Eternity through the Rearview Mirror is a book about seventeen historical men and women whose lives were made extraordinary through simple faith. Gladys Aylward is one of these, but what makes her life so extraordinary? Her life was so full of adventure and heroics—looking at her, though, you’d never guess it. She wanted to be tall and blond, not short and dark haired. Little did she know that her not-even-five foot tall stature and jet black hair would serve her so well.
As a young girl growing up in England, Gladys Aylward wanted to be an actress. Early on, she saw little use for God in her life – but at one point her friends dragged her to a church service. There, something amazing happened. In her own words, “There, for the first time, I realized that God had a claim on my life.” How dramatic that moment must have been for her!
Gladys felt God’s calling and obeyed, but she often found herself in impossible situations as a direct result. Here are a few of them:
- She was forced off a military train in the middle of Siberia and had to walk back to the station—thirty miles!ؙ on her own. She thought the baying wolves were dogs! Thank goodness she never saw them.
- She became a spy and found herself hunted by the Japanese High Command in China.
- She led 100 orphaned children alone over a treacherous mountain range—over 100 miles!
- In a prison yard riot she faced down an angry prisoner armed with an ax.
Yes, all these exploits are well documented. Is it any wonder I included her in my book Eternity through the Rearview Mirror? Gladys Aylward’s story shows what can happen in your life with a little bit of simple faith. Gladys Aylward believed that Jesus would give her a life worth living, full of purpose, and beyond anything she could imagine.
Yes, Gladys wanted to be an actress. But she gave that up, and in the process became a superstar in her own right—in every sense of the word. Her story is one of those profiled in Eternity through the Rearview Mirror: How Simple Faith Changes Everything—Seventeen Extraordinary Lives.