Surrendered Heart - by Rick Allen (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN SAYING YES TO GOD RESHAPES YOUR CLOSEST RELATIONSHIPS?

In Surrendered Heart, MedSend CEO Rick Allen weaves his own experiences as a pastor with the powerful true stories of healthcare missionaries serving all over the world who have discovered that God's call is both personal and relational.

If you've ever wrestled with how to balance obedience to God with love for your spouse, children, or team, you'll find both challenge and hope in these pages. From marriages stretched thin, families in crisis, and teams divided by culture to the personal struggles of walking with God, each story reveals both the cost of obedience and the grace of surrender. Here you'll learn to:

• Trust God when your calling collides with your family's needs
• Surrender to strengthen rather than diminish your mission
• Prepare for the relational cost of serving on the mission field
• Rest in God's redemption

Whether you're preparing for the mission field, supporting those who are serving, or seeking to understand God's call in your own relationships, this book offers both truth and encouragement. It will remind you that even in seasons of loss, conflict, or doubt, God is near and His grace is more than enough.

Review Quotes

Oh! How I empathize and resonate! As a former medical missionary myself, these biographies and Rick's analyses ring true! His insights crystalize the overwhelming issues faced by medical personnel who risk whole-life engagement abroad. He presents the raw stories, not sugar-coated; he asks the hard questions without forcing answers. His analysis of each couple's story affirms the positive; his interpretation is optimistic. The real issues, such as loss of self esteem during language learning, are those I've seen as a counselor of medical missionaries for forty years. This book will inspire you and renew your appreciation of medical missionaries as heroes of the faith who are changing the world through living Christ's love in the world's forgotten places.

- DR. LOIS DODDS, director, Heartstream Resources for Global Workers

So, you've heard and obeyed God's call to serve in medical missions, and it's clear He's orchestrated all the details. You just know you're at the right place at the right time...and then that next thing happens. Interminable delays. Gut-wrenching losses. Inescapable work demands. Team conflicts. Forced expatriation. Or the reality that the work you came to do is now being done by others. Surrendered Heart chronicles those situations where the true, deeper victory of surrender is best learned. This is a good book. Read it before you go to the fi eld. Then read it again when you've been there a while.

- BARNEY M. DAVIS, JR., MD, Barnabas International

The real-life stories shared in this riveting book remind us of God's faithfulness when we obey His calling. Surrendered Heart will inspire, encourage, and guide all readers, whether called to serve or called to support those serving.

- REBEKAH NAYLOR, MD, IMB emeritus missionary

Rick's ability to gently and authentically confront the reader with the often-unseen costs of serving in missions and ministry while maintaining hope and glorifying God is truly inspiring. Through Rick's personal story and the stories of medical missionaries around the world, Surrendered Heart provides insight into the impact that serving has on cherished relationships. Written from a place of grace and understanding, this book is a must-read for pastors, leaders, therapists, families, and anyone supporting missionaries or seriously considering work on the mission field.

- DR. HILLARY WILDT, clinical psychologist