Title: Faith Like Potatoes Author: Angus Buchan Publisher: Monarch Books Format: Print book Reviewer: Lynn Fowler

“Potatoes” is a good metaphor for this book, particularly if you’re thinking of the dehydrated variety – just add water for instant, fluffy mush.

Born in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) of Scottish parents, Angus Buchan gave his life to Christ as a young boy at a Billy Graham crusade. However, when he returned to Scotland to study at Agricultural College he soon found that the attractions of the world drew him away from faith.

After graduating he returned to Zambia and worked for a time as assistant manager on a farm. Then there was some time in Australia before again returning to Zambia to manage a large farm. In his own words, he was “an arrogant, successful, self-made man”: a hard worker and a hard drinker, who had no time for God. In spite of that, pretty much everything he put his hand to, worked, and he went from success to success.

Eventually, stressed out and close to a breakdown, he was invited to church. It was one of those meetings where people were giving testimony of the good things God had done in their lives, and when the invitation was given Buchan and his wife went forward to accept Christ.

Buchan continued to farm, and continued to go from success to success – except that now at least he had the sense to attribute his success to God. Later he began to preach, and found himself drawing huge audiences in most places (more success). When he needed money, God provided; when he needed workers, God sent them; when he stepped out in faith, God met him. Even as he went on to establish a children’s home and to set up a huge trailer to travel around as an evangelist, everything worked. At least, that’s how the book presents it.

It would seem this has been a life with very few real challenges. The only really negative experience in the book comes when his young nephew is thrown from a tractor Buchan is driving, and killed. Certainly a horrible thing to happen, but most people would feel that only one really bad experience in 30 plus years of Christian life was pretty good odds.

Perhaps the writer is coming from the regrettable “always be positive” mentality that prevails in much of the church today, but unfortunately such a “positive” presentation can have a very negative effect. To quote one woman who read this book, “This is one of the most discouraging things I have ever read. This fellow has had a dream run all the way. Every time he moved out in faith, it worked. Every time I move out in faith, I end up either out of pocket or with egg on my face, or both. I guess God just doesn’t like me as much as He likes this Buchan fellow.” Whilst she certainly needed to deal with some things in her walk of faith, her reaction demonstrates the destructive effect that such an unrealistic presentation can have.

So, if everything is going well in your faith walk, and all you really need is a fluffy, light-weight pillow on which to rest your assurance that “God’s in His heaven and all’s well with the world”, then read Faith Like Potatoes. But if you’re struggling, or if you prefer meat to mush, or simply find spiritual smugness really annoying, you’d be better to give it a miss and read something from the persecuted church instead.

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