[stextbox id=’alert’]To stop the spread of the coronavirus Covid-19 in South Africa, a National lock-down is currently in place. For more see: National Covid-19 website[/stextbox]
Good morning all!
How are you all today? Surviving the Lockdown or Stay Home measures in your particular country? What is the most difficult thing for you among your regulations? Please share below.
I head up a Facebook group for Christian Writers of Southern Africa (a.k.a. CWOSA – pronounced as in QUO zu). Currently there is a book promotion of Christian Non-fiction Books titled, “For Such A Time As This.” I am proud to share that out of the 15 books available, 6 of them are from our group. I’ve decided to do a number of interviews of Christian Authors living in Southern Africa, and what better a plan than to start with the authors featured in this promotion.
Today, to kick off the series, I am interviewing Vida Li Sik who lives in Johannesburg, the epicenter of the global pandemic currently sweeping the globe.
Introducing Vida Li Sik:
Interview of Vida Li Sik, author of Devotionals for Women - 31 Days to Deeper Faith. https://books.bookfunnel.com/christian-non-fiction/4pk5wok0zh Share on X
Shirley: Vida, it’s great to have you here today. Your name is unusual. Can you tell us about the background?
Vida: Thank you for having me. My name means life in Spanish or Portuguese. It was supposed to be Davida – the name of one of my mom’s best friends, but I like it as it is… it’s like the coffee shop, but I came first [chuckles].
Shirley: Have you always lived in Africa? What in particular makes Africa so special for you?
Vida: I am South African and my home is in Johannesburg. But, I’ve had the privilege to live in the Ivory Coast (West Africa) for four years and one year in Mauritius (where my husband is from). I love Africa because it is so diverse – a melting pot of people, cultures, and amazing landscapes. I dislike the fact that first-world countries look down on Africa, because it is a very special continent.
Vida’s family:
Shirley: What family do you have?
Vida: A big one. I have four brothers and four sisters… so a softball team of siblings. I am also the only female in a household consisting of my husband and two sons, aged 20 and 17.
Shirley: Ooh, you’re so fortunate with the first comment. I longed to have siblings. I grew up as an only child. When I was 15 my brother arrived . . . none in between. My mother was convinced she was going through early menopause!
After my daughter grew up and went off to college, I was also the only female with a husband and two sons.
Back to writing – did you always want to be a writer?
Vida’s writing:
Vida: I grew up in a small town on the East Rand – Nigel – where there wasn’t much to do. So I read a lot. Influenced by my older brothers and sisters, my tastes in literature varied from the Bible, westerns, English classics, spy stories and Nancy Drew. I had a vivid imagination and dreamt of the faraway places I read about, and vowed to visit some of them. At school, I excelled in English, Afrikaans and History, and I loved to write essays. Mostly, I love telling other people’s stories, because I firmly believe that everyone has a story to tell.
Shirley: That’s great, so what genre do you write in?
Read about Vida Li Sik, author of Devotionals for Women - 31Days to Deeper Faith. https://books.bookfunnel.com/christian-non-fiction/4pk5wok0zh Share on XVida: I am a multi-genre author and have written a sports romance, women’s fiction and a devotional book. I grew up following rugby and cricket and worked as a sports reporter for five years at a newspaper. The women’s fiction stories were inspired by the times I visited a women’s prison as part of a church outreach programme. I write devotionals all the time, so it made sense to put them together in a book. I don’t like being boxed in as a writer of one particular genre. But, mostly, I’m just trying to get the stories out of my head [chuckle].
Devotionals for Women
Shirley: I am nearing the end of your book, Devotionals for Women – 31 Days to Deeper Faith, and I have to say I’ve been blessed by reading about a different Biblical woman each day for the last three weeks. (One week to go!) Please tell us a little about it. What inspired this particular book?
Vida: I love studying the women in the Bible, especially the ones who are not as well-known. They all faced difficulties of some sort, but we can all relate to them in some way. They were not perfect, and that encouraged and inspired me to see what I could learn from them. I started a WhatsApp group on Women’s Day a few years ago, where I discussed these women with some friends. I posted one devotional a week over the course of a few months and published the book as the fruit of what I learned.
Shirley: That’s a great way of going about forming a book! Thanks for sharing. What did you do to celebrate when you finally finished writing the book?
Vida: I happened to be in Mauritius on Women’s Day (9 August) on a rare visit when the digital book was published. So, I enjoyed a long prayer walk on the beach by myself.
Shirley: Ooh, most appropriate. That was well-timed! So Vida, what are you currently working on?
Looking to the future:
Vida: I have finished another devotional book – on the book of James, the half-brother of Jesus. A lot of his writing reflects on Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount, and James challenges me with his no-nonsense emphasis on the need to not only believe in the Bible but to put it into practice.
Shirley: I’m looking forward to that. Do you have a working title for it? And when can we expect that to be available?
Vida: Working title: Lessons from My Big Brother, Jesus. I hope to publish it in about a month’s time.
Shirley: Thank you once again for sharing a bit about your life and writing with us. Keep safe during this difficult time, and I look forward to reading more of your books as the days go by.
[stextbox id=’info’]Ask Vida a question[/stextbox]
Write it in the comment section below, and she’ll answer you as soon as possible.
Follow this link to read a sample of Vida’s book.
Read about Vida Li Sik, author of Devotionals for Women - 31 Days to Deeper Faith. https://books.bookfunnel.com/christian-non-fiction/4pk5wok0zh Share on XRead on:
Vida’s book, Devotionals for Women – 31 Days to Deeper Faith, is part of a current promotion, For Such a Time. I do invite you to follow the link and consider purchasing it. You can also browse the other Christian Non-fiction books available while you’re there which includes God in Africa – 90 Days in the Land of Majesty & Mystery.
