Book Review of The Man: His Heart, His Faith by Juliet O. Onekele

Picking up this book, called The man, His Heart, His Faith by Juliet O. Onekele. I felt curious at once. The very title hooked me because it is mostly men that we only see on the surface. We can see what they can do, what they do in their work, and how they lead, but hardly have we the time to know about their inner life-their feeling, their gentleness, and most certainly their faith. This book provided me with a chance to observe a person through his inner side and this was a touching and inspiring experience indeed. The book starts with warm dedication, acknowledgement and foreword statement giving a tone. Since the beginning, I could feel that this book is written out of love and respect. It was not presented as a regular story but as a dedication of a man who had touched the lives of other people significantly. When reading this, I got a feeling that Juliet was speaking to me, personally telling me about a person she appreciated and respected and how his beliefs in God impacted his life and the lives of others in his life. The first part of the book has been presented by Juliet who introduces the man. She did not attempt to point him out as an ideal human being, but was realistic in portraying his humanity. In the chapters “Dear John” and “Him” I came to realize that I was looking at a strong and soft hearted fellow, a loving person, and a person with an inner life worth emulation. I liked how she humanized him so that we forget that she was writing about a man because despite being the strong person he was, men are also people, with love and feelings who can get hurt.  I preferred the second part of the book in which he deals with his heart. It provided me with clear vision of the type of an individual he was on the inside. He had a full heart of love, kindness, patience and generosity. When reading I was making stops to think of my life. I was posing such questions to myself as: Am I this patient? Am I like him as kind? Have I ever loved men this way? Juliet made her writing very basic and hence, I could relate to her message. It was not merely the point to make us know who the man was but also to remind us of what the heart of God would have us be. The third section of the book centered on his religion and that section of the book that touched me most. Testimonies of the power of God or of healing and protection are enabled in this section. It told of the changing of genotype by miracle, of the turning-back of spiritual attacks, of divine protection in dangerous situations, and of the healing of varied illnesses.  Testimonies of which most caught my attention were healing of epilepsy, eyewitness condition replaced, false teeth, and even acid reflux. None of these were recounted as fairy-tales, but as personal testimonies. Juliet wrote them out of sincerity and detail and it is actually clear that they were real-life experiences. As a Nigerian, I found myself so much related to most of these testimonies. I am aware of how severe genotype challenges can complicate some families and how prevalent spiritual attacks have been reported and how many of us keep our health problems to ourselves in silence. The stories made me have a newer hope in God. The reason why I really liked this book is that it struck a balance. Juliet did not only clue us to the faith and miracle of this man, Juliet also clued us in to his humanity and heart. This brought in a whole picture of the story Sometimes when we read about men of faith and only see the miracles, we do not keep in mind that they were ordinary people with hardships, feelings and relationships. But Juliet painted both sides of the picture-- his heart of tenderness and his faith of strength. The book is also highly elementary and easy to read. It is less than 60-pages long, but it is filled with insight, wisdom, lessons, and encouragement. No complicated language used and that helped me to enjoy it more. I suppose even the most reluctant reader of large books might read this one and read with pleasure. Each page had a purpose and there was no place of wasted words.  As a person, I learned a lot of things by reading the book. It made me understand that a person is not just what he or she portrays but it is his heart that makes him or her valuable. It made me realize that faith in God is true and that no matter the difficulty I may undergo, I should continue believing in God. It also brought to my mind how powerful love is since the way Juliet expressed her feelings was admirable and sweet. And above all, it made me realize there is a way in which we need to run our lives knowing that after we have left this world, our spirit and character is going to motivate others out there even in our absence. As a woman in Nigeria, we have too many burdens to bear, family duties, finances, relationships and even health issues. A read in this book was like a refreshing encouragement to me. To summarize The Man: His Heart, His Faith is actually more of a testament book of testimonies, love, and encouragement. Juliet O. Onekele has done a wonderful work in legitimising man as well as educating us about the power of God. I can highly recommend this book to everyone who wants to reinforce their faith, to anyone in need of encouragement and for everyone who would like to know what a heart of a man can be like. Man or woman, young or old, this book will appeal to you. Personally, it was very emotional yet inspired and I will live with it in my heart long enough.