Honor Bound

A pacifist navigates the ravages of war in this thrilling series launch by Bridgeman (Chasing Pearl). Cynthia Myers, a medical missionary and daughter of the vice president of the U.S., heads up an obstetrics clinic that serves women from remote villages in Katangela, Africa. Also in Katangela are Captain Rick Norton and his team of six Green Berets, who are fighting to neutralize the fearsome warlord Chukuwereije. After the team’s combat medic catches shrapnel in his thigh, they transport him to Cynthia’s clinic, where they find her being forced at gunpoint to help an injured Chukuwereije soldier. Against Cynthia’s wishes to resolve the situation peacefully, the Green Berets kill the enemy soldiers, and the incident puts a target on Cynthia’s back. Rick receives orders to evacuate her, though the team’s path to the exfiltration point proves dangerous, testing Cynthia’s commitment to pacifism and compelling her to draw on her resilience and relationship with God to see her through. The contrast Bridgeman sets up between the gun-toting Rick and the violence-averse Cynthia as they maneuver through a perilous landscape thoughtfully interrogates what it means to uphold a Christian commitment to nonviolence. This backs up exciting action with some nuanced ideas about fighting evil with pacifism. (Sept.)