Clare Hulseman McCullah

Thirteen-year-old Fredrich Welzel awakens on his family's fishing schooner, the Sea Witch, dancing in the waters off of the coast of Poland in the Baltic Sea. He sees his sister laying in the adjoining bunk. He hears his father calling orders to his uncle, Otto, from the crow's nest in an effort to get them safely into port. He smells the odors of his mother's freshly cooking breakfast coming from the galley. The Sea Witch became their permanent home and their livelihood after an English bomb destroyed their wood frame house. The heavily loaded vessel lists in the summer winds as it makes its way to the Port of Danzig to unload their large nightly catch. Unexpectedly, two Nazi soldiers appear on the docks. Fredrich's father knows they have come to conscript the boy into the Wehrmacht as a German soldier. In one horrific moment, the boy's life is spared but he loses his entire family, his home, his freedom, and his hearing. How will he cope in his silent world? How will the boy survive life in the German Army? Or as a British Prisoner of War in an American prison camp at Fort Robinson, Nebraska? How will he overcome multiple language barriers? What does God have planned for him? How does he fulfill those plans to serve God? Clare Hulseman McCullah was raised in Chadron, Nebraska. She graduated from the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas. She is an author, gospel singer, retired social worker, Sunday School teacher, and member of the West Ridge Free Will Baptist Church in Fayetteville, AR. She enjoys painting, crocheting, sewing, embroidery, reading, and a variety of other hobbies. Clare and her husband, Gary, reside in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The couple have 3 sons and 6 grandchildren.

In 1901, Stefan and Helga Schmidt along with their infant daughter, Christina and Stefan's mother, Olga, immigrated to Northwest Nebraska from Germany. The crossing was long, hard, and fearful. Stefan worried about their safety at sea, the health of his family, and every expense along the way. He was afraid they wouldn't be accepted as Americans to the point of denying their German heritage and culture. Stefan dreamed of starting a horse ranch with land that wasn't financially obtainable in Germany. His dreams as large as the land he would work. Land that offered challenges Stefan and Helga couldn't begin to anticipate. Their American neighbors surprising them at every turn. Helga had her dreams too. Would their dreams become reality? Helga prayed they would. Would Olga's fears of the new country stand in their way? How would wars in Europe affect them and their family? Would the hardships in a hard land get the best of them? What blessings would God provide? What secrets lie in the shadows of their lives? What evil awaits them? Clare Hulseman McCullah was raised in Chadron, Nebraska. She graduated from the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas. She is an author, retired social worker, Sunday School teacher, Children's Church director, Vacation Bible School director, and member of the West Ridge Free Will Baptist Church in Fayetteville, AR. Clare and her husband, Gary, reside in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The couple have 3 sons and 5 grandsons.