I have mixed feelings about this book. It is supposedly a biography of "Mama" Maggie Gobran, who was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the poor of Egypt.

At her insistence, the book also talks quite a bit about her colleagues working with the nonprofit she began, Stephan's Children. These were the parts I liked best.

There isn't really much here about Gobran's early life, and the authors write about her with stars in their eyes. Most biographies will acknowledge that all humans have strengths and weaknesses, and will explore both relating to their chosen subject. This biography conveniently ignores any mention of Gobran's flaws, and goes on and on about how great she is. Even though Jesus is mentioned, and I believe Gobran would have wanted Him to be exalted, the authors seem to value Gobran more than Him.

There are also a couple instances of Gobran "prophesying," aka predicting the future - this was a huge red flag to me. I believe that Jesus was the last Prophet and that He fulfilled all prophecy, so anyone today with the gift of "prophecy," if you will, really just has a gift to boldly speak the Truth about Jesus and His kingdom - not clairvoyance.

There is also repeated mention of "Christians" who have never actually heard of Jesus. I wish the authors had done a better job of distinguishing actual Christians from nonbelievers, who identify with the title "Christian" culturally, but do not actually follow Jesus Christ.

I do appreciate that the Gospel is spelled out in the pages of this book, but I don't feel like it necessarily qualifies as a "biography."

Side note: The formatting of this book left a ton of fully blank pages. What a waste of paper! ( )

This book told the inspirational and fascinating story of the work of Mama Maggie, described by some as Egypt’s version of Mother Teresa. It must be said, that I am no fan of the latter, but I do think that the work of this Egyptian Lady and his ministry is comparable with those of some of the great Christian Charitable founders of the past, like William Booth and Dr Barnardo.

The devotion and self-sacrifice of Maggie and many of her co-workers, who chose to forego lucrative careers, or give of themselves and their time to help the people who dwell in Egypt’s slums is challenging and touching. I found myself highlighting a number of passages, highlighting the emptiness of chasing riches and success, and being distracted by worldly concerns.

I did have a few concerns about some passages, which seemed to suggest that Stephen’s Children does not attempt to convert or preach the Gospel to non-Christians, focusing on positive thinking, self-worth and telling everyone they are children of God. We are all God’s creation, but the scripture seems to be quite clear its designation that only those who are believers in Christ are God’s children.

It seemed that many Copts, although identified as Christians, had not even heard of Jesus and knew nothing about Christianity. For these, the work of the ministry does seem to be genuinely transforming people’s lives, including those with harrowing stories of abuse and drug addiction, by bringing them to the Lord, and it does seem as though Maggie is a true believer.

Altogether, a worthwhile and truly inspirational read, even if the writing style is not the best. Recommended.
I recieved this book free from Thomas Nelson via Booklookbloggers for review. I was not required to write a positive one and all opinions expressed are my own.
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