Reviews for Don't Let the Goats Eat the Loquat Trees

The average rating for Don't Let the Goats Eat the Loquat Trees based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-01-17 00:00:00 Elizabeth Miller "When we arrived in Kathmandu, we didn't expect the King of Nepal to greet us at the airport--and he didn't. But we might have been tempted to think how lucky Nepal was that we had come." I first read this book a decade or so ago and remembered that it was enjoyable. It certainly stands out due to the unusual and intriguing title. Dr Thomas Hale, and his wife, left their promising career prospects in the American medical world and headed to Nepal. Expecting to be placed in Kathmandu where the main 125 patient hospital was situated, they were immediately humbled and sent to a remote hospital that as far as they were concerned was in the middle of nowhere. "The letter put an end to Cynthia's long cherished visions of missionary life: the open and tastefully furnished home; the opportunity to entertain educated and influential Nepalis--perhaps even royalty; the piano concerts; an elegant but not extravagant wardrobe; the chance to use her silver service. After all, the upper classes needed God as much as the poor. But suddenly all those visions were swept away and replaced by a crude mud-walled house, where our neighbours would be illiterate and unkempt hill people." The cultural adaptation was also a massive challenge as the Nepalis were naturally suspicious of their intentions: "At best, they regarded our medical work as a business proposition; at worst as a means of enriching ourselves at their expense. Even those who knew we weren't trying to make money couldn't imagine that we had come to this place for their sakes; they figured that our motive for serving them was simply to gain merit for ourselves in order to improve our prospects in the next life. That was their motive for good works, and they assumed it was ours." The author relays his highlights and lowlights in shortish chapters including a number of case studies of individual patients. His sense of humour and bemusement at some of the situations is evident through the narrative. The reader can sense his frustration and perplexity at the often impossible situations. None more so than the bureaucracy of the administration which involved a 6 day trip three times a year to the main hospital, something that the author clearly detested and tried his utmost to get out of, every time... "During another planning session, we hotly debated whether the goals of our hospitals over the next five years should be to eradicate ninety-nine percent of intestinal parasites or only fifty percent. Since we had little hope of eliminating even five percent, the argument was immaterial. The optimists won in the end, and the one percent of parasites "allowed to survive" was the only concession granted to reality." To those who question whether the spiritual goals of such a project in a country where it is illegal to be a Christian, can be accomplished, the author says this: "Our reason for coming, besides the fact that God has called us here, is to communicate the love of God to the Nepali people through our service and through our lives." On concluding this book, I had questions in my mind about the effectiveness of service where evangelism is basically illegal. More so, because of the circumstances the missionaries were operating in; they were doctors in a primitive place where many people would die in their hospital. Would it not then be torturous not to be able to offer the only true hope for that needy soul? There are testimonies of some who became Christians through their work and ministry. They were always willing to give the reason for their hope. That is what is required of us. I just wondered if I would have been able to keep silent. The author expresses similar frustrations through his writing and questions the value at intervals. I would have liked to read more about his wife and children. After the first few chapters, they aren't mentioned despite Cynthia working alongside her husband in the hospital. I give this book 4.5 stars and will read others by the author. Highly recommended.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-01-06 00:00:00 Marilyn Weinstock-collins Hale puts together a nice variety of doctoring experiences that show things through his deeply religious eyes (some staff are simply "nurses," and other staff are "Christian nurses"). My favorite bit is actually in the introduction when he describes himself as lucky to be there rather than thinking the locals are lucky to have him. He insists that he is not there to proselytize. In fact, he writes, "Thus we have been invited to work in Nepal only under the condition that we do not 'proselytise.' This means that we agree not to persuade any Nepali to become a Christian by means of material inducement or other forms of external pressure" (pg 11). He also says on the next page, "To neglect sharing with our Nepali friends the joy of knowing Him would make a pretense of our friendship. To withhold from them this greatest gift would be to no longer love them. And so it is not our religion that we desire to introduce to them but Jesus Himself." Is there a difference between sharing a religion and sharing "Jesus Himself?" This man is a true believer, for better or worse, depending on your views. Someone like me, who views evangelism with a defensive eye and biblical Christianity as a conflicted guide to the good, the true and the beautiful, will find it hard to understand some of the things he writes. Such as: "We will probably never see Maya Gurseni [a healed patient] or her husband again. We can only pray that they saw something of the life of God in us, though they understood it not, and that some day they will come to know and worship Him. Or else, for what has she been spared?" (pg 205). He ends the chapter with that rhetorical question. Really? Can't think of any other reason to "spare" her? Maybe I'm not thinking abstractly enough to correctly understand what Hale means by "know and worship Him." Either way, I don't get it. If you like Christianity and accounts of modern medicine in exotic lands, you'll eat this book up. If Christianity isn't your thing, you'll have to work to separate it from the rest.