I enjoyed working with Thomas Chandler Jr. of San Jose, California, in publishing his memoirs, From Fa rm Boy to Global Ambassador, in 2017. During our interviews, he shared a remarkable story of how a dyslexic pig farmer from Illinois become Southeast Asia director of a worldwide missions organization providing relief to victims of tsunamis, earthquakes, flooding, and other natural disasters. His ability to play basketball opened doors for educating a “dumb jock” and enabled him to spread the Good News to people in thirty-two nations. In this book, with humor and humility, Thomas Chandler Jr. explains how he came to know Jesus Christ and become a global ambassador by putting feet to His Word. God often uses the most unlikely people to spread His Good News. Here’s what Tom had to say about the experience:

“Because I’m acute dyslexic it is very difficult for me to read and write. When my granddaughter, Hannah, asked me a few years ago to write down my “missionary stories,” I was frustrated on how to do that. Then a colleague, Linda Jo Reed, that I worked with at Partners International, recommended Julie McDonald Zander.

“Julie and I clicked from the first moment we met. She is easygoing, listens well and is very perceptive. I would just talk … often on ‘rabbit trails,’ yet Julie was able to follow a theme and timeline. She is professional in following all the requirements of good authorship and publishing. We were the perfect match for each other. She understood this farm boy and patiently was able to community my life story in written form with excellence.”

Thomas Chandler Jr., San Jose, California