Authored by Hannah Lau
Wherever You Go by Hannah Lau is one of the easiest faith-based books I have read, yet in it lie many truths in the personal recounts of two different women connected by their common belief in the gospel. Though they did not know nor had they met each other before, they were still able to open up, be vulnerable, share their struggles and joys, and ultimately point each other to Christ when it’s difficult to do it themselves. While reading their email correspondences, I could really sense the tension that’s in their hearts because of the central message of this book — that the Bible calls us to be people who are “in the world, but not of the world”. We also see that through it all, we’re never alone. The structure of this book is made up of email correspondences which I thought was a very interesting way to convey the author’s message.
The book opens with a powerful poem that describes the difficult and almost impossible call for a follower of Jesus. Yet, my heart trembles and resonates at every line, because I know that this is our truth, our purpose, and our greater reality that we cannot, but often do, lose sight of. This is what we were made for, which is to be wherever He is and wherever He calls, despite the suffering and pain it might bring. Jesus sends us to be in the world, because the Father first sent Him; as the poem ends, “as the Father hath sent Me, so send I you”. This book, hence, is a culmination of experiences of two women being sent out into the world, and how they experience the providence of God through their ups and downs.
I expected this book (like any other Christian book) to be one that’s prescriptive or more focused on teaching on a particular topic. However, throughout the book, it never actually tells you to do this or that, believe this or that; it gives you space to figure all that out as you immerse yourself into the lives of the two women. I really enjoyed reading the book, especially because everything seemed very real, the big and small events. The email correspondence started out with one of the ladies appearing to me as more “experienced” and “spiritually mature” and hence acting as more of a mentor to the other lady. However, as I followed along the different experiences of their lives, thoughts and emotions, I realised that the two women were equally broken, and both struggled in their own ways to live out their faith in a sinful world.
Through the struggles of the two friends, it inevitably caused me to examine my own heart and question where, really, is my treasure. Is it in the attractiveness of what the world can give? Is it even in all the “good works” that I do for God? Ultimately, the two women realise that all these things are not what will satisfy us and not what we were created to desire or do. Our treasure — which we will spend our lives realising, forgetting and being reminded again and again — is God Himself, paid for by Christ Jesus.
You can view a sample of Wherever You Go here.
This review is written by Chanel, whose desire is to have the Father’s heart for the nations. She is a social entrepreneur, co-founder of Our Barehands; she spends half her time trying, and the other half awaiting for her Saviour to come back such that there’s no more need for her to do so.