6-13-13 Star of Light

We enjoyed this excellent book by Patricia St. John. Written in 1953, our local inter-library loan did not offer the original version, so this was the first revised edition (published in 2001) we have read. It was just as good as the other St. John books we have read; actually it was probably one of our favorite St. John books. Actually they all are favorites. Very difficult to rank in order of preference!!!

The setting is in a Muslim village in northern Africa; as we followed the life of Hamid, we also learned about the lifestyle and culture of a people far different from our own, where hunger, hate, and abuse are commonplace. Hamid’s blind little sister, Kinza, was to be sold to a beggar by their uncaring step-father. Heartbroken, Hamid and Kinza’s mother, Zohra, asked Hamid to take Kinza to a missionary nurse in a distant village. Hamid escapes from his mountain village with little Kinza on his back, determined to rescue his little sister and keep her safe. This is only the start of their adventures. Will Hamid succeed? What will happen to Hamid when his stepfather discovers his loss?

As with all of St. John’s books, the simple message of the gospel is presented in clear and unforgettable terms. Her talent to present the message of salvation in word pictures continually amazes me. Truly her pen was blessed of God.

As I was reading this book aloud to the kids, I started reading the autobiography of Patricia St. John to myself. Interestingly, on page 14 of this book, a letter is recorded that she wrote in reply to a little boy who thanked her for her books. Dated June 8, 1990, an excerpt of the letter follows.

“I was interested to hear you are reading Star of Light because in September I am going back to Morocco and I shall go up to that little town in the mountains and visit Hamid. I was the English Nurse and lots of ragged little children used to come to my house. Not all the Star of Light story is true, at least it didn’t all happen to Hamid, but all about him living in the street & stealing the eggs and wanting to read & becoming a Christian is true.  He is grown-up now and he sells melons, & it is very lonely being a Christian in Morocco because there are so few. But he still remembers how Jesus loves him and his favourite story is the story of the Prodigal Son. So perhaps you will sometimes pray for Hamid when you have finished all the chapters.”