Newly published book. 120 pages of easy reading. Officially classified as Fiction but narratives are all based on facts.

Back cover reads: On board the Cessna 206 a pilot was lining up his approach. Up ahead he could see one of his most dreaded nightmares – the form of a large pig running at the side of the airstrip. Where was it heading? Would the noise of the plane’s engine frighten it off? Might it run across the airstrip? Would he take the risk and try to land? . . .

. . . Madi watched the drama and laughed cruelly. What was that they had said at High School about standing up for what you believe?

This sometimes provocative collection of narratives seeks to honestly and frankly present a selection of matters often overlooked, masked or even repudiated by some mission personnel; matters never the less considered important enough by some missionaries or some of those they went to minister to. Tough lessons need to be faced and learnt from. In Tough Lessons, Phil Scowen bravely dares to depict what is often left unheeded, as the flipside of the coin.

Comparing experiences together, missionary personnel from various countries are often amazed how much they faced in common, even though their fields of service were so geographically diverse. Whether the setting was the Amazon jungle or the mountains of West Irian, the mud roads of Rhodesia or a winding stony mountain pass in Bolivia, many of the joys afforded or difficulties faced have a familiar ring to them when recounted by others.

Phil Scowen spent seven years in the 70s and 80s as a teacher and missionary in Papua New Guinea. His life-long interest in missionary endeavour extends to several continents, providing insights that have shaped Tough Lessons.