A voice of one crying out in the desert... Even before his conception, John the Baptist has a mission, to herald the arrival of the Messiah. His aged mother dies soon after childbirth. His father foretells John's destiny to the Jewish hierarchy, and they exile him and his infant son. The stress is too much for the old man. By age eight, John is an orphan, with no use for the religion that destroyed his family. So starts the jagged path that takes John through adoption by a Roman soldier, combat in service to the Empire, and falling in love. But there is no escaping his calling when an angel appears and ignites the flame of faith long dormant within him. Crises of conviction plague this new direction, as well as personal danger, because John has made royal enemies in ways he could never imagine. An inspirational novel of historical fiction. All author royalties donated to the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land.