Book Review: “Sold to the Highest Bidder…A Father’s Relentless Love”
By Rev. Dan Patman
Lisa Leigh Miller, a United Methodist pastor currently serving at Konawa, has recently written the story of her personal journey in a book titled “Sold To The Highest Bidder…A Father’s Relentless Love.”
Lisa’s journey includes homelessness, trafficking, abuse, bullying, poverty, dysfunction in the home, drugs, alcohol, divorce, the loss of a child and more. She opens her heart with brutal honesty, and sometimes chilling transparency, to share her personal experience of living in a “hell on earth.” She also offers real statistics and percentages that may shock the reader.
After finding herself homeless on the streets of Mexico City at the age of two and then “sold to the highest bidder” by a child trafficker, Lisa was miraculously rescued. But these horrifying events were only the first of repeated horrors she suffered throughout her growing-up years.
I found the book compelling and inspiring from front to finish, but I also found it uncomfortable at times. It tells the real story of how children are prepared or conditioned for aberrant sex and keeping secrets with testimony and teaching.
Yes, the book will make you uncomfortable. It will bring you to tears. It will make you angry. But it will also make you want to go out and do something about it. It will make you know that there is hope for anyone who has been battered, bruised, and abused by life.
The author uses plain language in describing the scenes from her life that are, frankly, indescribable. The reader never has to guess what Lisa is feeling or thinking. Her story is fast-paced and filled with heart-wrenching drama in the battle for her soul and for her very survival. She was victimized by almost everyone in her life and, sometimes, by her own wrong choices.
But, from the time of her conversion at the age of eight, Miller recognized God’s hand in her life. Through dreams and visions God spoke to her. Her story is filled with helplessness and heartache, forgiveness and healing, and the relentless love of a Father that would never let her go.
The author begins and ends each chapter, respectively, with a focus scripture and an all-inclusive healing prayer, together with two letters to her abuser at the end of the book.
The book is a must-read for pastors, counselors, teachers, and those who work with children, but also for those who have been abused or who have experienced dysfunction in the home. Men and women alike, as well as most youth, will find help, hope, healing, and the hand of God in Miller’s inspirational story.
“Sold To The Highest Bidder” was published Jan. 22 and is available on Amazon.com for $12.95. Miller, in addition to her pastoral duties, loves to share her testimony at churches and speak at women’s retreats. She is an invaluable resource for the Oklahoma Annual Conference. She may be contacted at www.LisaMillerMinistries.com or at lisa@LisaMillerMinistries.com.