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Patricia St. John - Foreword by Janet St. John

‘I will not call you my daughter-in-law but my daughter-in-love’, said Harold St. John to me when I married his son, Farnham. In the same way I feel I can call his daughters, Hazel and Patricia, my sisters-in-love. What a privilege!

Last month I was in a car driving across the Rockie Mountains in Canada. It was a long journey. In the car were four children who were tired and a bit quarrelsome, bored with the games we had been playing. Someone passed me a copy of Star of Light and I began to read. Immediately there was calm and attention. The children were captivated by the story. I was captivated by the writing, the sheer poetry of it. I was in a hut on a Moroccan hillside, and I could smell the supper cooking, hear the goats in the shed outside and see the flickering shadows from the charcoal fire dancing on the hut wall. The ‘magic’ of Patricia’s writing has not lost its touch. What a gift she had! I am so glad that after fifty years it is still alive and well and entrancing a new generation of children and adults; also that her own story has been republished, as people all over the world are asking for it.

That is not all, however. She had another gift. She drew people to Jesus. Since her sister, Hazel, went to be with the Lord last year (2003), I have been living in the house they shared for the last active ministry years of their lives, and I have met many of their friends. I like to ask them, ‘How did you become a Christian?’ Here are a few of their answers:

A grey haired lady, active in the local church, said, ‘My daughter died very suddenly and my whole life fell apart. Patricia visited me and read the Bible with me and gradually I came to believe that I could have a new life in Jesus, and I gave my life to Him.’

A young man recently married and holding a good job with the Coventry Council said, ‘I was a tearaway as a teenager – into drugs and the occult, witchcraft and all that; then I started to go to Patricia’s “Boy’s Club”, which consisted of playing snooker in her garage, consuming large quantities of popcorn and coke afterwards and listening to her telling us about Jesus. I used to read the Bible with her alone, too, and she prayed with me. Gradually I realized that what she was teaching me made sense and was true, and I came to believe and gave my life to God.’

A Nigerian PhD student with two small children, who came to live in the area after a painful divorce, said, ‘I was working in my garden one day and the children were outside. Patricia came by and started to talk to me over the fence, as I was new in the district. “Would you like your children to come to Sunday School?” she asked. “I would be happy to fetch them and bring them back.” “OK,” I replied, “I’d be glad to have them off my hands for an hour or so.” Both children came to love Jesus through that Sunday School and Patricia’s friendship, and I found them reading their Bibles. Then Patricia started on me! I was the rebel child of a Nigerian pastor, and Patricia’s love, patience and perseverance brought me back into God’s Kingdom.’

What of all the letters from children who have read Patricia’s books and have come to know and love Jesus through them? I could go on and on and on....

Patricia is no longer with us, but her love for Jesus, for children – for anybody – is still drawing people to Him. Her teaching (for no book of hers lacks teaching) is still fresh and vibrant and as relevant as it was 50 years ago. I thank God for the great privilege and joy of having known her. It changed my life. May it do so to yours as you read from and about this remarkable and beloved lady.

Janet St. John
Sorrento, Canada
December 1, 2003.

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Comments

Elizabeth Sweeney
12/24/2021, 18:47
What a surprise to read Gavin Anderson's comment in 2019 in response to mine in 2012! My mother tells me that we really didn't know the Andersons even though we lived in the Marchan, so unfortunately I cannot tell you anything about your family then (and I was too young in any case). We remember there was another doctor who worked at the Hospital and his name was Dr. Carlisle. He and his wife had three children (Andrew, Robin and Rosemary). The Carlisles lived next door to us for a while.
FARMER KENNETH
08/19/2020, 14:59
Allen Page, said that he met Patricia, St. John, dat a missionary camp, in Kenitra, Morocco. That camp, I surmise, was sponsored by Frank & Marylou Barnett.
I was there! I was 12, and met Patricia, and her nephew Oliver "Hoppy" St. John , and bruce, Claire St. John. I fell in love with Frank & Marylou's daughter, Dawn, who was 13, at the time. My dad was stationed, at the Kenitra Naval Air Station, where he was a liaison instructor, teaching the Royal Moroccan Air Force... Fast forward, 3 years, and he was transferred, back, to the U.S. My relationship, with "The Missionary's Daughter", had only deepened, during the 3 years, of many camps, many trips to Hope House in Tangier, many camp "campfire singing s",
many stolen kisses, we were a serious item... It was indescribable, to say goodbye, to the girl, that I was "in love with"!! I also had to say Goodbye, to Patricia St. John's niece, Claire St.John, and her nephew, Oliver "Hoppy" St. John... He lovingly teased me, that if Dawn & I, ever got married, that he would be my "Best Man"! As he & I had become "fast friends", through the years, and I told him, "I'll take you, on that offer!! We shook hands, on it!! Well, Dawn and I, said our teary goodbyes, and she & I, stayed, in touch, by hundreds of letters, back, and forth... I had just graduated, from high school, in 1971, and was attending a college, in East Texas, when I received a letter, from Dawn, saying that the Moroccan government, was forcing missionaries, out of the country, and they were in the process, of selling their farm, just outside of Kenitra, where all of the youth camps, for the English, French, and Arabic youth, were held, and that they were returning, back to their native Minnesota!!! I was sorry, for the sudden stoppage of their ministry activities, but I was overjoyed, that she was soon, to be back in the U.S.!!! That was early September, 1971. In November, my college, had a week-long break, for Thanksgiving... So where else, could a boy, that was definitely, in love, go? I hitchhiked to Minnesota! Nothing had changed, between "The Missionary's Daughter" and I!!! I proposed, to her, and we were married, that next coming December 18th! And "Low & Behold", who showed up, to be my Best Man? None other, than Oliver"Hoppy" St. John!!!
The Missionary's Daughter & I, have 3 children, grandkids, and great-grandkids! Dr. Farnham St. John, was Patricia St. John's brother, and he & his wife, Janet, were Oliver & Claire's mom & dad... I remember Allen Page! Great childhood memories, of Mr. Frank Barnett, my future Father-in-Love, as Patricia, would say! I shall see all of them, again, when, it's my time, to "Step over Jordan!!"
Gavin Anderson
11/03/2019, 17:23
How lovely to read Elizabeth Sweeneys comment about Dr Anderson (my grandfather). We spent many happy summers on the Marshan in Tangier just up the road from the Tulloch Hospital. I would love to hear from anyone who might have known any of my family.
Marie McMullan
07/18/2019, 15:16
My husband Laurie McMullan and me, Marie were privileged to meet with the St John family in Cambridge. Danny and Laurie used to preach together in the open air in Cambrige city centre.

We were blessed by their love for God and their fellowship. Our lives are richer because of them.
Allen Page
10/04/2014, 03:08
I first met Patricia in 1969 at a camp for missionary children in Kenitra, Morocco where I was helping as a counsellor. I had never read her books as a child, so I didn't even know who she was. At one of the meetings she told a story to the campers and, needless to say, she held us all spellbound, as she could tell a story with as much intensity as she wrote them. During my 2-1/2 years in Morocco I got to know and love her — and her stories. When my wife and I had to go to Gibraltar in 1971, we stayed with the St. Johns the night before, and Patricia drove us to the airport the next day — a trip we will never forget. I'm glad that her writings continue to influence children and adults today. In our Bruderhof Communities her stories are much loved!
tony walker
09/23/2012, 16:49
having known the stjohn family in coventry in the sixties andseventies ,ibelieve they helped me and stopped me from being a hooliganand kept me on the straight and narrow,thsnks hazel,mike and patricia.katherine.
Elizabeth Sweeney
04/01/2012, 17:22
I was born at the Tulloch Memorial Hospital in 1958 (delivered by Dr Anderson) and so were my siblings. My parents knew the St John's but we left Tangier in 1965. I recall having copies of Patricia St. John's books at home and enjoyed reading them.
Rosalind Smurthwaite Amorin
10/28/2009, 23:47
I lived in Morocco from 1956-1968. Dr, Janet St John delivered my brother and sisters at the Tulloch Memorial Hospital. I would love a copy of this book but cannot seem to find it in Canada. Can you help me please?
Rhonda Gouge
10/20/2009, 09:29
Patricia St. John's book "The Tanglewoods Secret" truly impacted my life. I asked Jesus to come iin to my heart when I was 8 years old. Shortly after that I read the book and I began to see how I could begin to hear and recognize the Shepherd's voice. I am now 54 years old and still treasure her stories. I thank God for the impact her stories had on my life as a young child.

Rhonda Gouge
Bakersville, NC
Bob and Vicki Lichty
10/09/2009, 22:30
Patricia's story never grows old. Reading once again is as fresh as the first time. Our lives have been enriched to have known her.
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