My life has been greatly influenced by Christian people who have placed books in my hands at just the right moments in my life. These books are just one piece of evidence that God’s hands have been at work over long periods of time to make an impact on other lives today.
High school was a tumultuous time in my life. It was the 1960s, and literally everything was being questioned and turned around. I had two good things in my life that made a huge difference: concerned parents and a good little church with a concerned pastor. I also had two loves in my life at that time: history and science. In science class we were inundated with evolution, and by the end of the class I knew that something was wrong but could not figure out what it was. I was convinced that science was such an empirical study that it was not possible for it to lie; therefore, the Bible had to be the guilty party.
Enter my concerned pastor. I don’t recall the conversations I might have had with him, but I do remember the book that he placed in my hands by the father of creationism, Dr. Henry Morris. That book settled so many issues and brought me back to the Word of God because I found out that science can lie, or at least people who write about science can lie. Several years ago, I was at a conference and met Dr. Henry Morris in person. I actually had the opportunity to say thank you to him.
More recently, a history book, Life of Washington, came into my life at just the right time. Lance has had an interest in old books and started purchasing old ASSU books on eBay. I decided to start reading the books, mostly out of curiosity and out of my interest in history. I was surprised at the content of the books (including the children’s books), and an idea popped into my head. I have known for some time now that the cost of insurance for our missionaries is very high and deeply cuts into their salaries. I thought that perhaps we could republish our old books and use the proceeds to offset the cost of insurance. I shared the idea with Lance, and although he thought it a great idea, neither one of us had any kind of contacts with publishing companies. We prayed about it, but nothing happened.
Back to my other story: A few years after meeting Dr. Henry Morris, he passed away. Don and Bev Landis, our dear friends from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, were with us at a conference, and they were going to be going to his funeral because Don is chairman of the board of Answers in Genesis (AIG). Don and Bev insisted that Lance and I ride along with them to this funeral, and so we did.
At the funeral, we happened to meet Tim Dudley, who is also a board member of AIG. When I learned that Tim Dudley owned a publishing company, I looked at Lance and asked if I might share my dream with Mr. Dudley. Lance said yes, and I proceeded to tell him of the dream to republish old books with the intent of helping our missionaries with their insurance. Mr. Dudley asked me if I had any idea how “hot” that market was. I said I thought that it might be but really had no idea. He proceeded to tell me that it was very hot, and he was really interested in the project. He already had a name for those republished books – “Attic Books.” I loved that name, and it was decided that I would contact our Home Office to see what could be done.
I contacted Ed Lochmoeller and told him what had occurred, gave him the address, and thought all would go well from that point. Several months later, Ed told me that I must have misunderstood Mr. Dudley because AMF had received a rejection letter. A year passed, and when Linda Mays took the position as director of development, I again approached her with the idea of republishing our old books and again gave her Mr. Dudley’s name. Again, AMF received a rejection letter, and frankly, I was stunned.
That November (2008), Lance and I were in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, visiting our friends Don and Bev, and Don showed me one of New Leaf’s Attic Books. It was beautiful, and I relayed to Don about the rejection letters and my continued desire to get this project off the ground. Don then asked me this question, “Whose heart desire is this to get this done?” I said that it was mine. And he said then I should call Tim Dudley and talk with him.
Now, if you know me well enough, you know I am not the gallant one of our family. I don’t look forward to hostile confrontations, and I don’t like rejection. But I had determined that I would spend time in prayer, and then I would give Mr. Dudley a call.
In January of 2009, I called New Leaf Publishing Group and asked if I could speak with Mr. Dudley. I was told that he had just left the office for lunch and would not be back until the next day. Would I call then? I was sure it was a ploy not to talk with me but was determined to talk with him even if he was going to say “no.”
The next day I called, and I got him. This is what he said, “Karen, I am so glad that you have been so persistent with this project. Yes, I want to do this, and I want you to talk with my chief editor immediately.” We did, and the rest is history.
ASSU published over 20,000 titles while in the publishing business, and 10,000 of them are housed at the Free Library of Philadelphia in center-city Philadelphia. We invited Laura Welch, the editor in chief at New Leaf Publishing Group, and Stacey Drake, the publicist, to see the collection and also to see AMF’s headquarters to get a feel for our mission and our heart. We had a great time seeing the books, which are in the rare book section of the library.
Laura and Stacey were overwhelmed with the massiveness of the collection. They said the quality of the books in every aspect was excellent. They were impressed with the quality of the content, authors, book covers, and pictures. They said the ASSU books far outdid any books that had been published during that time in history. I immediately thought of those missionaries who had gone before us and the men and women who had written these books, of how their faithful works were now going to impact another generation and provide funds for our mission. I had to ask myself the question, What am I doing that will impact my generation and perhaps the next?
The book, Life of Washington, is now selling, and we thank God for His perfect timing. He has used both of my loves, science and history, in my life. My love of science has given me a lifelong career as a nurse, and now I am getting to use my love of history to help the missionaries I care for.
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