Do miracles happen today? Is God really at work in our world? After reading Gospel for Asia’s Even Donkeys Speak, I’m convinced that God’s mighty hand is still at work—at least in the sub-continent of India and the small, less-familiar nations surrounding India. This book is 131 pages of God’s miracles in Asia, divided into nineteen moving stories of real people turning from ineffectual gods to the living God to heal and protect them.

A peek into Even Donkeys Speaks reveals a remote tribal people seeking out a missionary so they can be baptized. Why? They listened to the radio and became followers of Christ; an illiterate young man steals a Bible and uses its pages to roll cigarettes until a friend tells him, “You are smoking the holy book of the Christians!” Appalled at offending another “god,” he listens while his friend reads the Bible, and accepts Christ. A woman suffering a large ankle boil is healed when she prays along with a radio voice that proclaims, “Jesus is able to heal any sickness.”

A withering tree, protection from man-eating tigers, unloved children sold into slavery yet finding Christ . . . Even Donkeys Speak is a treasure chest of God pouring out His love on the people of a culture very different from ours. I especially appreciated how each story emphasized that Jesus is God—over and over again—and how He is able to do what no other god can do: save, heal, and protect. Even Donkeys Speak gives readers a glimpse into a world where dead religion, evil spirits, and false gods keep millions of people in bondage. Jesus, the living God, delivers them. They in turn spread this Good News to their friends and neighbors, often with resistance from witch doctors and Hindu priests.

Written for children, with many of the stories involving young people, Even Donkeys Speak makes the perfect read-aloud addition to your geography curriculum or morning devotions. The stories are short, well written, and nicely illustrated. The countries on your wall map suddenly become real places with real people. It’s natural to want to pray for the people after you read about them. Even Donkeys Speak is exactly the kind of book I loved using with my children when we studied world cultures and religions; I wish it had been available back then.

Product review by Susan K. Marlow, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC, April 2008.