Meet the Author: “Glad I Didn’t Know” 

TEAM’s Executive Director of Global Services, Vonna Laue, recently authored a new book entitled “Glad I Didn’t Know.” This engaging anthology is a compilation of stories that reflect on walking through life’s difficulties and the God-ordained insight that often comes only in hindsight. Vonna recently sat down with us to share a bit of her own story and how this encouraging and inspirational book came to be. 

Q: Tell us a little bit about how you came to TEAM.  

A: I spent over 20 years with a national CPA firm that serves churches and ministries. I was the managing partner of the firm in 2016 when I felt like God was saying, “Your time here is done.” I argued with Him and He won! From there I moved into executive leadership with an organization in Virginia that accredits churches and Christian ministries. I was with them for not quite two years before moving into consulting work and that’s how I connected with TEAM. So, in February of 2020, I came to TEAM. I had just about four or five weeks before the pandemic hit, and we had to figure out how to do all the operational things remotely and address the needs that exist in a global missions organization during a pandemic. It was like jumping into the deep end! 

Q: Explain a little bit about your role at TEAM. 

A: I work with the finance, personnel, operations, IT, and global security departments. So, I’m never bored. But every one of those directors is amazing. And that’s why I can do what I do. 

Q: And you somehow found time to write a book on the side! Is this the first book you’ve published? 

A: I have coauthored three other books, but they were all related to church and ministry finance. So, I’ve been trying to continue to be excellent in finance, but to work my way out of that a little bit. It’s part of the reason why I love my role at TEAM with all the operational matters that I get to take part in. I really have come to appreciate the personal and corporate leadership aspects of ministry as well. So this is definitely a different book than a ministry finance book, for sure. 

Q: What inspired you to write the book if it wasn’t related to finances? 

A: It’s all tied to the story about how God got us to Virginia. When my time at the accreditation organization was over, I was not really happy with the Lord. I didn’t want to leave the job that I previously had. I didn’t want to move from California. But God had made both of those things really clear. And then when the reason for our move changed and I wasn’t working at that organization anymore, it was a really difficult time. I was saying to God, “I tried to be obedient. What are you doing, Lord?”  

He helped me to see a number of difficult things in life that I had been through previously and that, if I had known in advance how difficult those things were going to be, I would have avoided them. And even in the situation at this time – I wouldn’t have been obedient; I wouldn’t have left Southern California. But Virginia was exactly where we were supposed to be. There were a number of reasons for that. I ultimately ended up at TEAM which has been a gift, and I love that. I never would have ended up here if we hadn’t gone through this difficult time.  

Q: So that’s where the concept for the book came from. What happened next? 

A: I initially wrote all the chapters for a complete book, based on my own experiences. Then I realized, I didn’t want people to just read it and say, “Oh, that’s just how God worked in one person’s life.”  That’s why there are 16 other people that have chapters in the book, including several from TEAM. Now if you read the book, you realize that’s God’s character. God takes us through difficult things. God gives us amazing experiences. But all of that then results in the lessons learned and being able to see the faithfulness of God. So that was the hope with the contributors I had the privilege of including in this project. 

Q: How did you incorporate the other 16 contributors? 

A: The book is structured with 32 chapters and each chapter tells someone’s story. Half of them are mine and half of them are other people’s. Each chapter tells a story about something they’re glad they didn’t know, and the lessons that person learned as a result of going through that. And as you look at the stories, there’s just this amazing variety. There are people from age 22 to 88 that wrote stories – men, women, Americans, non-Americans. It was really fun to see how the Lord orchestrated bringing that together. 

Q: You mentioned that some folks from TEAM contributed stories for the book. Tell us more about that.  

A: Global workers (missionaries) are willing to do some pretty amazing things, and to just say “yes” to God. But that doesn’t mean that it’s always great and easy. Their stories in the book are about challenges that are very real, and they’re raw. And yet God has used these people and their stories in amazing ways. One of the things about the book that I really appreciate is that for some of the contributors, God used the writing of the chapter to do some healing in their heart. One of the global workers told me she had wanted to write her story for a long time. So, that was really special to see God’s hand in all of it. 

Q: As people in the global missions community read the book, what do you hope they can take away from it?  

A: I think the concept is applicable regardless of where you are in your missions journey. For someone who’s just considering going into missions, it’s important to understand that whatever God has brought them through to this point is equipping them for what He’s calling them to do. They’re going to get on the mission field and they will probably be glad they didn’t know a lot of things because they might have bailed!  

Or maybe it’s somebody who’s been on the field for years and is going through some really difficult times, either personally or in ministry. Maybe by reading this book, reading other people’s stories, they can step back from their own struggles for a moment to remember how God works. They can see His sovereignty in other people’s stories and then be able to reflect on what they’re glad they didn’t know so that they can get through what they are currently going through.  

Q: You’ve made the decision to donate half of the royalties from the book to TEAM and the other half to World Vision, where you serve as a board member. Tell us about that.  

A: I love and appreciate both of these organizations. They both get a lot of my time and effort but I have finite resources so there isn’t a lot monetarily that I can give to them. Hopefully God will allow this to be a financial blessing to TEAM and World Vision.  

Q: Are you working on any other writing projects now that this one is published? 

A: Another book that I would like to publish would be similar as far as including other people’s stories – a book about caring for aging parents. I want to do it in a way that people can step back and laugh. There are situations in caring for parents that are exasperating, but if you actually think about them objectively, they’re really funny. It’s okay to step back and laugh and just take a breath. So, I don’t know, we’ll see what happens. 

Q: You mentioned earlier that some of the contributors already had the desire to share their stories, even before you asked. What advice do you have for global workers or others who want to get their story into print?  

A: Set goals that are manageable and then just start, even if it’s just 15 or 30 minutes a day set aside to write. Keep your goals attainable so that you want to keep going and you don’t get disappointed.  

It’s also key to remember that God uses stories. Look at how Jesus spoke to people. He constantly was telling stories. And if I’ve seen anything in working on this book, it’s the power of people’s stories. What you have to share in your story isn’t going to impact everybody, but it’s going to impact some people really deeply. So just be encouraged by that because that’s how God works. I really believe that is the power of story.