Showing results by author "Dave Jackson"

Six-year-old Mei-en screamed in terror when she realized her gypsy owner was about to sell her to a foreign lady. Orphans were often sold for pennies. But foreigners in China were considered "devils," and Mei-en thought surely the little woman in Chinese clothes would eat her for supper! But this time, Mei-en’s new owner was the compassionate and respected missionary, Gladys Aylward. Mei-en saw wonderful silver "birds" flying in the sky, but her delight turned to dread when they began dropping bombs that exploded all over the city. Their only escape was over the mountains! 

Karl Schumacher was 15 when he came to the German city of Wittenberg in 1520 seeking an education. He had been very fortunate that the esteemed university professor, Doctor Martin Luther, had taken him into his household as a servant. Luther’s promise of tutoring Karl in exchange for his labor was the chance of a lifetime - until a poster on the church door declared his master a heretic! Karl is asked to travel with Doctor Luther to appear before the emperor’s Imperial Council in the city of Worms. Will his life be at stake as well as Luther’s?

From the moment he and his mother arrived from England, everything about India shouted adventure to 14-year-old John Knight. But John and his mother are not prepared for what they discover when they befriend an Irish missionary named Amy Carmichael. With a heart for justice, John is shocked to learn that a young Indian girl rescued by Carmichael is a "child bride" being legally forced by her wicked uncle to marry an elderly man! Listen to find out more.

Thirteen-year-old Elizabeth Tilley and her family have been waiting for this day for months - the day the Mayflower sets sail from England. The late start means uncertain weather and a long, hard journey for everyone. But the trip seems especially rough for Dorothy Bradford, the frail young wife of William Bradford. One night, Elizabeth discovers Dorothy alone on deck. Thinking the woman wants to be alone, Elizabeth returns to bed. But the next morning, she awakes to the news that Dorothy has disappeared!

Eleven-year-old Niwa is outlawed by his tribe, the Auca, for angering another tribe, and not even his family will protect him. Then a huge "woodbee" flies overhead, dropping gifts to Niwa’s tribe from pilot Nate Saint and the other members of a missions team hoping to share the Gospel with them. Alone and afraid, Niwa is excited by the prospect of outsiders who want to help him. But when someone else from the tribe lies about the five men wanting to attack them, the whole village wants them dead - except for Niwa. 

An urgent call for help cut through the morning mists that floated along the shore of Lake Shirwa. Two young African boys, Wikatani and Chuma, had been captured by slave traders, but their desperate cries would never reach their village. Overpowered by their captors, the boys’ only hope is to endure a ruthless march through the jungles that takes them far from their village to a destination unknown.  Fortunately for Wikatani and Chuma, help on the way. David Livingstone, a missionary and British government official, is doing everything he can to put a halt to the slave traders.

By the time Curly Roddy was 12 years old, he’d already survived six years as a homeless orphan on the cruel streets of London in the 1870s. He had perfected his skills at snatching purses and picking pockets. But when Curly overheard that a church was raising £3,000 for an orphan house, the church’s treasure should easily be taken. But the highway robbery brings Curly more trouble than he had bargained for. Will George Müller, the man in charge of the orphanage, make Curly into a slave to earn back at least a portion of the money? Or might they do something even worse? 

Jerry Newman doesn’t mean to keep getting into trouble - it just sort of happens. But when a practical joke goes wrong, burning down a church in his small east Texas town, Jerry’s widowed mother quickly sends him to live with his journalist uncle in Los Angeles. Jerry is secretly pleased not only to avoid being punished for his crime but also to live in California. On the night before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Jerry and his uncle go to investigate a popular warehouse church in Los Angeles. There, they hear a man predict the coming quake. 

Neil Thompson had promised his grandmother that he would wait for his grandfather to bring him to see the great oceangoing ships at the docks in Liverpool, England. But when he convinced himself that it was okay to go alone, he did not know the danger he would face on that bright morning in September 1853. The docks were no place for a 12-year-old boy who was alone. Stopping to admire a small clipper ship, the Dumfries, Neil is suddenly grabbed and dragged aboard the ship, then locked in a small, dark room until the ship is on its way to sea.

Sarah Poyntz is the daughter of an English merchant who operates a shipping business from Antwerp, Belgium, in 1535. Her father is very interested in the ideas of William Tyndale, who has fled England as a condemned outlaw for refusing to stop his translation work of the English Bible. Tyndale believes that the word of God should be read by the common people in their own language, a belief shared by the Poyntz family.  

It is sometime during the 1880's, and Jack and Amy have come to London searching for their uncle.
On their own without money, food, or shelter, they have nowhere else to turn. But what is the chance of finding him when they don’t even know where he lives? For the two youngsters, attempting to live on the streets is frightening, dangerous, and an opportunity for the worst elements of the city to take advantage of them. London society has become uncaring, even cruel, to the needy. Where can they find safety?