‘Gullible’s Travels’ – Book Review

Last week, as my flight from Amsterdam touched down in Tbilisi I closed the cover of Gullible’s Travels. Intrigued by the title, compelled by the subject-matter, but even more drawn in by my recent conversation with the author, I had decided to read this book on my way back ‘home’ to Georgia #thecountrynotthestate.

Gullible’s Travels is the story of Nick and Sue Long who are missionaries currently living in Austria. Before that, they were missionaries serving for almost three decades in Germany. The years in between Germany and Austria were years of wilderness-wanderings, or perhaps better described as years of the crawling, consuming, and chewing locust (Joel 1-2).

Gullible’s Travels is the painfully raw, yet bold account of a man whom God saved and used to share His light and love in the nation of Germany, but who also was led down a rabbit hole of medically-induced drug addiction. A before-Christ life marked with drug use plus doctor-prescribed opioid concoctions used to treat severe pain do not result in anything good. Nick’s pain treatment would result in a years-long nightmare of addiction, deceit, danger, lost time and memories, and almost the loss of his marriage.

Gullible’s Travels is a well-written book with a warning. The biggest lie that any of us can believe is that we are immune to the tricks and deceits of the enemy. “A roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” is not just metaphor. Satan has a plan for your life–that is for your downfall, your destruction. Our pride will tell us that we are immune, our hypocrisy will tell us we are better, but if we remain ignorant of his devices then we will be bloody prey dangling from that wolf’s mouth.

Nick Long’s story is personal, moving, and redemptive. In light of other pastors who have struggled (or are currently struggling) through similar battles, I highly encourage people to read Gullible’s Travels. In our day of massive opioid addictions and overdoses, the New Testament warnings of sorcery (pharmakeia) could not apply more. Pray for your pastors. Share with your friends. “The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers. Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.” (I Peter 4:7-8 NLT)

Goodreads Review of Distant Fields!

“Distant Fields by Jed Gourley proved to be one of those books, one of those stories that would confirm that God can use anyone regardless of background, if they would surrender completely to Him. I’ve always enjoyed reading missionary stories such as the Hudson twins to Asia, or of the Elliots and their fateful trip into Inca territory. I’ve enjoyed stories such as “God’s Smuggler” about Brother Andrew, “Tortured for Christ” about Wirmbrand, and like George, I too have read “Revolution in World Missions”. So to read George’s story and to discover myself a contemporary to half his children, was amazing. Then to discover that he had some of the same character-quirk hang-ups that I do, made the ability to relate even stronger.

The style of writing was very personal, like that of reading a memoire more than a biography of one’s life. Eventually I’d discover that the author was (spoiler alert) married to one of George’s kids. This made the telling of the story very personal, and it was impossible to miss the growing sense of “goodbye” that was looming as the author approached the latter pages of the book. Most professional editors would have had a conniption at Jed’s sentence fragments, or worse, at his use of the occasional single-word sentence, but he was writing this way on purpose. This book is a very personal work, and to remove some of the conversational structure of the writing would have been to render it’s heart anemic. The telling of this story was both personal and introductory.

As I sit here now writing out my thoughts, I too am left with a sense of what this world has lost. I look forward to meeting George in heaven one day and am grateful to hear that his family continues to reach out to people on the mission field and at home.”

By Marilynn Dawson
Author of “Becoming the Bride of Christ: A Personal Journey”, “Mom’s Little Black Book: Godly Advice for the High School Graduate”, “Practical Thoughts on Becoming an Author” and “Dressed for Eternity”.