Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Phenomennal woman, 26 Jun 2005
So much hype has preceeded this publication in Christian circles. Having read the biography, I have been trully moved by the active compassion of the lady in question, Heather Reynolds. A true visionary, her holistic ministry to AIDS orphans and her tenacity in esatablishing God's Golden Acre against seemingly insurmountable odds of prejudice from many quarters is a testament to her great faith, courage and love.The book is well structured, with moving and poignant testimonies from a variety of sources, yet the story, in its telling, leaves something to be desired. While due attention is given to the life journey and motivations of Mrs Reynolds, the stories of countless AIDS orphans and impoverished rural Africans are paraded through the text, little attention being paid to their personalities or psychology. The book therefore reads at times, as a piece of underdeveloped fiction. There is, furthermore, a certain voyeurism of depiction, detracting from the key message of the text, which calls cpmpassionate people everywhere to action on behalf of these forgotten children. Nevertheless, God's Golden Acre stands as the biography of a phenomenal woman, clearly annointed by the hand of God and blessed with his favor and grace. May it serve a god given purpose in raising awareness of the unspeakable suffering endured by countless children, the world over, and in the words of a missionary nurse who has served at the orphanage, the reality that, "One person really can make a difference, step by step, one child at a time, and if this is what one person can do, imagine what is possible if we all get in on it."
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A tug on the heart strings, 13 Jul 2005
For the most part, an authentic and sensitive portrayal of the life story of Heather Reynolds; Africa's Mother Thereza and a modern day good samaritan. Her biography introduces the tragedy of the AIDS pandemic in Africa, explored through brief depictions of HIV-positive babies, dying Mothers, distraught Grandmothers, and the children and teenagers left behind, now heads of their households and growing up in abject poverty, in a world of depravity, surviving any way they can. Heather's love and vision, and the faith with which she reccounts the many miracles of God's provision in the growth of her foster care community and outreach to the rural communities is stuning. This is a real tug on the heart strings. My only criticism would be inconsistencies in chronology.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply stunning - an emotional roller coaster, 18 Jun 2005
I defy anyone to read this and not be emotionally moved! The story of Heather Reynolds' struggles to set up God's Golden Acre, often meeting with resistance from family, locals, the government but always sticking to her vision, is an astonishing one.The idea of a white woman with her husband her pillar of support in the background, taking in black orphan childres in South Africa, some of them suffering from AIDS is very moving. The apathy of the 'Christian' church, government funding agencies and even, ironically, Nelson Mandella's charitable trust in the early days, is one that can very easily move the reader to anger. Read it and learn of one woman's total faith that she is on a mission from God, that God will provide, and that so far, he always has, often in the strangest of ways!
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by Wm Paul Young
by Myla Goldberg
by Kristin Hannah
