John Harris had a long and distinguished career as a medical missionary on two continents. Although he was most closely associated with the Leprosy Mission, he and his wife Elsie first served with WEC (Worldwide Evangelization for Christ) alongside Helen Roseveare in the then Zaire. Later unable to return to war-torn Zaire, they moved to India. The family then made yet another move to fill a vacancy in Nepal, and learned a third language. As it happened, their final move was back to Zaire where John died in an accident in 1995, five years after his official retirement age.

As a general rule, missionary biographies are written by close associates of their subject, and tend to give a somewhat one-sided view. This one is no exception as John Harris' sister wrote it. Despite this, it is actually a very readable story of a remarkable couple. There isn't too much by way of medical detail, but I found the description of his prayer life inspiring. An attempt is made to give more insight with statements from a wide variety of people connected with the Harris family over the course of their work. Since my wife Julie and I are also going to serve with the Leprosy Mission in Nepal, this book was of special interest, but I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in medical missionary work.