A Stranger’s Gift

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A Stranger’s Gift, A Book Review

Book Bag

Anna Schmidt has written an Amish/ Mennonite Romance book, A Stranger’s Gift.

John Steiner has moved to Fla. after his parents died and he was banned from his Amish faith. He owned land on the bay and was trying to have a citrus orchard. He stays away from most people and is quite a loner.
Hester Detweiler is a young single woman who works with a foundation that helps people during hurricanes and flooding. Her dad, Arlen, is the pastor of a Mennonite Church.
Hester meets John when she went to his place to try to get him to go to a shelter before Hurricane Hester had landfall. John refuses to leave. When the hurricane was over John was alive but all his buildings and house was destroyed. His wrist was broken and he had other cuts and bruises. Hester and Arlen get a helicopter to transport John to the hospital.
Arlen offers to let John spend the night at their house. John reluctantly agrees but the next morning he woke to find his coffee and breakfast on the table but everyone else is gone. By the time he finished his meal Margery hollers for him to come help at Hester’s Grandma’s as the place is flooding. John gets there and they all help get all the older people out of the flooded houses and take them to the church.

A Stranger’s Gift

John meets a homeless man named Zeke during the evacuation and spends time with him at the shelter. Zeke tells John that he can get him back to his property. Zeke arranges to get a boat and take John back. When they get there they find a mess but John wants to stay and work at getting things fixed. While they are gathering what few items they can find that may be useful they hear heavy equipment coming down John’s road. John lets them know he does not want their help.
Samuel Brubaker, a Mennonite man from PA has moved to Fla to help Arlen in his wood shop. Arlen also hopes Samuel will marry Hester. Samuel meets Roslyn at the shelter. She is single with some scars from being in a burning house which killed all the rest of her family and is good friends with Hester.
After a few weeks Samuel realizes he is falling in love with Rosalyn. He talks to Arlen and finds he will not lose his job. He and Rosalyn start making wedding plans.
Zeke helps John by getting wood and stuff that has been discarded and rebuilding some of the house and other buildings. Samuel brings his camper out for John to live in until the buildings are livable. When Zeke does not show up for a few days John goes hunting him and finds him very sick near the bridge where Zeke lived. He gets him to hospital and find that there are other homeless people who are sick. He and Hester go find them and get them help.
The homeless shelter in town has closed down and Hester has an idea for reopen one that could harvest fruit and make marmalade to sell. She needs money and a place to do it.
Read the story to see how Hester’s dream to get a homeless shelter started as well as getting married comes about.

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