Utterly Amazed

Title: Utterly Amazed

Author: Miriam Davis

Genre: Christian biography

Publisher: Fabulahula

Source: Author Provided

My Review:

I am not a missionary, but I have lived in other countries. I am fascinated to hear other people's accounts of their time overseas. Miriam Davis wrote Utterly Amazed to tell how her two-year assignment turned into her life's work.

In Utterly Amazed, Miriam walks us through the steps it took to get to Japan and the struggles and heartaches she endured. Along the way, she shares the insights she learned about Japanese culture. I especially appreciated the story about thanking someone for a gift and how you don't just do it once.

I was surprised by the process she had to go through when planning to get married. Especially since she was an "outsider" trying to marry a Japanese man. I won't give the details, but it really took me back, and I wonder if the process is still the same today.

Miriam jumps back and forth in the timeline as she relays her story. I would have appreciated a more cohesive approach. Overall, it is an in-depth look at how her missionary journey played out. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Japanese culture.

While I received a copy of this book from the author, there was no requirement to write a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

★★★/5

Synopsis (from Amazon): 

‘I can stick anything for two years,’ she said and ended up staying forty-two.

So said former OMF worker Miriam Davis, whose book ‘Utterly Amazed: Following the call of God in Japan’ tells the story of how those two years became forty-two, as well as the surprising challenges of retiring to the UK in 2017.

In that time, as OMF Japan Field Directors Chris Pain and Kesia Pain say in their foreword, ‘Miriam has experienced the joys, challenges and pitfalls of missionary life. She tells the story of those years with honesty and a keen eye for how God was at work sustaining her, changing her and using her for his purposes . . . The way in which she has shared her feelings, weaknesses and struggles gives testimony to God’s work in her life, and ultimately gives God the glory.’

Join Miriam on her journey of following the Good Shepherd through all the twists and turns of sharing the good news of Jesus cross-culturally. Discover his faithfulness through culture shock, heartbreak, burnout and the joy of this journey. And find comfort, challenge and spiritual food for your own life!