Robert Banks has taught theology and history at various universities and seminaries and has written several award-winning books. Linda Banks has worked as a teacher, university chaplain, and pastor, and presently focuses on research and writing. They have visited the People's Republic of China several times, and together have written three earlier books on mission in China, View from the Faraway Pagoda (2013), Through the Valley of the Shadow (Pickwick, 2019), and They Shall See His Face (Pickwick, 2021).
"""This superb book is a rare combination of meticulous scholarship, clear organization, lively writing, and a warm evangelical tone. The authors draw upon correspondence, archives, newspapers, historical monographs, and interviews with eyewitnesses to weave a narrative that brings events of a hundred years ago to life. The photographs add immensely to the reader's engagement with the truly outstanding family whose story is so powerfully told here. A significant contribution to the history of missions in China."" --G. Wright Doyle, Director, Global China Center ""Too often, the contemporary critique of colonial missionary enterprise undermines the astonishing contributions and sacrifices Western missionaries had made to what is called 'Chinese Christianity' today. This book highlights these contributions through a fascinating account of the Stewart family across a century. . . . Readers will be inspired by this freshly told historical account of mission that is long overdue, and marvel at the undergirding faith compelled by the relentless love of God for China."" --Xiaoli Yang, Charles Sturt University"