“The Sparrow”
Excellent fictional book of a Catholic who leads a missionary trip to a new found world.
Yeah, crazy sounding but one of the best books I’ve read ... and book 2 was even better.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sparrow_%28novel%29
Even if you don’t usually read Sci fi you won’t be disappointed.
“The Sparrow (1996) is the first novel by author Mary Doria Russell. It won the Arthur C. Clarke Award, James Tiptree, Jr. Award, Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis and the British Science Fiction Association Award. It was followed by a sequel, Children of God, in 1998. The title refers to Gospel of Matthew 10:29–31, which relates that not even a sparrow falls to the earth without God’s knowledge thereof. “
http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/post?id=3877542%2C11
Thanks - sounds interesting - that’s a boatload of awards...