Jeanette Li

This has been a favorite book of mine for many years, especially as I had known the sweet and talented (Aunt) Rose Huston in Japan when I was a child. My husband and I have recently re-read the book aloud, and found it afresh to be a skillfully told tale of a woman’s life in Christ, full of twists and turns, adventures and miraculous deliveries. I commend it to all, from teenagers to adults.

Surprised and delighted was I to find this autobiography of Jeannette Li back in print. This new Crown & Covenant edition is printed on good quality paper and is of a larger size than the Banner of Truth edition. Each chapter title includes a wonderful pen and ink drawing. The middle of the book contains a number of photographs. This new edition includes a forward by J. Bruce Martin, President of The Reformation Translation Fellowship. It contains a very helpful history of RTF in China. Although this book is an autobiography, it clearly shows some character development. The book starts with Lis childhood and stories of her understandably childish behavior. It includes her struggle with alcohol, her struggles with her circumstances and her spiritual growth, her long service as director of an orphanage and ends with her gutsy, but spiritually mature encounters with officials in trying to leave China for America to be with her son in her old age.

Jeanette Li is unlike me. She lived in a different time, on another continent, facing separation and persecution (from family and foes alike) that I have never known. But we are alike in one thing: we both are sisters in Christ. Her book inspired me as only the words of an older sibling can. Her antics as a child made me laugh; her logical and calm retelling of the gospel made me consider my own evangelistic efforts; and her raw persistence in the face of sickness, uncertainty, emotional abandonment, and sheer pain inspired me to live a life worthy of Christ, no matter the cost. Jeanette Li's autobiography certainly is unlike anything I've read before; it is foreign, uncomfortable, and pushed my faith in God's work. It pushed me to want to be like her, insofar as she is like Christ. I hope it will do the same for you.