Unprepared for Life's Journey is a heart-warming true story, detailing the missionary life of an inspirational Catholic woman.
Maria Flavel started life in Germany as part of a happy farming family, but she reaches an age when she must think about her future. Deciding to follow in her older sister's footsteps, she enrols in a convent to devote her life to God. But it's not long before Maria questions often-cruel treatment from the nuns.Showing great endurance and strength, she finally admits that biblical life in this form may not be for her. And so she begins her own journey. Following her dream to work overseas, she finds her calling in Papua New Guinea as a teacher, helping underprivileged people to become more independent. Here she feels a true connection to God through the work that He wants her to do.
A fascinating account of suffering and joy through war, death and meaningful relationships; a welcome reminder of the gift that life is, the importance of the people we share it with, and the opportunity it offers to do something that really matters.
Maria grew up on a farm in Germany and currently lives in Western Australia. Her life's adventures began from the moment she was born in 1938.
Open to new ideas and dedicated to teaching, Maria travelled from her farming village to the highlands of Papua New Guinea before settling in Australia.
Maria's story is about resilience and the journey life takes you on when you are determined to make a positive change. Maria has previously published short stories and the children's book The Adventures of an old Boab Tree.
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38 reviews
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In her book UNPREPARED FOR LIFE’S JOURNEY, Maria Flavel opens her heart and soul generously to the reader and exposes her inspiring yet adventurous journey of a girl who became a strong woman in order to help the underprivileged.
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Great reading. Couldn’t put it down. Maria, what an exciting journey you took us on
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I found my childhood friend through your book after 60 years. We had lost contact to each other. What an exciting event! It has been wonderful to read all her experiences and to get to know her all over again! Thanks for printing it.
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"Unprepared for Life's Journey" by Maria Flavel is an inspiring story. I absolutely loved reading the easily flowing pages, with small hints along the way of future events which fed my anticipation. What an extraordinarily wonderful person Maria is. So much courage, all based on her strong faith and obviously beautiful family background. Her honesty, deep compassion and respect for fellow human beings, no matter how challenging, is remarkable. It does endorse my frustration with our severely flawed Church and the heartbreak caused to good people over the years with the sometimes unjust, narrow, patriarchal and non-transparent system that has so sadly been the norm. There was so much that I can relate to all through Maria's story, and, far from being depressed by it, I felt totally uplifted. Thank you, Maria, for so generously and humbly sharing your precious story.
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This is a very powerful book. It carried me along with fascination on Your life's journey.
You indeed lived life with love, care and compassion for those you met along the way. The Order of Australia medal being awarded for service to education, developing and presenting literacy and numeracy programs to the Indigenous and migrant Community was a well-deserved honour.
Maria, I was moved to tears over some of the injustices you encountered over the years, and I can only say how much I admire your courage and dignity in dealing with the situations. May some changes occur where appropriate.
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Wow, what a journey! Maria takes you with her, through a journey of self-less sacrifice in pursuit of helping others while encountering challenges of her own. This book is a riveting account of the story of a lady who gives consistently without the expectation of reward and a true inspiration for all. A must read for everyone.
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I have just finished reading Maria Flavel’s book Unprepared for Lifes Journey. It was amazing, I felt as if she was sitting with me, talking about her life. It was such a wonderful story, with something happening in every chapter. I really didn’t want to put the book down. What an amazing person, Maria is. I am so happy she shared this story.
I would recommend this book to anybody an enjoyable read.
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No matter how many books I read about the atrocities of life, I always feel that each of the stories must be told so it is not forgotten. Also, some of them have this inspiring main character we could gain knowledge from. And this is that memoir. In this generation, autobiographies are so underrated, fantasies are now the hype, but no matter how you feel like they are old-school, we have to read them because it is a depiction of one’s life.
I loved that it’s refreshing and pages are easily flowing like a wind that I wasn’t able to stop to feed up my anticipation. Maria, an inspirational catholic woman comes from a beautiful family of farmers. At an early age, her father died, and she has experienced injustice at the hands of the nuns. But her calling to Papua New Guinea as a teacher changed everything from her life. And there, she connected with God. She isn’t just devoted to God alone but her fellow human beings as well and that trait of hers is truly remarkable.
Maria Flavel’s own story of “Unprepared for Life’s Journey is the story I had been longing to read ever since. All that’s in it are the ones I want in a book. I can relate to some parts of the story which made me feel connected to Maria. It felt as if two women, never having met, moving on parallel lines have made a connection. Most highly and enthusiastically recommended.
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