Mandy Baker Johnson

I enjoyed reading Love Beyond by Heidi Baumgartner, of how God has used her to bring His love to the women working in Soho’s red light district for the past thirty-odd years.

Heidi opens the book with her childhood, early adulthood and how she came to know Jesus for herself and His subsequent call for her to minister to sex workers. She tells it as it is, which I like: the difficulties, enjoyment, ups, downs and everything in between. You have to be in this type of work for the long haul as there are no quick fixes. Lots of prayer, commitment to visit the same venues regularly regardless of whether there is a welcome at the door, praising in the darkness, always asking God for His Kingdom to come in this place among these people.

She writes: ‘I think it’s the most amazing thing to be able to worship Jesus in the midst of a dark place, knowing that God inhabits the praises of His people and that praising Him changes the spiritual atmosphere.’

And: ‘One day while I was in Soho, I began my prayer time by singing to the Lord. The moment I started to praise Him, Jesus gave me a brief glimpse into the spiritual realm and I saw strange-looking creatures running away. With their hands they were covering their ears, saying, “Oh no, she is singing again!”‘

In the book are stories to celebrate, of women leaving the sex trade and some committing their lives to following Jesus. Heidi also shows the other side of such work, of faithfully ministering and offering friendship and support over many years without ever seeing any real change.

She is also very real and writes of how God does not hesitate to show up in the most unlikely places:

‘We all felt His wonderful presence and once more I was deeply touched by His amazing grace. Jesus really cares about people and nothing escapes Him. He heard the prayers of four people, praying in a tiny kitchen on the first floor of a brothel in Soho, and decided to visit us by His Holy Spirit.’

Having volunteered in this type of work myself elsewhere in the UK, I know firsthand how discouraging it can be and how oppressive it feels at times. It is also highly rewarding and I loved meeting with women working on the street as well as those working in massage parlours. What astounded me about Heidi was her level of commitment to the women: for years she actually lived in Soho within easy walking distance of the women to whom she ministered. I particularly loved that the women weren’t a ‘project’ to her but she showed them real, authentic friendship. They often had meals together and the women knew how much Heidi loved them. I think the fact she has not burnt out reveals her passionate heart for God because only He could sustain a ministry like this.

It’s a great book and I highly recommend it. I’ll leave you with two more quotes:

‘…after visiting the flats in Soho for thirty years I still don’t believe that a woman wakes up one morning and says to herself that she’s going to earn her living by working as a prostitute.’

‘Jesus responded that I should never stop asking for His Kingdom to come, regardless of the people or the situation.’

Instant Apostle provided me with a free Kindle copy for the purpose of writing an unbiased review.

I enjoyed reading the Lucy Butterfly series by Heather Cursham, which are intriguing fantasy adventure stories. They reminded me of CS Lewis’ Narnia series.

Lucy Butterfly and her young sister Ella are girls with a love of adventure. The randomly find themselves in a magical kingdom after falling asleep, where they are heroines on a quest. They make key friends in the kingdom as well as meeting talking animals. In the process, they learn more about themselves; maybe that is the point of them visiting the kingdom.

A Dream Tale is the first in the series in which Lucy falls asleep to find herself on a quest to break the curse of the kingdom.

Lucy Ever After sees both Lucy and little sister Ella on a joint mission to set the now struggling kingdom free from darkness.

In this third book Ella In Between, Lucy is away on a gap year in sub-Saharan Africa where she is putting into practice all the things she learned in the kingdom. Ella finds herself in the kingdom once again, not so much to help her friends there but to learn vital life lessons for herself through an exciting treasure hunt.

Like the Narnia series, there are Christian threads if you have eyes to see it, though these books could be read and thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Heather Cursham has a well-paced, easy-to-read writing style and there was enough ‘grip’ to keep me turning the pages to see what would happen next.

It is a YA series I will happily recommend to friends with children.  I give it 4* on Amazon.