More than Conquerors (Extreme Devotion Series: Mexico #2) [Paperback]

Kathi Macias (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 5, 2010

True love ignites their passionate pursuit of His call
With violent crime on the rise and the political climate changing throughout certain parts of Mexico, the opportunity for open Christian witness, particularly in some areas of Chiapas State, is rapidly decreasing. Hector Rodriguez pastors a small church in the tourist-popular border town of Tijuana. He also routinely carries Bibles deeper into the hostile areas of Mexico, where he ministers despite increasing difficulty and persecution.
Hector’s mother accompanied him on one of those trips and felt God called her to stay in the little village of San Juan Chamula, where she uses the Scriptures to teach reading to the families who are open to it. In retaliation for Hector’s bringing the Bibles into areas hostile to Christians and in an effort to dissuade him from continuing to expand his ministry there, Hector’s mother is murdered. Hector must decide if he will continue his work despite his worries about protecting his wife and children.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Award-winning author Kathi Macias has written more than 17 books, including the award-winning devotional A Moment a Day, and the popular “Matthews” mystery novels. One of her recent novels, Emma Jean Reborn, is being put into script form by playwright Barry Scott.
Kathi has won many awards, including the Angel Award from Excellence in Media, fiction awards from the San Diego Christian Writers Guild, and the grand prize in an international writing contest.
With women’s ministry as her primary interest, Kathi is a popular speaker for women’s retreats, conferences, and churches. A mother and grandmother, Kathi and her husband, Al, call California home.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: New Hope Publishers (April 5, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596692839
• ISBN-13: 978-1596692831
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #571,877 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 2nd in Extreme Devotion series is extraordinary tale, May 12, 2010

By 

Christina Lockstein "Christy's Book Blog" (Oconto Falls, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: More than Conquerors (Extreme Devotion Series: Mexico #2) (Paperback)

More Than Conquerors by Kathi Macias is the second book in the Extreme Devotion series that began with No Greater Love. Hector is pastoring a small church in Tijuana while his mother, Victoria, evangelizes to a much smaller group deep in the Mexican countryside where Mayan superstition still rules and any teaching different is viewed with suspicion and even in danger for their lives. Marty has finished Bible college and is working to help Hector while trying to figure out God's plan for him in the mission field. Macias takes these different strands and weaves them all together in a story of how God is working all over the world. An aura of danger emanates from the very first page, and the reader can't help but turn pages faster and faster as the quiet action picks up and hearts are broken. Macias has really hit her stride as an author with this series. It is filled with realistic characters and powerful stories. It almost feels like the reader is looking in on real people as they struggle with faith, hope, loss, and love.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 2nd in the Extreme Devotion Series, May 5, 2010

By 

B. Burnham (perry georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: More than Conquerors (Extreme Devotion Series: Mexico #2) (Paperback)

Conquistadores - conquerors -- this word still inspires hatred and fear in the hearts of the descendants of the once flourishing culture of the Mayans. The Mayans were a people with a very advanced civilization. They had a written language, a developed religious and governmental system, and arts, architecture and literature. A once great society they were finally conquered by the Spanish. However, their language and traditions continue to exist in many central American countries as well as Mexico. Kathi Macias' newest book, More Than Conquerors, introduces the reader to the modern Mayan, one who still clings to traditions, superstitions and suspicions of those they term outsiders.

Macias sets her novel in two locations in Mexico -- San Juan Chamula in Chiapas State and Tijuana just south of San Diego. San Juan Chamula is a remote Mayan village in the rain forest. Tijuana is separated from San Juan Chamula not only by distance and bad roads, but by a lifestyle termed primitive even by those living in the poverty stricken border town. But both towns share one thing in common -- the grip of evil on their populations. The evil is palpable in the confused psuedo-christian/Mayan worship in San Juan Chamula and in the gang violence of Tijuana.

The scripture that inspires the title of this novel, Romans 8:37, states that children of God are more than conquerors of the things that seek to keep us from the will of God -- fear, death, persecution, ridicule, evil forces and evil men. The verse is illustrated in the characters Macias brings to life on the pages of her book. Like Macias' first book in the Extreme Devotion series (No Greater Love), More Than Conquerors is not an easy read. The characters are faced with real life struggles and obstacles. Gang violence, open opposition to the gospel, family and societal pressures are just a few of the things she writes about. The christian life is not presented as a happily-ever-after fairy tale, but as gritty, ugly and tear-filled, yet possessing the peace and joy that only God can give to those He loves.

This book is for those who want to live what they say they believe. Highly Recommended.

(Thank you to Pump Up Your Book and Kathi Macias for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. The opinions expressed are min alone.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book to Conquer the Heart, April 22, 2010

By 

Cassandra Wessel "Cass Wessel" (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: More than Conquerors (Extreme Devotion Series: Mexico #2) (Paperback)

"More Than Conquerors" by Kathi Macias

Kathi has done it again - written a book so riveting it refuses to let the reader put it down until the last page is read. Once again, take this reviewer's advice, carve out a whole day (if you are a slow reader such as myself) because you will not want to take a break even to tend the `tyranny of the urgent'.

Where "No Greater Love" was heartbreaking, "More Than Conquerors" is heartwarming, but not in a fuzzy, sentimental way. Kathi takes her readers on a romp with a warm, loving family - the Rodriguez family. In their relationships we see what Christian family life ought to be. We become quickly attached to these characters. We cheer for their accomplishments; but hold our breath when danger, not only looms, but breaks with violent force upon its unsuspecting victims. We want to fall to our knees to pray for God's protection for these hapless people, then realize - it's fiction, duh! Well, actually, not. Although the Extreme Devotion Series is fiction, each book is based upon true stories drawn from the persecuted church. Thus the urge to fall to our knees to pray for the persecuted church is actually an appropriate response.

Where "No Greater Love" ended tragically, at least from a secular point of view, "More Than Conquerors" halts the story at a celebration - and the beginning of another story. Indeed, "More Than Conquerors" will conquer your heart.