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Catching Their Talk in a Box: The Life-Story of Joy Ridderhof
Catching Their Talk in a Box follows Joy Ridderhof into Honduras, Mexico, Alaska, the Philippines, and Africa. She and her helpers face lack of money, wartime restrictions, equipment needs, mechanical breakdowns, travel hardships, and uncertainties. Through it all, answers to prayer multiply. The organization she creates, Gospel Recordings, continues to record the Good News for those with no written language. Betty M. Hockett captures the spirit and dedication of Joy Ridderhof, a one-of-a-kind woman. She tells Joy’s story especially for children, but promises, "People of all ages will find inspiration in this faith-filled life." Catching Their Talk in a Box is the fifth in the "Life-Story from Missions" series of ten books.
76 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews
May 28, 2012
This might have been a fascinating story, but the *terrible* writing killed it.
March 14, 2020
Catching Their Talk in a Box is one of our history read aloud books from our Core C with Sonlight.
This book was excellent and gave me chills throughout. It is the story of Joy Ridderhof who was a missionary to a large portion of the world in the mid 1900s for 45 years. This was like reading George Mueller with stories we hear from a dear friend and Worker in the Field in Africa and it was beautiful.
At 13 Joy was saved by the grace of God and immediately saw the need to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Early in life she went to Honduras and saw the need to get the Word of God into the language of the native people of the country. As she saw the needs around her, she took all of her requests to the LORD and, like George Mueller, she never told anyone of her need but took it to the LORD in prayer and watched Him provide everything she needed to do the work He gave her to do.
Joy's work was focused on getting Bible stories on records for people in their native language and providing a player for them to listen to the stories. It is incredible to read story after story as she traveled all over the world, recording stories and giving the Gospel to unreached people groups in their native language. Today our friend is doing the same in Africa and teaching others to tell the stories also!
I cannot recommend this book enough! It is a beautiful picture of God's grace and provision as well as a much needed reminder of the power of prayer!
Five stars for this missionary biography!
This book was excellent and gave me chills throughout. It is the story of Joy Ridderhof who was a missionary to a large portion of the world in the mid 1900s for 45 years. This was like reading George Mueller with stories we hear from a dear friend and Worker in the Field in Africa and it was beautiful.
At 13 Joy was saved by the grace of God and immediately saw the need to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Early in life she went to Honduras and saw the need to get the Word of God into the language of the native people of the country. As she saw the needs around her, she took all of her requests to the LORD and, like George Mueller, she never told anyone of her need but took it to the LORD in prayer and watched Him provide everything she needed to do the work He gave her to do.
Joy's work was focused on getting Bible stories on records for people in their native language and providing a player for them to listen to the stories. It is incredible to read story after story as she traveled all over the world, recording stories and giving the Gospel to unreached people groups in their native language. Today our friend is doing the same in Africa and teaching others to tell the stories also!
I cannot recommend this book enough! It is a beautiful picture of God's grace and provision as well as a much needed reminder of the power of prayer!
Five stars for this missionary biography!
April 26, 2020
This was a great biography of Joy Ridderhof and her faith and mission work. It's amazing how many languages she and her fellow mission workers recorded. It's an great demonstration of how the Lord provides.
January 11, 2020
This short book contains the stories of Joy Ridderhof’s life - a missionary who traveled the world to record the Gospel in as many languages as she was able. Her life was characterized by how she trusted God implicitly, rejoiced in every circumstance, and prayed without ceasing until the day of her death. God used her to reach many, many people for Christ, and her life is a testimony and inspiration to Christians the world over on what God can accomplish in a person totally yielded to His leading.
(I only gave it three stars because as it was written for children, the writing was more simple and straight forward than what I usually enjoy. The message itself is excellent.)
(I only gave it three stars because as it was written for children, the writing was more simple and straight forward than what I usually enjoy. The message itself is excellent.)
October 17, 2008
To be completely honest, I wasn't expecting much from this little book. But oh, how I was wrong as evident by my kids' responses to the story! It was fun following the storyline of missionary Joy Ridderhof around the world as she trusts and prays to God to help her spread the gospel by means of a phonograph. My kids' questions ranged from "what's a phonograph?", "why does the African tribe talk in clicks?", and my personal favorite, "what is the gospel?" (yikes, I haven't explained that term before??!)
September 29, 2016
This book is so poorly written I couldn't even read the whole thing. Joy's life story has plenty of great storytelling potential, but the author didn't pull it off. I'm surprised that Sonlight, the homeschool curriculum that we use, includes this book because they normally have a high standard for quality literature.
November 15, 2012
I'm sure the story is one worth telling; I only wish it had been told better. The writing is very choppy and hard to push through. We made it up to chapter 9 and then skipped to the last page and half that wrapped up the story.
September 11, 2013
The book gives good insight into the life of a missionary.
However the writing is bland.
However the writing is bland.
February 26, 2016
Savannah and I were not very into this story. Yes, her trust in God is amazing, but the way the writing is and the way the story is told we didn't like.
October 28, 2023
Joy’s life story is absolutely amazing. No wonder Joy experienced miracle after miracle—-getting the gospel to all nations is the very plan of God! It was humbling reading how God used an ordinary person like Joy (as well as her close friend and co-worker Ann Sherwood, who is mentioned frequently in the book) who had such faith. They truly rejoiced in ALL circumstances, setbacks, and trials.
I only docked a few stars because I felt like I had to frequently improvise while reading aloud to my kids for clarity (writing could be choppy at times, or it would include too many extraneous details that I would have to omit to maintain my kids’ attention and understanding.)
I only docked a few stars because I felt like I had to frequently improvise while reading aloud to my kids for clarity (writing could be choppy at times, or it would include too many extraneous details that I would have to omit to maintain my kids’ attention and understanding.)
May 8, 2021
“[Joy’s] letters always included two things: ‘I am praying for you by name,’ and ‘Are you practicing rejoicing? Remember the hard things make good rejoicing practice.’”
Joy Ridderhof was a truly joyful woman. I so appreciate this champion of faith. I often find in these books that I read to my children a message for me. Are you going to learn to practice rejoicing even through suffering?
Yes, the hard things are the most worthy of praise for we realize we are not in control of our lives and learn to trust Him.
Joy Ridderhof was a truly joyful woman. I so appreciate this champion of faith. I often find in these books that I read to my children a message for me. Are you going to learn to practice rejoicing even through suffering?
Yes, the hard things are the most worthy of praise for we realize we are not in control of our lives and learn to trust Him.
October 28, 2020
My children are four, six, seven and nine years old. They did have a little trouble following the details, but I believe the message was there. Having faith that God will always answer prayer. Believing that when God leads, He will provide the whatever it takes to complete the mission. I enjoyed the message that the gospel was spread to so many people in so many different languages. The children also enjoyed the pictures of the missionaries. As their teacher, I wanted to children to learn that it’s important to spread the gospel message.
February 11, 2020
I hate to dog a good missionary story like this but the dialogue was so repetitive I lost my kids attention two chapters in. “Joy rejoiced!” “Joy rejoiced!” “Joy rejoiced!” Everything arrived “just in time” so many times it became almost irritating to keep believing it. I feel a lot more could have been done with the story of Jot Ridderhof than this book produced, and I feel awful saying it.
October 13, 2020
It's about Joy and her friends trying to teach people about God on a radio in a bunch of different languages. I like how it teaches people about God. At the end I found it really boring. You can see I rated it 2 stars but that was just about the story. But, do please read it if you don't know about God.
November 14, 2020
This was a read aloud for my kids homeschool curriculum but it was a challenging one for them to follow at times, especially my 6 year old. I didn’t love the writing per se, but the story is fascinating and you can barely keep up with the miracles, answered prayers and journeys of this mission-minded woman! It creates great conversations.
March 30, 2019
While I appreciate the mission... the story was a little dry. My daughter and I dreaded having to read this for her schooling, but we trudge through. Not my favorite, but overall had a good message.
October 4, 2022
A powerful reminder of God’s daily provision , but it was written on a 3rd grade level. God did amazing work through this woman, and I would love to have read about her and her accomplishments in a more detailed biography.
February 26, 2018
I read this out loud to my nine-year-old. We were both motivated and inspired by Joy Ridderhof's life and great faith. A worthwhile read!
March 8, 2018
This is an interesting story about Joy Ridderhoff, the founder of Gospel Recordings. My daughter enjoyed the book.
February 28, 2021
📖 w/ Grace
February 4, 2022
Read to my boys for school. Good for young kids.
October 13, 2022
Encouraging story of Joy Ridderhof that my children and I read. She was certainly a remarkable faith-filled lady!
January 27, 2023
I could barely finish this book for tears of joy over what this sweet lady accomplished for Christ!
February 24, 2023
A few theological issues, but overall it was a great story.
March 2, 2023
It is always nice to read stories of missionaries and their hard work, dedication and how God works in such unpredictable ways
April 27, 2023
Read to my daughter as a read aloud. Very sweet stories of the gospel being shared!
November 2, 2023
Excellent! Encouraging and inspiring!
June 23, 2011
Friend said, "I don't like the name, Joy. Every girl or woman I have ever known with the name Joy has been a bitter, caustic, angry person." Friend had never met Joy Ridderhof. Friend had never read Betty M. Hockett's "Catching their Talk in the a Box", which surely would have redeemed the name. I don't think I will ever think of the name "Joy" again without bringing Joy Ridderhof to mind. "Catching their talk in a box" is an essential addition to the library of anyone who enjoys sharing inspirational Christian biography with children.
Both my student and I were challenged by Joy's determination to rejoice in all circumstances, be obedient to go wherever God leaves, and to trust in God to provide for her needs (even without sharing them with others). I hope we will be reading, and learning, from Joy's story for years to come. Even better, I hope we will follow in Joy's footsteps toward a victorious walk with Jesus.
Excellent job by Betty Hockett in capturing Joy's story. Well done, Joy. I look forward to meeting you someday.
Both my student and I were challenged by Joy's determination to rejoice in all circumstances, be obedient to go wherever God leaves, and to trust in God to provide for her needs (even without sharing them with others). I hope we will be reading, and learning, from Joy's story for years to come. Even better, I hope we will follow in Joy's footsteps toward a victorious walk with Jesus.
Excellent job by Betty Hockett in capturing Joy's story. Well done, Joy. I look forward to meeting you someday.
July 18, 2016
What an inspiring true story of Joy Ridderhof and the wonderful work she begin recording gospel presentations in thousands of different languages around the world. I read this story aloud to my children and it was
a quick and easy read. I loved her example of rejoicing in all circumstances. She repeatedly asked: "Are you practicing rejoicing? Remember, the hard things make good rejoicing practice." After awhile they coined the phrase GRP - Good Rejoicing Practice. "Rejoice now", she said, "right in the midst of this disappointment! God has something better. Don't wait to rejoice after God answers our prayers." What a sweet courageous woman!
a quick and easy read. I loved her example of rejoicing in all circumstances. She repeatedly asked: "Are you practicing rejoicing? Remember, the hard things make good rejoicing practice." After awhile they coined the phrase GRP - Good Rejoicing Practice. "Rejoice now", she said, "right in the midst of this disappointment! God has something better. Don't wait to rejoice after God answers our prayers." What a sweet courageous woman!
December 30, 2011
I read this book aloud to my children.
Joy Ridderhof was an American missionary who recorded the bible into different languages on phonograph. She founded Gospel Recordings in 1941 and travelled to places that no other missionary would go in order to capture the spoken language of remote tribes. As of 2008, the company has produced recordings in over 5,700 languages!
This is a great Christian biography, and my children and I enjoyed it! Joy is an inspiration to us all.
MY RATING: 3 stars! We liked it!!
Joy Ridderhof was an American missionary who recorded the bible into different languages on phonograph. She founded Gospel Recordings in 1941 and travelled to places that no other missionary would go in order to capture the spoken language of remote tribes. As of 2008, the company has produced recordings in over 5,700 languages!
This is a great Christian biography, and my children and I enjoyed it! Joy is an inspiration to us all.
MY RATING: 3 stars! We liked it!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 35 reviews