Harvest Times shares a tête-à-tête with Birgitta Ekman, the lovely wife of Rev. Dr. Ulf Ekman, and discovers a tremendous woman of faith and strength, fuelled by a passion and love for people who have yet to know Jesus intimately as their Lord and Saviour.

HT: What is the title of your new book and what is it about? It's written in Swedish and its title in Swedish means, "The girl who didn't want to go to school." I was born a missionary's daughter and my family was based in India, so it is a book about me and my experiences as a little girl growing up in that country.

The inspiration for the book came about when I was praying for my little granddaughter just before she was about to start kindergarten. She was a little hesitant and she didn't want to let go of her mother ... I heard about this while I was away in Israel. So I started praying that she would not fear going to school to start her life as a student.

I thought I'd write her a little story about myself—about how I started school. One night, I couldn't sleep. So, I got up in the middle of the night and just wrote my little story. I sent an email to my daughter-in-law, and simply said, "Read this to Philippa."

I also sent a copy to my sister and she liked it so much that she sent it to the publishing house. So that's how my book came about ... but I initially intended it just for my granddaughter.

It's just a short book but I think it's good for five- and six-year-olds. It is about my life in India, staying in the village. We lived in Southern India, and it was fun growing up there. The book is illustrated by one of our church missionaries who is a professional illustrator. It has really cute pictures of our lives there. The story is about how, in spite of my fears and uncertainties, I came through, started school and discovered it could be fun growing up as a little girl in India. My husband keeps telling me that I should write many books for kids and develop that gift. I think it's fun to write. I want to be myself and just share from my heart.

HT: You went to boarding school when you were a little girl. What was that experience like? The most difficult part of going to boarding school definitely had to be the long separation from my parents for months on end. They left us in a Swedish boarding school in Southern India. In retrospect, I have never felt any resentment toward my parents because I know that they didn't have much of a choice; it was the only thing they could do.

It's very hard for a little girl to be separated for so long from her parents, but I know that the Lord was there and He took care of me.

HT: When did you personally make a decision to receive Jesus into your heart? What captivated you most about Him? The story of Jesus is absolute truth; it is a reality. He did come from Heaven. He did live on earth. He did die for us on the cross, was resurrected after three days, and ascended to heaven. When you realize that Jesus came, lived and died for you, then you just want to live for Him.

I believed in Jesus all my life but I had a period in my teenage years when I was not really committed to the Lord. This can be devastating especially when you're a teenager; you'll start compromising and end up making many stupid mistakes. However, when I was 21, the charismatic revival came to Sweden in the beginning of the 1970s.

I started hearing about the baptism of the Holy Spirit and this was something totally new because of my Methodist upbringing. Although I was born in a Christian home, I didn't have any knowledge about the Holy Ghost and charismatic dimensions.

I was very intrigued. I longed for the baptism of the Holy Spirit and I went for prayer meetings where [the move of the Holy Spirit] was taking place; this sensational thing. It was a sensation in Sweden. I really encountered the Lord in a very personal way. I could feel and experience the Holy Spirit.

HT: You have helped to set up homes in India for children. What prompted you to do so? I started the fund [for these homes] when I turned 50. It was a fund to provide education for Indian children and, since then, we have built a school and even a few orphanages in northern India.

We have very good co-workers in India with whom we are working closely to build another school. I also have plans to help the mission station where I grew up. The children at the mission station come from villages and they are too poor to buy food for themselves during their whole day at school. Through our ministry there, we provide them with some basic necessities like milk, food items, etc.