Book Review: Tom and Me

I took my time reading Tom and Me by Billie Jean Ashcraft Sloan. It’s one of those books that make you think and evaluate and think some more. I met the author when she was the keynote speaker at a ladies’ meeting in Puerto Rico. Billie is a tiny lady with a huge heart. Mother of eight children, all serving the Lord, and widow of medical missionary to Mexico, Tom Sloan, she’s a lady who knows how to connect with anyone. This book is a love story—her life with her husband and their ministry together. But it is much more than praising her husband. It is a song of praise to God.

If I had only read the last three chapters, it would have been more than worth this book’s modest price. This is powerful stuff about love, about the kind of love Jesus asks of us.

Tom and Billie Sloan went to minister to the Indians of Chiapas, Mexico. Billie’s stories of their early ministry are fascinating. She tells what missionaries should and shouldn’t do—after learning many things the hard way. Some of the stories are hilarious, and some will break your heart. She tells the good, the negative, and how God used it all to teach her.

The overriding theme of the book is: cherish your husband. Cherish him every single day. Shower your love on him. You never know when he will no longer be there.

Billie Sloan is a lady I will never forget, and I sincerely hope I never forget the lessons she taught through this book. Tom and Me is beautifully written and very thoughtfully and prayerfully considered. I recommend it especially to missionaries, but anyone will profit greatly from this glimpse into a life of ministry.

(Tom and Me is available from their son, Joel Sloan at: jmdelpaso @ hotmail dot com.)