MORE THAN CONQUERORS BY KATHI MACIAS

True love ignites their passionate pursuit of His call. With violent crime on the rise and the political climate changing throughout certain parts of Mexico, the opportunity for open Christian witness, particularly in some areas of Chiapas State, is rapidly decreasing. Hector Rodriguez pastors a small church in the tourist-popular border town of Tijuana. He also routinely carries Bibles deeper into the hostile areas of Mexico, where he ministers despite increasing difficulty and persecution. Hectors mother accompanied him on one of those trips and felt God called her to stay in the little village of San Juan Chamula, where she uses the Scriptures to teach reading to the families who are open to it.

Kathi Macias is a multi-award winning writer and radio show host who has authored 30 books and ghostwritten several others. A former newspaper columnist and string reporter, Kathi has taught creative and business writing in various venues and has been a guest on many radio and television programs. Kathi is a popular speaker at churches, women’s clubs and retreats, and writers’ conferences, and recently won the prestigious 2008 member of the year award from AWSA (Advanced Writers and Speakers Association) at the annual Golden Scrolls award banquet. Kathi “Easy Writer” Macias lives in Homeland, CA, with her husband, Al, where the two of them spend their free time riding their Harley.

You can find Kathi online at www.kathimacias.com and at her blog http://kathieasywritermacias.blogspot.com

Excerpt

More Than Conquerors Book Trailer

My Impressions:

Conquistadores — conquerors — this word still inspires hatred and fear in the hearts of the descendants of the once flourishing culture of the Mayans.  The Mayans were a people with a very advanced civilization. They had a written language, a developed religious and governmental system, and arts, architecture and literature.  A once great society they were finally conquered by the Spanish.  However, their language and traditions continue to exist in many central American countries as well as Mexico. Kathi Macias’ newest book, More Than Conquerors, introduces the reader to the modern Mayan, one who still clings to traditions, superstitions and suspicions of those they term outsiders.

Macias sets her novel in two locations in Mexico — San Juan Chamula in Chiapas State and Tijuana just south of San Diego.  San Juan Chamula is a remote  Mayan village in the rain forest.  Tijuana is separated from San Juan Chamula not only by distance and bad roads, but by a lifestyle termed primitive even by those living in the poverty stricken border town.  But both towns share one thing in common — the grip of evil on their populations.  The evil is palpable in the confused psuedo-christian/Mayan worship in San Juan Chamula and in the gang violence of Tijuana.

The scripture that inspires the title of this novel, Romans 8:37, states that children of God are more than conquerors of the things that seek to keep us from the will of God — fear, death, persecution, ridicule, evil forces and evil men.  The verse is illustrated in the characters Macias brings to life on the pages of her book.  Like Macias’ first book in the Extreme Devotion series (No Greater Love), More Than Conquerors is not an easy read. The characters are faced with real life struggles and obstacles.  Gang violence, open opposition to the gospel, family and societal pressures are just a few of the things she writes about.  The christian life is not presented as a happily-ever-after fairy tale, but as gritty, ugly and tear-filled, yet possessing the peace and joy that only God can give to those He loves.

This book is for those who want to live what they say they believe. Highly Recommended.

(Thank you to Pump Up Your Book and Kathi Macias for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.  The opinions expressed are mine alone.)

To purchase a copy of More Than Conquerors, click here.