All Saints Book Review

All Saints: The Surprising True Story of How Refugees from Burma Brought Life to a Dying Church by Jeanette Windle was not a book that I went looking for but I am happy that I found it.  I got an opportunity to read this book and I couldn't pass it up because I love books that are turned into movies and I love the main actor so I knew that I would want to see this movie!!  I knew that I would enjoy this book and was super happy to get a chance to see it and hopefully see the movie soon too!!

Newly ordained, Michael Spurlock's first assignment is to pastor All Saints, a struggling church with twenty-five devoted members and a mortgage well beyond its means. The best option may be to close the church rather than watch it wither any further. But when All Saints hesitantly risks welcoming a community of Karen refugees from Burma--former farmers scrambling for a fresh start in America--Michael feels they may be called to an improbable new mission.  Michael must choose between closing the church and selling the property--or listening to a still, small voice challenging the people of All Saints to risk it all and provide much-needed hope to their new community. Together, they risk everything to plant seeds for a future that might just save them all.  Discover the true story that inspired the film while also diving deeper into the background of the Karen people, the church, and how a community of believers rally to reach out to those in need, yet receive far more than they dared imagine.

The Reverend Michael Spurlock served All Saints Episcopal Church in Smyrna, Tennessee, for three years. He is currently on the clergy staff at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue in New York City. Michael, his wife, Aimee, and their two children live in New York City.  Award-winning author and investigative journalist Jeanette Windle has lived in six countries, authored nineteen books, and mentors writers on five continents. To learn more, visit her at www.jeanettewindle.com.

I was totally lost at the beginning of the book because I am horrible with following along when the story goes back and forth into the past and the great number of characters.  There are many main people in the story with Reverent Michael Spurlock being the main person that brings everyone together in this small town church.  Rev. Spurlock welcomes the strange group of Karen (yes that is a nationality that I had never heard of) refugees from their war torn country and makes sure that they feel welcome by integrating their customs into the service and translating things so that they can understand them.  It was a great message saying that people could teach you something through their life experience even if it was bad.  This is a wonderful book especially when you start to connect to the characters and start pulling for them.  Funny enough, the missing piece on my summer reading bingo was just filled with this book because it is from two different times.  I knew that I would overcome it and get into the story so I couldn't put it down.  I was expecting something a little bit more like Mitch Albom but this book was talking about the history of a lot of people and involved a lot of going back to people's pasts.  I was happy that I got to read the book and excited to see the brand new movie too.  I hope that you check out this book and enjoy it!!

**I was given a copy of the book for my review but all opinions here are honest and my own.