As a strong advocate of missions and missionaries I was excited to begin reading Love Has a Face by Michele Perry. Unfortunately, by the time I was a few chapters into the book I realized how disappointing this book is. This poorly written book has no real direction, jumping from random glimpses of Michele's life in Sudan (which were interesting) to experiences in which she speaks with Christ incarnate in her room (which quite frankly were disturbing to someone who was raised in the Christian faith and who believes that the next time Christ returns to Earth will be at its ending).
Michele Perry truly seems to adhere to a social gospel with all hatred, pain and suffering being eliminated on earth by those who follow His direction to love our neighbor. As Christians we are called to help our brother who is suffering but with the intent of introducing him to One who can remove suffering for eternity if our faith is placed in Him - whether He heals our earthly sickness or not. God never intended His kingdom to be established on Earth except in the hearts of His followers - not as a physical place. This book does not clearly communicate that Michele Perry believes this tenet of Christian faith. She relies heavily on "faith-healing" as a purpose of knowing God - not as a way of being introduced to His power.
To be fair, Michele Perry truly has a heart for the people of Sudan. Overall, though, this book is both poorly written (with no real direction or conclusions) and distinctly disturbing as it seems to confuse and combine mysticism and Christianity. More Christian missionaries are desperately needed in Sudan and around the world to help the suffering in the name of Christ, but don't rely on this book to give you a glimpse into a missionary's life - the information just isn't there.
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