Life and Labors of Elder John Kline, the Martyr Missionary Collated from his Diary by Benjamin Funk

Elder John Kline emerges from the pages of his own diary as a steadfast missionary who spent nearly three decades wandering the rural heartland of America, preaching, comforting the grieving, and building modest congregations. The volume presents his daily entries—where he slept, what he taught, and the small miracles he witnessed—offering a vivid, unembellished portrait of a life lived in service. Readers are invited to walk alongside him as he records simple meals, storm‑tossed journeys, and quiet moments of prayer beneath open skies.

The narrative is stitched together with the heartfelt testimonies of those who knew him: sisters weeping at his funeral, brothers recalling long treks across two thousand miles, and whole communities that felt his absence after his death. Through these recollections the book sketches the broader picture of a man whose honesty and humility left an indelible mark on the Brethren movement of the late 1800s. It is both a historical window and a meditation on what it means to devote every day to a higher calling.