I thoroughly enjoyed the opening chapters of this book. The writer includes a great deal of detail about growing up and living in rural South Africa. This is something which I can personally relate to! Colin Peckham tells of his conversion in the early fifties through the evangelistic work of the late Pastor Peter Pentz — who was my pastor thirty years later at Bulwer Road Baptist Church in Durban.
What is clear from this book is that Colin Peckham was greatly influenced by the ‘holiness’ movement. He prepared for ministry at the Africa Evangelical Band in Cape Town. Unfortunately the book is liberally peppered with people praying ‘the sinner’s prayer’, and the holding of evangelistic ‘campaigns’, and ‘getting souls for Christ’. This is not a book that unquestionably upholds the doctrines of grace, but we cannot ignore the author’s love of sharing the gospel with the unsaved.
Personally, I found that after I ‘spat out’ the many theological ‘pips’, this book is actually both refreshing and challenging. I can recommend it as a good read. Its evangelistic zeal is enough to fire up any of us who may be failing in this area.
Colin Peckham’s sacrificial energy as he criss-crossed the South African countryside reminded me of the travels of that great apostle Paul. This book could be a real help to Christians who need to be more enterprising in sharing the gospel.
