Becoming One

Amy Eisner has fallen in love with Jesus’ vision that his followers become one – with one another and with his Father. Inspired by this ideal, she leaves family and friends in Nova Scotia and travels across Canada by Greyhound to become a teacher at Hope Farm, a Christian community in Northern British Columbia. 

At Hope, she stumbles into one area after another where the brethren display a shocking inability to live in harmony. How should she handle Ryn’s obvious resentment that Amy is living in her house? What about the emotional starvation she detects in some of her students? And how can she survive under the stifling regime of controlling Directors?

Living with limited, generator-fired electricity and no running water adds to her overwhelming challenges. Getting the hang of bathroom routines and dish washing is easy compared to doing the laundry. Starting with carrying water from a pool out back and ending with broken buttons from the old fashioned wringer leaves her in tears each week.

It’s a steep learning curve for Amy as she tries to keep order and quality in her classroom of rambunctious first to third graders. Her main problem is Michael, a near orphan since his father’s death and his mother’s mysterious illness. Many a time the lunch bell delivers her from a near fight or an embarrassing question as Michael tries to dominate the classroom.

Steve and Elsie Tunnicliffe offer Amy friendship in the midst of her difficulties. Their cabin becomes a place of refuge for Amy; and their four mostly-grown children offer lots of pranks and fun. Their oldest son, Jeff, a car mechanic in “nearby” McConnellsburg, begins to loom large in Amy’s thoughts. But the Tunnicliffes have their problems, too. Life on Hope Farm has changed since they first came there – and not for the better. Steve, a man of action and determination, wants out. Elsie isn’t sure.

On Thanksgiving morning Amy has a life-changing dream that starts her on the path of sowing goodness and kindness into offensive relationships, especially with Ryn. Although she meets with heartwarming success, new and devastating problems arise as a result of an accident that befalls her. Jeff is stretched to learn how to love a suffering Amy, and Ryn acquires new wisdom to help her friend. In the midst of Amy’s struggles, God ministers His personal, vivid, unconditional love.

As Amy matures through her difficulties, she realizes the importance of having a stability and maturity within herself, one that is based on God’s love and purposes for her own life. Together, Jeff and Amy discover that it’s not living in community, but loving one another, that creates unity. Forgiveness and kindness, based on the One who first loved them, becomes the foundation upon which to build their lives...maybe even a fine foundation for building a life together - becoming one.