W H Cherry - Evangelical Times, October 1993
As with all Phyllis Thompson's books this is a very good read and much more. In twelve chapters she weaves together memoirs of Dr Rupert Clarke who drove a straight furrow of fifty years' missionary service. God's sovereignty and 'Rupert's unfailing confidence in God's faithfulness' run like a twisted thread through this fascinating story. He might never have been born; twice he could have lost his life!
Denis Lane, Overseas Missionary Fellowship
Today's world is impatient with missionary hero worship, and rightly so, but in painting realistic human pictures, we need to beware lest we minimise the grace of God manifested in human life. I believe this book maintains the right balance.
Book Description
The biography of Rupert Clarke: a missionary doctor who served in China and in the Far East - including 16 years detention by the communists.
From the Back Cover
If Rupert Clarke's mother had followed her well-meaning doctor's suggestion, he would never have been born, as the offer to terminate her unplanned pregnancy was tempting. But the world would have been the poorer, as without his medical career spanning fifty years, many would have been left spiritually and physically bereft. When Rupert Clarke went to China in 1938 the country was wide open to the messengers of the Gospel: but when he emerged sixteen years later - after years of harrowing detention by the communist government - it was closed. Along with Arthur Matthews, he was the last of the CIM missionaries to leave China, yet despite ill-health he devoted the rest of his career to the peoples of the East.
About the Author
Phyllis Thompson has written of her own experiences as a missionary in Pilgrim in China (now out of print). Her best-known book is the biography of Sadhu Sundar Singh (OM Publishing 1-850780-99-4)
