Tales of Persia: Missionary Stories from Islamic Iran [Paperback]

William Miller (Author), Bruce Van Patten (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2005

News from the Middle East finds us wherever we live in today’s world. Children often wonder about this far-removed land, while parents struggle to teach their children about Islam. Tales of Persia is a timely book of missionary tales that will teach readers about Islam and encourage a new generation of Christians. Tales of Persia is especially useful for family devotions and Sunday school classes.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Miller spent forty-three years as a missionary to Iran where he translated and prepared several books and Bible commentaries in Farsi. He is the author of A Christian Response to Islam.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

I am an American. I was born in Kentucky, and when I was a boy I lived in Virginia. But I spent many years of my life far from my native land. For forty-three years I was a missionary to Persia, now known by its ancient name, Iran, a country some eight thousand miles east of Virginia. How did this happen, and how am I now able to write for you a book of stories about people in Iran? Let me tell you.

In the Valley of Virginia, about ten miles from the town of Lexington, there is a Presbyterian church named Bethesda. My grandfather and, after him, my father were for many years pastors of that country church. I lived in the manse, the home of the pastor, with my parents and my brother, Francis, and our little dog, Trigg. We loved the beautiful mountains called Jump and Hogback, which we could see when we played in the yard. We loved our home, where our mother taught us our lessons (we never went to school) and read stories to us. We loved Tales of a Grandfather by Sir Walter Scott, which told us about our Scottish heroes. We loved to take care of the garden and the chickens and the horse and the cow and the pigs. And we loved our church, where we worshiped God, and where in Sunday school we recited the many Bible verses and the catechism that we had learned by heart.

We also belonged to a missionary society for the young people and the children of the church that my mother started, called the Kemper Band. It was named for a missionary friend of my mother's, Miss Kemper, who was serving Christ in Brazil. All the members of the Kemper Band gave two cents each week to help Miss Kemper in her missionary work. To earn this money, we used to sell eggs and do chores, for we didn't have much money in those days. We read books about missionaries, and sometimes missionaries came to visit us and speak in our church. Once Miss Kemper herself came. A great missionary from the Congo (Zaire) in Africa named Dr. William Morrison once visited us and told us stories about Africa. How we loved his stories!

When I was still a little boy I did a very important thing: I gave my heart to Jesus Christ. I loved Jesus because he first loved me, and I wanted to serve him. I thought the best way to serve him would to become a minister like my father and both of my grandfathers. But where should I serve Christ as a minister? When I heard from the missionaries that there were many people in the world who had never heard of Jesus Christ and his love, I began to wonder whether God might not want me to go to some other country to tell the people the Good News that Jesus had come to save them from their sins and to make them children of God. I was willing to do this if God wanted me to, so I waited for him to tell me what to do.

After I had been graduated from college, I went to a very big missionary meeting for students in Kansas City, and there I saw many missionaries and heard their addresses. They reminded us that Jesus had commanded his followers to go into all the world and to tell people about him, that they might believe on him. But now, after nineteen hundred years, there were millions of people in many lands who had never seen a Bible or heard the story of Jesus and his love for all the people of the world. And these missionaries asked us students if we should obey Christ and go to a land where most of the people did not know him, and there help to make him known. It seemed to me that this was God's message to me, and after this meeting I decided that, if God permitted me, I would become a missionary in some foreign land. I would try to go, and I thought God would stop me if he did not want me to go abroad. But God did not stop me, so I became a foreign missionary.

But when I was in Kansas City, I wasn't yet ready to become a missionary. First, I had to study in a theological seminary to learn more about the Bible and Christian teaching, so that I could teach other people the truth about Jesus Christ. One of the great missionaries whom I say in Kansas City and whom I got to know well when I was studying in seminary was Dr. Samuel Zwemer. He had gone to Arabia to tell the people there about Christ. He told us that most of the people of Arabia were Muslims; that is, they were followers of Muhammad, a man who had lived in Arabia about six hundred years after the time of Christ and who had claimed that he was a prophet sent by God. He wanted all the people of the world to believe on him. After his death, his followers conquered many lands with the sword and converted many people to this new religion, which was called Islam. Dr. Zwemer also told us that there were very few missionaries working in Muslim countries, and very few Muslims had ever become Christians. When I heard this, I thought, "Surely some of us students in the seminary should go to the Muslims and tell them of Christ's love for them! Why shouldn't I go? So I decided to become a missionary to Muslims.

Product Details

• Paperback: 163 pages
• Publisher: P & R Publishing (May 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875526152
• ISBN-13: 978-0875526157
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #607,116 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > Teens > Religion & Spirituality > Islam
  • #23 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > History > Middle East > General
  • #95 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Evangelism > Missions & Missionary Work

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoy and learn!, April 11, 2006

By 

Christian Book Previews "Christian Book Previews" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Tales of Persia: Missionary Stories from Islamic Iran (Paperback)

In order to support his family, Gasem worked hard in his little shop in the bazaar in Meshed, Iran. Every day at lunch time, he would close his shop buy some bread and cheese and go home to share it with his family. One day, the grocer wrapped the cheese in the page of a book. After the meal Gasem read the story on the page to his family. It was so interesting that Gasem continued to request the cheese be wrapped in that particular book's pages. The book was a Persian New Testament. And the pages of that New Testament introduced the whole family to Christ.

Tales of Persia is full of wonderful, true stories. First published in 1979 for family reading, this simple, profound book just had to be published once again for us to read. In 1919, Presbyterian missionary William Miller answered his Lord's call to go to Persia, now known by its ancient name of Iran. He fell in love with the people and the country, living there until the late 1960s. This humble, caring man writes delightfully, with empathy and minimal fuss, about his adventures, the people he cherished, both missionary and native, and his Lord. Van Patter's black and white sketches draw out the meaning behind each story. Willing to learn from Muslims about Islam, Miller approached the people at their level, introducing Christ in ways they could understand. He does the same for us in this book, tying it all together with Scripture. The customs, mores, religion, everyday life, and the heart of these people become alive and real to the reader. You may have already met Miller through his book for the adult reader, A Christian Response to Islam. This author has a deep understanding of his subject and a talent for presenting the deeper truths at an understandable level.

Although written primarily for older elementary school age, Tales of Persia appeals to all ages from preschool to adult. Homeschoolers will delight in the fact that long before it was called homeschooling, Miller's mother taught her son at home. Tales of Persia will be cherished by many: the individual reader, family reading circle, Sunday School, VBS, church camp, the homebound, and those thinking of becoming a missionary. It will make a useful aid for introducing people to the need to answer a call from the Lord.

Meet missionaries in covered wagons; a shepherd boy and his lost sheep; Sa'eed the brave doctor, both beloved and hated; the little girl Fatima who loved Christ and dared all for Him; and many more. Tales of Persia is a book to enjoy and learn from. - Donna Eggett, Christian Book Previews.com

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Missionary's Stories, November 4, 2007

By 

Chatelaine "HiddenArtist" (Connecticut, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Tales of Persia: Missionary Stories from Islamic Iran (Paperback)

Mr. Miller spent forty-three years as a missionary of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Islamic people of Iran. He shares these tales of people he met or heard of in his time there. Some lived many years ago, and some he was privileged to lead to Christ himself. He tells his stories simply, as a grandfather or Sunday School teacher to young children.

Here is a typical paragraph at the end of a chapter. "All this happened because a Christian man [not referring to the author], whose heart was full of the Spirit of God, made a missionary journey to Damghan. There he had so much love for a proud Muslim mulla that he wept over his lost condition. It is love like this that God uses to bring people to Himself."

These stories give a picture of rural life in Iran and missionaries who went there. We meet all kinds of people in these pages, ones who came to know the Lord Jesus in different ways and how that affected their lives. This would be a great book for reading aloud to the family.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended book, November 7, 2007

By 

Helen P. Kane "Helen" (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tales of Persia: Missionary Stories from Islamic Iran (Paperback)

I first read these stories as an adult and enjoyed them thoroughly. The author has a fresh, simple way of writing that is delightful. I am now reading them to my son who is 5 years old. They are a little old for him - very few illustrations and some things have to be explained further - but still keep his attention. In a few years, I'm sure he will enjoy them even more. I would recommend this book to Christian parents who want their children to develop a love for people in other countries and cultures and a heart to tell them about the love of Jesus.