Last Thursday was an emotional night at the Keswick Convention. Not only were the 3,500 worshippers moved by Berti Dosti’s story of how the army captain became a Christian in ‘atheistic’ Albania, but they then heard the main speaker, Dr Helen Roseveare, talk on mission.
For someone who is 86 in a few weeks’ time she is an incredible woman. She first came to the Keswick Convention 65 years ago, then went to the Congo as a missionary in 1953 where she endured a civil war, was taken captive by rebels for five months and was brutally raped. But as a Christian doctor she helped build a hospital there and served the Congolese people and church for 20 years.
Since returning home in 1973 to look after her elderly mother Helen has become an international speaker and served her mission, WEC International, in the UK helping prepare young missionaries to go overseas.
During week one at Keswick she was interviewed on Tuesday for the recording of the Radio 4 service, gave an hour lecture on Wednesday and then spoke for 40 minutes on Thursday at the main evening meeting.
Before going on the stage for the big meeting she told me she still gets “very nervous speaking in public,” even though she had done it hundreds of times.
You would never think so as the audience eagerly listened to every word and gave her a huge ovation at the end.
In between all this she visited the young tent where she spoke to 350 youngsters, supposedly for only 20 minutes. Instead she spoke for 40 minutes and the teenagers wanted even more as they voted her the highlight of the week.
Helen also managed to fit in a book signing session for her classic 1960s and 1970s books, Give me this mountain and He gave us this valley, plus her latest book Digging Ditches.
Interestingly, her first publishers decided not to reprint her old books as they thought there was now too long a time gap. But a new publisher has republished her books and they have already sold 25,000 copies.
I thought Berti, of the European Christian Mission, pictured below signing books as a queue of buyers patient wait their turn, did well selling 215 books. Helen sold more than 1,000 books in week one at Keswick.
What an amazing Christian lady.
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