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Five
Books That Shaped My LIfe
by Lieutenant Vanessa
Coleman
1.
The Hiding Place,
Corrie Ten Boom
As a kid I loved reading biographies of
missionaries and martyrs of the persecuted church. Maybe it
was a morbid fascination, but they gave me a perspective
outside of my comfortable Western 1990s one, that following
Jesus is costly but precious, that I need to be prepared to
pray hard, to know the Word, to count the cost, and preferably
speak lots of languages.
But if I had to pick one out of them all,
then it would be The Hiding Place. I read this over and over
and over again as a kid. The stories of her life, her faith
and resilience, the sheer sassiness of her righteous response
to evil had me hooked, and sold me a picture of the kind of
faith life I aspire to.
2.
Make My Life a Prayer to You,
Keith Green
When I was 16 a friend, who was really into
Keith Green’s music gave this to me as a Christmas present. It
was in a season where I was pushing myself to read through the
whole Bible, and I’d got to the book of Romans, and for the
first time found the Holy Spirit interpreting the long,
confusing theological sentences to my hungry heart. I soaked
up the stories of radical mission and worship like a sponge.
Reading this took me to deeper intimacy in my relationship
with God, and made me dream of how I could live out a calling
to love and serve the Lord where I was now, at school, in my
normal life, rather than waiting until I was old enough to
lead like I thought leadership was supposed to look like.
3.
Red Moon Rising,
Pete Greig
I caught the 24/7 prayer bug when I was 14,
and led my first prayer week then, and have been hooked ever
since. By the time I was in my early 20s I’d been invested in
regular non-stop prayer weeks, and was living in a community
that ‘got’ the stuff that I’d dreamt of and longed for as a
teenager. Reading Red Moon Rising gave me some of the bigger
picture of what God was doing in and through this wild
movement. It got me fired up, inspired me to press in, to pray
harder, longer, more passionately, deeply and consistently.
(If I can cheat and add a couple to the Pete Greig train, I
also love The Vision and The Vow for the most compelling call
to discipleship in one place that I know with some fun
teaching on covenant from a non-Army perspective, and the
lesser known Awakening Cry, which is brilliant if you’re
looking for some history and energy to pour into praying for
revival).
4.
Ordinary Mum, Extraordinary Mission,
Anna France-Williams,
Joy French
When I had my eldest son Isaac I took 6
weeks maternity leave (in the UK as officers we get to pick
between taking 6 weeks or 6 months), and when I started back
at work with a 4 week old baby this book saved my life. Or my
sanity, or something. It’s really down to earth, written by
women who understand my paradigm, who get the women in
ministry thing, who want to change the world and not be
limited in that by kids, not relegated to the kids corner.
It’s full of practical tips, spiritual wisdom, guest chapters
from mums who are a few steps ahead on the journey (including
none other than Danielle Strickland). It was an accessible
read, I managed to gorge my way through it during middle of
the night feedings with my eyes held open with match sticks.
It continues to shape how I juggle 2 corps and 2 kids, and
help me hold a healthy balance between the things I love most
and also feel the most guilt about. I’ve bought this heaps of
times because I keep giving it away and needing it again
before it is returned. It’s a great baby shower gift too!
5.
Pioneering Movements,
Steve Addison
When I was appointed to replant a dying
corps last summer I had a lot of passion and enthusiasm but
not a lot of idea as to how I should go about it. I stumbled
across Steve and Michelle Addison, and their organisation
Move, who manage to articulate in really helpful ways some
practical steps for building missional communities in ways
that equips disciples to make disciples who make disciples. So
far so standard, but what I really love about this book is the
scope of their vision is ridiculously, passionately
faith-filled. It’s the first place I’ve seen (outside this
notable journal), since the early days of the Army, that truly
has not just a dream but an action plan to win the world for
Jesus. I experience a culture of pendulum swing back in cringe
against how unrealistic and naïve that dream was for our
spiritual ancestors, but Pioneering Movements is full of
stories, from the developing world and the west, about how
disciples of Jesus are replicating movements to leave no place
unreached with the gospel. It’s full of diagrams,
encouragement, challenges and the voice of the Holy Spirit
spurring us on to dream, to dare, to do and to die. I’m sure
this will continue to shape my ministry in the years to come.
This is a vision that I had already sold my heart to, and I’m
convinced this book is a helpful tool as we live out what it
means to be The Salvation Army in the 21st century.
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