Customer Reviews

By Searching: My Journey Through Doubt Into Faith

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Isobel Kuhn was a Canadian missionary who worked in southern Yunnan province among the Lisu people before and during the second world war. This is the story of her conversion to Christ as a young woman, and the trials and tests through which she learned to trust in God. It ends as she heads out to China.

I've read the book several times over the years, and enjoyed it each time. The book seems to carry a quality of purity and a love for what is good. Her stories also interest me, I admit, because it parallels my own, geographically. I'm also from the Northwest, and I have also spent some time in Yunnan Province; two of the most beautiful parts of the world. The Lisu Christians, who were tested harshly by the Maoist regime, are known to this day for their faith and love, not to mention beautiful singing. I have had the privilege of meeting some of the people who were influenced by the CIM ministry in that area, including one good friend of Isobel's. It seems odd to read this book and see how Kuhn's own walk with God once seemed, from a natural perspective, so iffy. Because of her honesty and willingness to reveal her weaknesses, Kuhn's book is a wonderful testimony to the truth that God has chosen the weak, and the things that are not, to overcome the things that are strong. The Church in China, including the Lisu church Kuhn worked with, would live by this truth, and prove it true, in an amazing way. For that story, I recommend Tony Lambert's China's Christian Millions.

author, Jesus and the Religions of Man

Must read, especially for 2nd generation Christians, or youngsters searching for God for themselves. The style is frank and easy. You'll come away knowing God better. I happen to come across this book "by chance". Now I am reading all other books by Isobel KUHN.

I'm really busy with my studies these days but when I got this book and started to read,I just couldn't drop it!I was extremely encouraged by Isobel's struggle and search for God,I realized a truth, that is whether you have or not believed in God already,as long as you want to know Him and search Him with your spirit and truth,He will prove Himself to you,just like the testimony which happened to Isobel.And for Christians,we should search God first in our daily lives,put Him in the first place,and get a deeper relationship with Him,be purer and holier,be more like Jesus our Savior.And I believe GOd has His own beautiful plans for us,only you can find it out with your sincerity and faith.
I'm also thankful for God,because I'm a Chinese,even nowadays,the place where Isobel went to is still very poor and remote,and even few people know that place and Lisu people(it's a minority of China).I really admire Isobel's sacrifice,if there is no God,how one is able to forsake his own and go to such a terrible place?!But God loves them although men even don't know them.
It's a must-read book,may it encourages each of you, me included,to find God,and as well as a lifestyle that leads us into the inner of truth of Christ.
God bless!

Wonderfull book. This book is about a runaway child of God who comes back to Him and is being used by the grace of God in a wonderfull way. What spoke most to my heart was the power of prayer which leaded to succes to reach people by God's Word and Spirit.

After having read Isobel Kuhns's book in college nearly 40 years ago, it's truths remain a dynamic part of my lifestyle. Isobel truly cooperated with God in such a fervent way that He was able to complete an amazing ministry in China. Although this book was written decades ago, it's relevance for today is outstanding. We will be using it this summer as part of a ladies' Sunday School class about prayer. I challenge anyone to read By Searching and come away unchanged by God's love and power.

I read this superb book just about two weeks ago from today. It is the well written and inspiring story about a young college student in Vancouver, Canada---of how her professor has vowed that his students will leave his class atheists, and how he made her feel like she was stupid to believe in Creation "just because your parents do". Isobel Kuhn decided that she would not believe something -- "just because her parents did", and, although not an atheist, became an antagonist. In "By Searching", she tells of her life through college on "The Misty Flats", and how God brought her back to himself. She still was a very immature Christian, and this book also tells how she grew. . .how she trusted God to provide for her during her years at Moody, and then--as soon as the Boxer rebellion was over she went to China to serve Jesus among the Lisu of the South-west.

Isobel Miller Kuhn (1901-1957), a Canadian missionary to the Tibeto-Burmese Lisu people of southwest China, wrote a number of popular books about her missionary work. This one, published posthumously after her premature death from cancer, treats Kuhn's pre-missionary career from her teenage years until she sailed for China in 1928. Kuhn had a gift for storytelling, and By Searching is nicely written. Not only will sensitive Christian readers find the work spiritually uplifting, but they will also note the significant differences in the culture of Western conservative Protestantism between the 1920s and the present.

Inspirational! I read this book for the first time when I was in high school. Now fifteen years later I still pick it up and read it from time to time. It is uplifting and encouraging. Not only that, when you finish the book, you will see this world with a brand new perspective. The author's determination to run away from God was replaced by the love for Him after she was encountered by the one and only true God. That encounter changed her life. It can change yours too.

Though this book is sub-titled "My Journey Through Doubt Into Faith" only a small portion of the book deals with Isobel's time as a doubter. What this book chiefly illustrates is Isobel's growing faith--the small tests and experiences that led her from an infant faith to a steady faith. The kind of faith necessary to move her from the comforts of America to the mission field in China. Today's readers might find some of the subjects discussed quaint--the length of hemlines, for instance--but there are some great lessons amidst the nostalgia. Any Christian who reads this book will find themselves examining their own life and faith to see how they measure up. It's a sincere and thought-provoking book. I recommend it.

Isobel Kuhn's life and missionary work were nothing shy of miraculous due to her deep faith and continuous trust. What a beautiful book, what a beautiful life!