Chronicles of the Modern Church in the Rescue and Redeem series can easily be classified as a book on the history of the modern church as well as a storybook. The text opens with a Modern Church Timeline from 1860 to the present. This timeline not only highlights changes in the role and freedoms of the church worldwide, but integrates political and world events as well. This integration helps to formalize in the reader's mind the relationship of these dynamics, for they do not evolve and change in a vacuum.

Throughout the text, there are passages that highlight developments in the church worldwide. As transportation improves around the world, missionaries are better able to reach people groups that have been previously unreachable. However, the challenges of sharing the gospel within different political climates and cultural parameters are great.

These passages of church and world history are brought to life with magnificent biographical stories from the lives of Niijima Jo, Pandita Ramabai, Dietrich Bonhoffer, Marianna Slocum, and C.S. Lewis to name a few. For this mom, that is a pretty wonderful list of real superheroes to introduce my children to.

This text would make a wonderful stand-alone study on church history or an accompanying text to a study of world history during this time period. The text was written with ages 9-14 in mind. However, even our 5-year-old was enthralled with the stories as we read them aloud as a family. We used the stories as discussions starters for encouraging our children in their walk with the Lord.

Product review by Dawn Oaks, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, September 2009