L'Abri

Review of: L'Abri by Edith Schaeffer

I picked this book up because it was a suggested read on the subject of hospitality. However, the book actually is the biography of a ministry. Edith Schaffer tells the story of how the Lord formed L'Abri in Switzerland. This ministry still exists today, and now has grown far and beyond it’s humble beginnings. Though this is not a book written on the topic of hospitality, is certainly speaks to the subject in a powerful way.

Edith covers the period of time from when the Schaeffers first arrived in Switzerland up to the ministry of L'Abri becoming well established. Edith describes the journey of faith, obedience, and trust that the Lord led the family on as He shaped and formed a unique community where there were answers for questions of life, meaning, and God. This book describes what the L’Abri ministry started as, and how it grew and changed over the years.

L’Abri was able to provide answers to though questions about life and God, but also was able to serve and love the people asking those questions. Francis Shaeffer took guests on long walks in the Alps, while Edith prepared them meals. Guests stayed up till 2 A.M. in conversation with the family, and helped weed the garden the next day. The hospitality that the Schaeffers showed gave their words credibility. Guest showed up without reservation, were not expected to pay for their stay, and were treated as family. Edith’s hospitality clearly shaped and served the ministry of L’Abri. Simply by reading about the day to day and year to year life of the Schaeffers, Edith speaks volumes about being hospitable, being a servant, and welcoming the stranger in the name of Christ. The book also shows that the clear undergirding of the ministry was a wholehearted reliance on prayer. There simply would not have been a ministry but for the answered prayers that surrounded each step of the journey.

My one criticism is that Edith spends almost all her time on the blessing, the answered prayer, the sweet fruit of their labor, and leaves out the challenges. Edith alludes to the difficulties, but leaves out much of the details. For example, Andrew told me that Francis Schaeffer supposedly had a temper. Edith doesn't say a word about this. There is so much good to write about, and that’s what the book contains. I wanted to read about more of the hardship, the struggles, and the irritations. God uses broken people, and it is helpful to read about that process especially in such a unique and effective ministry.

This book is a testimony to the God who is there in the lives of the Shaeffers. It shows what true community, hospitality, and commitment to the God of the Word can produce in the world by God’s grace.