An Extremely Encouraging Email

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.