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An Interview with Christine ...and of the writing of books...

by John Van Dyk
 
Christine Farenhorst has been writing for the Christian community for years now. Her articles appear in Christian Renewal as well as Reformed Perspective on a regular basis, and her growing list of books include short stories, novels and poetry. She graciously agreed to answer some questions about this aspect of her life.
 
CR: How many books have you published over the years? Any idea how many articles? Do you keep a record of such things?
 
CHRISTINE FARENHORST: God has graciously allowed me to publish 16 books. As to the number of articles, that I would not be able to enumerate. A number of them are shelved away in a bookcase in the study perhaps to be used as possible research material for new articles.
 
CR: When did you first come to recognize that you liked to tell stories and that you had a knack for doing it, and for writing them down?
 
CF: That question has to be answered with the underpinning of I Cor. 4:7 which reads: “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” Your question is somewhat akin to saying “When did you first realize you had been given legs?” or, “When did you notice that you had been given the ability to clap your hands?”
 
When I was just a toddler, my inseparable com panion was a little, yellow teddy bear with blue soles on his feet and blue pads on his paws. He had brown button eyes that fell out as he and I grew older together and I loved that little bear with all my heart. He went to bed with me every night, shared confidences, and I told this little bear, over and again, all the Bible stories I knew. He listened with patience, much patience.
 
There is one teacher who stands out in my memory – a teacher who encouraged me more than any one. Her name was Mrs. Hamilton and she was my English mentor for three months in grade 10. She was a tiny lady reaching perhaps only five feet and a bit, and that in high heels. But she had an amazing love for her students, for making them feel that writ ing was an important talent. In any case, that is how she made me feel. From being in class with this colossus lady for only three months, I acquired enough confidence to know within my heart that this is what God wanted me to do.
 
CR: How did your home environment contribute to your writing?
 
CF: Ours was a minister’s family. As such we moved a number of times. Between the ages of 4 and 17, I changed schools ten times. It was not easy to continually be thrown into new environs, to make new friends, to acclimatize to new lesson plans, and, in general, to fit in. Home life, however, was steady no matter where we were. Being the youngest of six,
 
I was very much my father’s child and from toddler age often went with him as he traveled (on bike in Holland and in car in Canada) to visit members of the congregations. He was a very compassionate man and I learned much from hearing him interact with men and women who needed encouragement and who shared stories. He was a patient man and never lost his temper except at sinful inclinations. My mother as well, influenced me a great deal. She was always there after school, drinking tea with me, singing in the kitchen, and giving me unconditional love. By the time I was 14 and all the other children had left home, I grew especially close to her.
 
In 1960, at the onset of our third year in Canada, my father had an accident. On the way home from
 
a meeting in Grand Rapids, his car hit an icy patch on the road and slid into the path of an oil truck. It was feared he might die from multiple injuries but due to God’s grace, after almost a year of hospitalization, he recovered. The episode was devastating for the entire family. However, I do believe that providentially this incident, horrible as it was, threw me into the arms of my ever-present, loving heavenly Father. From that time on I became much more aware of His care and constant presence.
 
CR: Your father was a minister, but a writer as well. What can you tell us about his writing?
 
CF: My father was indeed both a pastor and a
 
writer of books (and that includes poetry for he was a romantic at heart). First of all, his walk of life was itself a page of writing. He loved people and could never physical ly walk far, whether in a grocery store or down a sidewalk, without speak ing to someone. “How are you, sir? And is it not a beautiful day?” From the answers extrapolated by his interactions, (and most people love to be spoken to), he more often than not was able to inject a little evangelism. His contact with people was reflected in what he wrote. He understood them, loved them and more than anything else wanted
 
to tell them about God. The preface to his days, though, was always conversation with God. Every morning saw him kneeling down in front of his bed.
 
My father was also a church historian. He loved history and passed that on during supper, dinner and lunch. His books, (most of them published in Dutch), are very readable, retelling history or expounding doctrine in an easy, effortless man
 
ner. That he believed in God’s providence shines through. Calvin was one of his favorite people, but Paul topped the list.
 
CR: Your husband’s father was also a writer and editor of Calvinist Contact. What did you learn from him and his experience?
 
CF: Dick Farenhorst immigrated to Canada in 1952. He worked in insurance in Holland but upon immi grating picked tomatoes for a short spell before he picked up his pen. He disliked tomatoes for the rest of his life. Like my own father, Dick Farenhorst was a people person. The thing I remember most about him, and I only had the privilege of knowing him for about 12 years as he died young, was his love for and interest in those around him and their rela tionship to God. He was an encouraging man and loved to laugh. A good elder, he visited members in the congregation often. He and my father got along famously and loved to discuss theology together.
 
CR: Your latest book, Hidden is a collection of stories on the subject of war and peace. Why that theme and what draws you to those kinds of stories?
 
CF: Being Dutch and having been born a few years after World War II, I could not help but be influenced by family members who had lived through that time or by the myriad number of books and anecdotes on the subject. But, as I wrote in the preface of Hidden, the stories in that book, although set against the backdrop of the Great Wars, speak not only of external, physical struggles but also of internal, spiritual struggles and of God’s armor – an armor we should all constantly wear. Life consists of warfare and of peace.
 
CR: What’s behind the name Hidden?
 
CF: ‘Hidden’ is taken from Psalm 27. The phrase in that Psalm, ‘For He will hide me in His shelter in the day of trouble’, is a truth which is a gift of wonderful encouragement to believers living in all times and places. I hope this truth permeates through all my writing. Hence the name.
 

CR: Do you have a favorite story among the nine included in this book? Which one is it and what makes it work?
 
CF: Actually, I do. It is entitled ‘I Was a Stranger’. The story is based on a tiny anecdote which I read somewhere. The anecdote comprised perhaps two lines. It related the actions of a young girl who risked her life by pretending to be pregnant so that a Jewish family in her neighborhood could be hidden, and that their baby could be deemed hers. I love that story. It reflects giving your all so that others might perhaps eventually see God’s love through your actions.
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 ​CR: What do you hope to convey through all of your writing? What is the central theme or narrative behind your stories and poems?
 
CF: My hope, more than anything else, is to be able to convey the glory, the goodness, the providence  and also the justice of God. The desire within my heart is to be used by Him to instill in others the thirst to know and to praise Him.

Psalm 145 verses 1 and 2 read, “I will exalt You, my God the King; I will praise Your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise You and extol Your name for ever and ever.” This is, God willing, (and I surely fall short), the central theme and narrative behind both my stories and poetry.
 
CR: What genre do you like to write about the most? Fact or fiction?
 
CF: I like to knit them together. Facts alone can be stark and impersonal. There are those who think of Christianity as a series of rules and regulations. A child can be taught to recite the questions and answers of the catechism. That child’s memory might be faultless but that does not mean that the youngster will understand or be able to apply those truths in his or her life; it does not mean that the child’s heart has been touched.
 
The heart has to be involved in acquiring spiritual facts. Fictional stories can instruct readers in factual truths about themselves and others. Through the Holy Spirit they can be used to evoke compassion, practically applying Biblical principles.
 
The greatest fact of all, of course, is the trust worthy saying from I Timothy 1:15, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom we should count ourselves as foremost. If this fact is subtly revealed in a fictional story, then that is a story which glorifies God.
 
CR: Your stories are based in relatively recent 20th century history. Would you be able to write a story based in our present day life and times? What would you have to deal with that would make that assignment particularly challenging?
 
CF: Generally speaking, many of the characters in my stories have been based on people I have met and known. This would place a number of them in the 21st century.
 
People, whether in the 16th, 14th or 21st century, are consistently similar in nature. They have all been born and conceived in sin and they all need a Savior. So characters, no matter in which time period they are found, are quite analogous. The time periods themselves are not. It can be a challenge to be accurate in dress mode, language used, historical events, etc.
 
CR: Is there an autobiographical account of your own life’s story in the works, or a part-fiction/part-true account of stories in your life that will one day become a book or a series of short stories?
 
CF: When I write a story, I generally begin at the end. That is actually how every human story is written – with its end in mind. So can I write about my own life’s story? Perhaps. But it is good for every would be biographer to keep Matthew 12:36 in mind, a passage which instructs us that for every idle word spoken account will have to be given in the day of judgment. To render an account of one’s own life is full of the temptation to present a better life than has actually been lived.
 
Let me add this – there is actually a little bit of myself in many of the characters of which I write.
 
CR: How do we get this generation to read anything other than tweets and snippets of news from the web?
 
CF: The question puts me in mind of a story about a mother who is carrying a newborn in her arms. As she walks out of church on a Sunday morning and shakes her minister’s hand, she asks him, “When do I start praying for this baby?” He responds immediately with, “Madam, you are already nine months behind.”
 
Beginning in the womb, a baby can sense the sounds of its parents voices and when it is born, can recognize these voices. To pray for, sing to, and read to infants is important in establishing a pattern for children. The biggest impediment to nourishing a love for knowledge and books, is not properly using something God has given us at the beginning. That something is called Time.
 
When we acknowledge that the gift of time is a talent each one of us can give to our children, and when we wrap that gift up in stories read to, games played with, listening well to and speaking much with our children, it will have an effect on them. They will learn to discern the difference between the shallowness of tweets and snippets and authentic and lasting relationships.  Readily admitting that some children have a great er inclination to reading than others, nevertheless a basically godly home environment is crucial. What children see parents profess and act on, is what they will, 90% of the time, profess and act on!
 
Sadly, there are not many families left who give time to Bible reading and questions after every meal; there are not many mothers and fathers today who take the time to sit on the edge of beds while tucking their children in, speaking with them and teaching them how to pray. Working outside the home eats up a mother’s time; watching sports can kill a father’s time; using TV as an entertainment babysitter can deaden a child’s senses to personal relationships; and too many extracurricular activi ties can severely wound social interaction within a household.
 
Perhaps these points seem unrelated to fostering a generation of readers and yet I believe they are an integral part of nurturing a desire for good literature. For a healthy plant, (child) to grow and develop leaves (have healthy communication with God and men), soil has to be prepared. 

​Christine's latest releases from Nsmpress now available at Reformed Book Services or globally on Amazon.