard about the problems of Catholics in Germany from my German born relitives.

The story is well thought through and memories sometimes come out of order just as they do in real life.

I am a bonified beginner here, so don't feel bad if I step on your toes. I don't mean to, but my limited experice here shows through.

I thought you handeled the material very well. Making this character both a living and breathing person in print is very hard to do. I am still trying to master it. I have three stories listed on this thread. You may find one of interest to you. You'll see how I handle characters for better or worse. I write them with the Gospel message intwinded in the story. You do well on this by giving the Character's testimony. This is well done.

Your story is a fast read. It is not bogged down in overly detailed narrations. This shows great skill.

Please, check out one or more of my stories. "The Unholy Trinity," "Time of Jacob's Trouble," or "Demon War."

Don R. Budd

John,
I look forward to reading your book. I like to read about how God is glorified in people's lives. Feel free to read my book, Chronicles of the Mind, Parables and Possibilities. It is also a short book.
God bless you,
Jim Gilliam

John,

I just finished reading the four chapters that you have uploaded. You are a talented writer who is able to gently persuade the reader with drama, humor and honesty. I found you childhood - growing up in Rhodesia - very intriguing and I was saddened by the poverty you had to experience. A couple years ago the National Geographic featured an article about the whites surrendering their farms to the natives in Zimbabwe. It was quite moving and a bit frustrating as well. There doesn’t seem to be a fair solution for either side of the situation. But the healing will come…

Just a note - my husband’s ancestors were Dutch/French Huguenots too. The blue eyes and dark curly hair is prevalent in most of the twelve children and many of the grandchildren born to John and Elisabeth Lanser.

I also enjoyed reading about and was shocked by your war experiences. Although you couldn’t see it at the time, it is obvious that God did have His protective hand over you. He had a plan…

Despite some of the gore and drama, I chuckled at a couple lines in chapter four:

“No matter how often I tried, and in spite of the best intentions of the Gideon’s, I could never get past the opening passage of Matthew’s gospel: Abraham begat Isaac…”

And “Its stories of goat herders wandering through the desert in robes and sandals held no appeal for me.”

“In fact, to the contrary, it has cost me a fair bit to belong to a church over the years.”

The best part to me was how you tried to explain your feeling of joy at being forgiven. “It was like simultaneously discovering that: you are not an orphan but you have parents that are alive and love you; that that telephone call was from the State Governor to say that not only will you not be executed, but you are to be compensated for being wrongfully convicted…”

John, your story is inspiring, convincing and most of all has the potential to change lives. Six Stars!

Dianna Lanser
Nothing But The Blood