Digging Ditches

Throughout her eight years in training for the mission field, and her first twelve years in the Congo, Helen Roseveare had prayed that God would give her a mountain top experience of his glory and power. God's answers formed the basis of her best-selling autobiography Give me this Mountain. Helen also endured civil war, a brutal rape and found herself having to re-start her work from the very beginning. During these experiences, and later when caring for her elderly mother, she realised that God's work is also done in the valleys. God gives us the valleys and we are to dig the ditches (2 Kings 3: 16), trusting that they will be filled with life-giving water at the appropriate time. If you have ever experienced times when God's call on your life seems remote, or you are encountering trials and problems, you will find refreshment from Helen's pen. She shows how `trusting in the Lord' can be a gritty, rewarding drama rather than a wispy platitude.