An Extremely Encouraging Email
November 24, 2010 | Permalink
I was incredibly blessed by this recent email from a man who grew up reading Ballantyne, and I thought you might be as well. Enjoy!
I only just found your website and wish to congratulate you all on a
job well done.
I,ve just had my 40th birthday and am a primary school teacher (Yr. 6
boys) and practicing Christian.
I agree entirely with your thoughts on Ballantyne and despair that
his literature is all but forgotten these days.
I have on many occasions read "The Coral Island to my boys class over
the years". (They always have loved it) as much as I love hunting and
would love to read the Gorilla Hunters", somehow, I don't think it
would be popular amongst the parents these days. Ha
I was born and raised on a farm in New South Wales Australia and
reading Ballantynes books inspired the adventurer/ explorer in me from
my younger days hunting and fishing in the bush here in Australia.
I believed in the year 1998 that The Lord was calling me to serve him
overseas and I took up the call and served as a teacher in Western
Samoa (Polynesia) for 2 years. I married a local girl we now have 5
children (1 adopted).
We moved back to Australia in 2001 and moved back to Samoa in 2006
-2008 to raise our children in a remote part of the main island on
land inherited from my father in law, a local village chief.
Although we are now back in Australia, at the time we were living
far from western convieniences and living off the land. I hunted over
and explored in many places where no white man has ever been. I was
the only white person for many miles and didn't get the chance to
speak english for months at at time. I was forced to learn Samoan
which although hard, earned me a great deal of respect amongst the
locals. We lived off our plantation and what I hunted in the jungles.
It was a tough life but enjoyable. (and good for our kids)
In 2008 I was elected as a family representative (chief) of our local
village (Faleaseela - about 2km from our land) and was given a new
name,or title as it is called. This meant that I had to attend village
council meetings, assist in deciding on, meteing out and enforcing
punishments for offenders who had broken village laws and rules (very
different to western culture)
Although my live seems normal to me I realise that has been a little
out of the ordinary for most westerners.
I am now back teaching in NSW, Australia in my old school and now
help take regular missions teams back to Samoa and my village.
I really wanted you to know that Ballantyne was the first writer that
gripped my imagination and set in course the idea of,thirst and desire
for adventure in remote places. God had obviously placed these desires
in me, but he used Ballantyne to stir that desire and my imagination
which helped prompt me into action.
Maybe I will put my story down on paper one day???- (I fear I am no
Ballantyne though) -
Be encouraged!
In His Service
A. J.

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