Do you all remember when the first American with Ebola was brought to Atlanta to be treated? It seems like it's been forever ago in ways. Last year I kept up with all of the news information about Ebola. I had first heard of the disease as a child and I remember how much it scared me because of it's devastating effects and high death rate. One of the things that bothered me most about the disease is how you lose the ability to touch another person because you are so contagious. So when I saw that Ebola was raging out of control in West Africa and that two missionaries had contracted it and they would be bringing them here to treat, I was definitely uneasy. I followed Dr. Kent Brantly and Nancy Writebol's stories closely. I was so thankful for their recoveries and when I found out that Dr. Brantly would be releasing a book, I was anxious to read it. His faithfulness and devotion to God in such a devastating situation was inspiring. His book, Called for Life, arrived at my house a few days ago and I am already finished reading it. It was very good and I couldn't put it down. This review is a bit different from my others since I normally stick to cookbooks, but I jumped at the opportunity to read and review this book.
The book switches perspectives so that you understand what each one of them were feeling and dealing with. I really enjoyed this book being from both of their perspectives. I love the back story that the Brantly's provided in the book. How they first met and eventually became husband and wife was one of my favorite parts of their story.
Reading through Dr. Brantly's experiences with Ebola in Liberia were heartbreaking. He gives individual accounts of a few people he treated who had contracted this deadly disease. Only one boy that came to their treatment center survived. he would later go on to give Dr. Brantly a blood transfusion in hopes of transferring some antibodies to Dr. Brantly. I desperately hope and pray that they come up with a cure or vaccine to get rid of this horrible disease.
This book is a must read, I would encourage anyone to read it. I think it can really make us think, what are we doing to be the hands and feet of Jesus? These people literally put the lives on the line to help others. That is an amazing thing. Dr. Brantly continued to minister to others after recovering by donating plasma in hopes of helping others that later caught the disease fight it off. Ebola is a scary disease and now that it's not in the news so much, I think many don't probably give it much thought. However, if the world is not vigilant, it can get out of hand once again. I hope this was a lesson for the medical and scientific community that we are not exempt from these rare, deadly diseases and that more time and effort must be placed on finding treatments, vaccines and understanding how these diseases work.
I truly hope you will consider adding this book to your collection. I really think you will enjoy reading the Brantly's story and find their faith in God encouraging and inspiring.
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Disclaimer: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review. However, these opinions are my own.
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