Publisher's Synopsis
Vida Wolter was born in the 1940s and raised in a middle-class southern California setting. She began attending Christian Camps at an early age and was heavily influenced by them. Vida began to feel pulled toward missions early in life. She volunteered to join a short-term Methodist Mission trip to Mexico and Peru, and she was hooked. Her passion for missions led her to become a teacher with Wycliffe Bible Translators. It's Not About the Cannibals chronicles her journey across the globe, including exotic places like Papua New Guinea and Peru, as well as living with Native American Tribes in Washington, the Grand Canyon, and a Wycliffe support center in England. She tells her story without pulling punches, the beautiful as well as the ugly.
She opens her book with this statement about her purpose and mission:
"My work enabled those other missionaries to stay on their chosen fields and continue the work God had called them to do. I loved teaching and found each age level had its own pleasures and challenges. My work has included caring for babies, teaching different levels of preschool, and working with elementary-age children. During many of those years, God gave me the energy and patience to enjoy working with junior high students and also the wisdom to challenge students in high school to do their best."
The book is a beautiful painting of how one life lived well and influence so many people around the globe. Vida's life work brought her both adventure and pain, hope and disappointment. Throughout the work, you can see God's loving hand painting his kingdom into the lives of his communities on earth as it is in heaven. You also see the flaws and how our sinful nature fails us. Vida's story is a life of adventure and gives us a glimpse into yesterday's world in a way that can inspire us to make tomorrow better.
