Bug and Nona on the Go
By Nona Freeman
Reviewed By: Ashley Davis
Don’t you just love missionary biographies? If you’re not sure if your answer is “yes,” you need to try reading one! Missionary biographies never fail to ignite a greater passion and zeal in a reader’s heart. Bug and Nona on the Go is no exception. In part diary entry, part autobiographical narration, this book details Bug and Nona Freeman’s journey from salvation to the mission field of Africa.
Bug and Nona Freeman both felt called to missions as children, but they didn’t tell each other until after they were married. Actually, they still weren’t the ones that told each other; the Lord did it! Just a short five months after accepting the call of God on their lives that they should be missionaries, the couple appeared before the United Pentecostal Church International Missionary Board in an attempt to be commissioned and sent to Africa. This part of their testimony was filled with “no” and “come back next year.” In their fourth year of waiting, 1944, they were finally approved as missionaries to Africa. The next several years would be riddled by one delay after another as the family of seven (with five children ages 6 months to 9 years old) tried to get to Africa. In the meantime, they worked tirelessly in the States!
After making the three-week journey to Africa on a cargo ship, they finally arrived in Cape Town! The next several chapters of the book detail all the miracles the Freemans performed and witnessed, the revival of innumerable souls, the growth of their trust in God’s faithful provision, and the sweet truth that the gospel is for Africa as well as it is for it United States. The Freeman’s testimony in Africa concludes with intense personal tragedy followed by God’s amazing, miraculous power being revealed.
On a personal note, one of the things I love about Nona Freeman’s testimony is the hard work she and Bug invested into the kingdom of God. They willingly forsook all other obligations and pleasures to pursue the work of God. Sometimes we spoiled, modern-day Christians just think we’re accomplishing something for Jesus! When I look back on stories of dedicated missionaries from decades past, like the Freemans, I am reassured of at least one thing – my work has only just begun, and what I have done has been quite easy! I haven’t awakened regularly (with kids!) to be at church for 4 am prayer meetings. I haven’t had to trust God for the provision of my very next meal. I haven’t had to lay in a sickbed and pray to be revived. My goal isn’t to denigrate the work I have done but to alight a new fervor to serve God with joy and abandon. For Jesus himself said,
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” - Matthew 16:24-26
Here are a few quotes I liked from Bug and Nona on the Go:
“These, and many more unrecorded incidents, have proved to us conclusively that walking hand in hand with Jesus is a beautiful way to live.”
“Somehow I need to learn to put first things first. But I must do the Lord's work even if I never get caught up with this housework and mending.”
“I will forget, for a while, that power and telephone lines are down and that travel is interrupted. I will turn my attention from the bone-chilling cold and revel in this reckless display of silver beauty.”
“My life is a rush of things all clamoring to get done at once. But through it all, ‘Jesus is my strength!’”
“As the sounds of the music died in the distance, I felt the first pangs of parting. But, we are on our way to Africa, at last, and this is happiness edged with the sadness of good-bye. Both of us feel a deep assurance that we are moving in the will of God.”
“It was easy to decide my family needed a mother and wife with a contented heart. It was, however, harder to accomplish. I tried to lecture myself into contentment. It didn't work. But when I backed up far enough to confess and ask forgiveness for my shortcoming, it happened. I was amazed to see the peaceful submission of my new attitude reflected in better behavior by my offspring, and I was willing to spend the rest of my life on that rocky hill.”
To get a visual representation of Nona Freeman’s passion, watch this video.
Audience:
Men and women; teens and older.
Usefulness Rating:
I would rate this one high on the “inspiring” scale more than I could give it a usefulness rating.
Entertainment Value:
Hey! Times have CHANGED. That made several parts of this autobiography interesting. We don’t do or say things quite like we did back in the 40s and 50s.
Good for Groups:
This would be a good book for a book club, but it is not designed for group Bible study.
For more information about this book or other reading suggestions, feel free to contact me directly.
