Psalms 78:1-7  Give ear, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings of old:  Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children: That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children: That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:”

We live in a day that has stolen our sense of history. We live in a time that has forgotten God’s providential plan and how He works all things together for good. I am a father on a mission to recapture the memory of the wonderful works Jehovah has done so that my children understand how God cares for us, His people. My wife, Kim, and I are always on the lookout for books that will help us in this task.

You can imagine her delight when, at a recent book sale, among the old magazines and other ancient ephemera she spotted a dusty little hardback subtitled ”A Tale of the Irish Missionaries in Germany 703.”  For the last year we had been studying Church History as a family and had begun to have a sense of the string of small stories scattered through history like pearls. Small and precious, their value lies not in their uniqueness but in their similarity. They are the tales of providence and care, left as clues by our spiritual forefathers to give us hope.  This little book is one of those pearls.

Yet we were doubly surprised and thrilled to find that our little book held not just a tale of missionaries, but that of a young heroine. We had discovered the account of a brave young girl - originally named Bilihild- who endured harsh persecution but rested in God’s promises; who faced a strong temptation to fall yet stood fast by strength greater than her own. My wife, herself the oldest of ten girls, has remarked on the apparent dearth of strong, godly young heroines in either fact or fiction.  This is one of the many reasons our family came to love this story. Here we found an example of feminine boldness, courage and faith.  The life of Bilihild exemplified a type of strength that has nothing to do with feminism and everything to do with true Biblical femininity.

So I hope you find, as we did, some encouragement from the example of a girl from the past as you seek to inspire the mothers of the future.

Fortis En Arduis
Perry C. Coghlan
Anno Domini 2008