From the Prairies to the Mountains

Some days you find a treasure in unexpected places. Several weeks ago, I did while "weeding" books at my workplace. We recently removed numerous biographies from our library. Most of these books had NEVER been checked out and were not going to be missed. While flipping through one book to see who it was about, I spotted the following inscription:

For some reason, the name "Inez Humphrey" rang a bell. I flipped to the next page where I saw this information:

I about fell out of my chair as Palmyra is my home church! All of a sudden the year of the inscription and the Palmyra connection made me think that my grandmother probably knew this lady. As soon as I could, I ran back to my desk and to my computer where I promptly did a search for Inez Humphrey. I discovered that yes, she was from Palymra. As I continued to do some research, I discovered she had been a distinguished professor at Moorehead State University in Kentucky where her papers are archived, had received an honored alumni award at Eureka College, AND had written a book. So, I promptly did what any self-respecting librarian would do and requested a copy via InterLibrary Loan. The second thing I did was to call my parents that evening to see if they could shed any light on the subject. They recollected familiarity with the name but not much more.

When Humphrey's book, From the Prairies to the Mountains; Memories, Especially of Illinois and Eastern Kentucky, arrived a few short days later, I promptly proceeded to devour it. What made this particular book so interesting was the frequent appearance of names and locations that were familiar to me. Miss Humphrey would describe a location and I would think "I know where that is!" or she would mention some family name and I'd exclaim "I know that family!" or "A person with that name was in m class." As I continued to read, I kept a look out for my own family names to appear. I experienced some brief sadness that no names from my family tree were listed. However, as I read I almost found myself keeping a "family tree" of the names that were mentioned. I often found myself googling different people mentioned so I could locate obituaries and see how people in the book were related to people I knew.

As I read of Miss Humphrey's adventures, I was amazed that someone from my little bitty town and my little bitty church had gone on to achieve such heights of success, particularly as a woman in the early 20th century. I was particularly excited when I realized that her niece was a lady, Frieda Shinpaugh, whom I knew and that our youth group had often visited. Of particular note, Miss Humphrey shared near the beginning of the book that family legend stated her father's family had been baptized by Alexander Campbell or Barton Stone while they lived in Kentucky prior to moving to Illinois. While it is most likely legend, it was exciting to think that the ancestors of individuals I knew may have been baptized by noted historical religious figures and particularly so as I am a librarian at a Stone-Campbell institution.

I'm very thankful to have stumbled upon Miss Humphrey's book. Reading it felt like sitting down to chat with my grandmother and having her share stories about growing up in Palmyra. It was also a walk down memory lane as I recalled my own fond memories, particularly of my home church. I also found that I want to do more research on the Stone-Campbell churches in Illinois and particularly as congregations like my home church moved from being affiliated with the Disciples of Christ to Independent Christian Churches. I would encourage any hometown friends and anyone else who is interested in history to locate a copy.

Give Your Children Eyes for the World

Many individuals are familiar with the influential prayer resource Operation World. Many are also familiar with Window on the World, often dubbed "Operation World for kids" which was originally released in 2001. Imagine my excitement when I opened a package on my doorstep to find the just released Revised edition of Window on the World! I spotted as I was leaving for the Global Impact team meeting at church and was quite excited to share it with other team members.

The first thing you will notice about the revised resource is an abundance of color. The cover of the book invites a young person (and adults!) to pick it up and to begin perusing. As you begin page through the book, the color pictures, flags, maps and colorful text boxes of each two page spread draw you in. When you begin to read the text, the story format shares a variety of information about each country in an engaging manner. In addition to the story, there are specific bulleted prayer points.

With a total of 92 countries listed plus information on world religions, there is a lot of content here that can be used in multiple ways. The format of Window on the World is intentionally flexible so that it can be used in a variety of contexts and with a variety of age groups. The story for each country has several bold headings which allow the reading to be broken up over several days. Each country also has 7 or 8 specific prayer points so that families could pray for a whole week about one country. Or a family with older children or even an adult could read the entire story and use all of the prayer points in one sitting. Windows on the World is perfect to use for family devotions. Many families may wish to use the resource as a springboard to do other research about a country as well. Some may even choose to choose books (non-fiction and fiction) to expand this book into a full-fledged world geography course. Some international cooking and a map on the wall indicating what countries have been prayed for would accompany this resource nicely. The opportunities to use this resource in a children's Sunday School class or other children's ministry setting are endless.
While the primary audience is children, adults will profit from this amazing resource as well. If you are just starting to pray for the world or if Operation World seems a little too big, Window on the World is an excellent place to begin or to rekindle your prayers for the world. You will soon find yourself reaching for more prayer fuel as you see the world through God's eyes.

This resource is a must purchase for any family who wants to raise world Christians and as such should be added to your Christmas shopping list ASAP. Homeschooling families and Christian schools will want to use this resource. Children's ministers will want to stock multiple copies for their classrooms. I encourage you to obtain this book as quickly as possible. You won't regret this purchase.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received the book, Window on the World, free from InterVarsity Press. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”