Song of the Nightingale

One Woman’s True Story of Faith & Persecution in Eritrea by Helen Berhane with Emma Newrick Published by Authentic. RRP £7.99 ISBN: 9781850788645 This book can be purchased from Christian bookshops including CLC Click here for the CLC bookshop

This title was released at the end of 2009. It is a short read at just 106 pages but a deeply impacting one and to my mind without doubt the most important book (other than the Bible) that I read in the whole of last year. At first you wonder at the simple black and white jacket but when you take in the contents then the bird in the cage proclaims its full significance. Over the years I have read a number of biographies of persecuted believers and I try to keep informed with the help of organisations that support them. Even so, I was shocked at what is going on TODAY in Eritrea and the senseless brutality with which our brothers and sisters are being treated in a country where it is estimated that more than 50% of Christian believers are persecuted in some way at some time in their lives. The spiritual warfare is very apparent. This is a book that will cause you to applaud Helen’s courage (not her real name) and to pray for her and others in similar circumstances. You will also want to make its message known. It is most definitely my number one recommendation at the start of 2010 and even though it is not for the faint-hearted I would say that we owe it to our brothers and sisters to read this book.