Stanley Martin's life begins with his strong Christian upbringing in St. John's, Newfoundland. As a young man, he was asked to be the wireless operator on Dr. Wilfred Grenfell's hospital ship, the Strathcona, which served the deep-sea fishermen and their families on the beautiful but rugged Labrador coast.

At twenty-six years old, armed only with his medical degrees, a handful of surgical instruments, and his faith, Martin set off with his wife Margaret, a nurse, into the wilds of Manchuria. It was a land of tigers, bandits, epidemics, and superstition. In the midst of chaos arose a...