When Al Gibson met the Sinclairs in 2006, he was so inspired and knew that their story was one that had to be told. He had returned to South Africa from England to help set-up an office for his employer, GOD TV in Johannesburg, when a mutual friend, Linda Shutte, introduced him to Des and Ros and they started to share passionately from their hearts.
Al thought he would write a magazine article, but God had other plans. Each time he met up with the Sinclairs, there were more stories of how impossible situations had been miraculously turned around in their lives. And so, for more than a year he spent evenings and weekends interviewing and writing, in what was to become a marathon project.
The more he wrote, the more he knew this was God at work and was delighted to return to England with a 250 page manuscript in hand. The friends he circulated the first draft to said they couldn’t put it down, but who would dare to publish such a bold account of the miraculous?
Des suggested he try the same publisher of ‘The Heavenly Man’ – the amazing story of China’s Brother Yun and Al e-mailed the manuscript to Monarch Books / Lion Hudson. In a miracle of God’s favour, he got an e-mail reply from their editorial director, that very same day, thanking him for submitting ‘such extraordinary material!’
And so began a year-long publishing process as the manuscript was vetted by Monarch’s editorial and sales teams, culminating in their decision to publish the book internationally. (A year seems a long time, but in publishing this is amazingly quick!!!)
Several cover options were put forward for the book (See photograph) and initially the book was published with an African cover with a tree scene. In a second printing a more dramatic approach was taken with some options with bullet holes, illustrating the gunfire Des Sinclair narrowly missed. Given that his vision of Heaven took up four chapters of the book a cover was finally chosen that echoed this, reaching upwards to heavenly realms.
Life On the Line was published in 2009, and the timing could not have been more opportune as the world faced global economic crisis, providing Christians with a book that would encourage them greatly. Life On The Line challenges readers to lean on God more than ever for their survival and, of course it also throws a powerful life line to non-believers who will be gripped by the stories and challenged to think carefully about their spiritual destiny.
Please help spread awareness of this project so that as many people as possible can read LIFE ON THE LINE and be challenged to go further in their walk with God. Order a copy online now and please consider posting a review at one of the many online bookshops who are stocking the book including Amazon, WH Smith, Borders and Waterstones.
