Sailing Acts: Following an Ancient Voyage

I've always loved traveling books. As a kid I read Peter Jenkins' Walk Across America and The Walk West and really wanted to do something like that myself. I've read Bruce Feiler's books (Walking the Bible, Abraham, and Where God Was Born) and again wanted to do it myself. Even Sunday Money with its trip around the country following the boys of NASCAR was enough to make me want to buy an RV and roll. I enjoy travel, even though I get to do so little of it anymore. SailingActs is Linford Stutzman's account of the journey he and his wife took throughout the Mediterranean following the missionary journeys of the apostle Paul. From the purchase of their boat, christened the SailingActs, to each port of call that they (and Paul before them) make, to the end of the journey 15 months later, we sail with the Stutzmans to Israel, Turkey, and Greece in a quest to find out more about the man who brought the Gospel to the Gentiles. Stutzman gains some valuable insights into the hazards of travel on the Mediterranean, hazards that were there in Paul's day just as they are today. Bad weather, government officials and their red tape, delays, the potential of shipwreck; Stutzman faced all of that, just as the apostle did thousands of years before. I appreciate that Stutzman doesn't sugar-coat any part of the journey. When problems crop up, he tells about them. When parts break, we get to see just how hard it is to buy boat parts when you don't know the local language and the parts are for an older boat. The Bible only tells us of a few of the difficulties Paul faced in his journeys, but it's clear that there were a LOT more hurdles that he faced, but didn't write about. The saddest part, for me, were the stops in Turkey. Turkey has a rich history of Christian ministry; the churches listed in Revelation chapters two and three were in Turkey, churches in that part of the world were instrumental in the early formation of Christianity. But the people there are ignorant of that part of their history. They don't know who Paul was, or what the big deal was about him. Everyone in Greece knows Paul, and honors him, but in Turkey (where he spent just as much time), he's an enigma. People are missing out on a major part of their heritage, and it's a shame. SailingActs is an outstanding account of a tremendous journey. In the tradition of Feiler and Jenkins, Stutzman goes beyond a simple travelogue and learns to identify with Paul even as he learns more about him.

Sailing Acts is simply wonderful- an inspiring book that often I could not put down. Perfect for lovers of travel, religion, history, sailing or those who just love a great book. Highly recommended!

Linford Stutzman's Sailing Acts: Following an Ancient Voyage is a book of facts as interesting as fiction. In it, the author presents specific data about the apostle Paul, his journeys, and, incidentally, some sailing techniques. There is a wealth of information in the book, all of which is important to understanding how it feels to follow in the footsteps of one of the first missionaries of the Christian faith. Sailing Acts is arranged in chronological order from the time when Stutzman first considered this voyage to its completion years later. It records the struggles in getting time to take the trip, buying the boat, and navigating through Paul's missions. The pace, like that of a sailboat, is slightly varied yet always interesting. It feeds the imagination as well as the logical mind with adventure and contemplation of life in another time. Part of the charm of Sailing Acts is the personal touch Stutzman brings by telling his own story. It is not just that the apostle Paul had hard times when he took his voyages. It is not even that others after him found it difficult. It is the storyteller himself who works to make the trip a success, and he knows first hand what struggles, exertions, and blessings it takes to succeed. The reader feels as though he is there along with him, worrying about boat prices and getting through customs. The people seem real and ready for conversation. Weather in the Mediterranean takes on a whole new significance, and Paul takes on new realism. This realism and immediacy stem not so much from facts, but from the story of experiences. As a professor of religion at Eastern Mennonite University, Stutzman has authority to speak about the facts of Paul's life and travels. His knowledge is woven together with his impressions of the people, places, and stories he encounters to form a solid image of what it might have been like for Paul as he made these same journeys nearly two thousand years before. Passages of Scripture that used to seem dead and boring come alive when the subject is examined from a real-life perspective. - Linette Yoder, Christian Book Previews.com

I got started reading and literally couldn't put the book down. Marvin and I disembarked at Kusadasi when sailing from Italy to Israel in 1972. That's really the only "connection" to SA that we have, except for being in Israel for 6 weeks, but the memories came back vividly while reading. Prompts me to pull out our old slides and spend the evening, sometime soon, re-living and arguing with Marvin over where we were and what actually happened! Reading the book was almost like being there, and since we have known one another for so many years, I especially enjoyed the descriptions of Lin and Janet's interpersonal .......um........"discussions" (smile). I felt like a fly on the wall!!! The most profound impact of the book was the dawning of the idea of just how passionate Paul was about the good news he preached, and to what lengths he was willing to go to preach it. It truly brought Acts alive to me in a way I've never experienced before.

Reading SailingActs is like climbing on board the sailboat with Linford and Janet Stutzman and traveling with the Apostle Paul on his first century A.D. missionary journeys. This very readable book vividly teaches about the history and culture of the Mediterranean regions that the Apostle Paul visited by relating adventures and misadventures of the Stutzman's 15-month journey. SailingActs can be used as an inspiring devotional book as well as an adventure story. The author shares biref spiritual insights as he discovers more about Paul's life and his own spiritual quest. Stutzman's humor, his descriptions of his fellow travelers in the sailing community, and his entertaining first-hand accounts made me wish that the journey would go on and on!