Daughters of Hope: Stories of Witness  Courage in the Face of Persecution, By Kay Marshall Strom and Michele Rickett
Daughters of Hope
paperback
  • Length: 200 pages
  • Dimensions: 5.5 × 8.25 in
  • Published: September 09, 2003
  • Imprint: IVP
  • Item Code: 2366
  • ISBN: 9780830823666

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Throughout the world today, Christians continue to face intense persecution, and Christian women are often the most vulnerable. In Pakistan, Christian girls are systematically kidnapped, tortured and raped. In China, underground church leaders are sent to labor camps for hosting illegal home meetings. In Sudan, Christian women are captured and sold into slavery or mutilated and left to die. And in many Muslim countries, a woman can be killed by her husband or father for converting to Christianity.

In this deeply moving book, Kay Marshall Strom and Michele Rickett tell the stories of persecuted Christian women from around the world. From Africa to the Middle East to Asia, they give voice to our sisters persevering under the yoke of oppression and injustice. Each section provides specific prayer points and practical action steps to equip us to respond to the issues at hand.

Above all, these stories remind us that suffering is part of the call of followers of Jesus. The challenges do not mean that God has abandoned us. Rather, God is active and present with his suffering people. Do not be discouraged. Take heart from these daughters of hope.

"Every believer ought read Daughters of Hope. Here are stories of women living today who, like Paul, die daily for the furtherance of the gospel against life-threatening opposition. Oh, how I have been encouraged and challenged by their faith! This is a book that tells you how to invest in their lives in missions. It's a book that will call you to fervent and knowledgeable prayer."

Kay Arthur, CEO and Cofounder of Precept Ministries International

"An encouraging, inspiring and challenging collection of testimonies of women who embrace our Living Hope--Jesus Christ--in nations where bearing the name of Christ can bring rejection, loss, beatings, imprisonment and even death."

Dr. Tom White, Director of The Voice of the Martyrs-USA

"If you want to understand the reality of God working in and through the lives for thousands of women across the developing world today then read Daughters of Hope. The power of story is undeniable, and the true stories you find here will bring you understanding as well as deeply move you."

Jane Overstreet, President/CEO, Development Associates International

"In their book Daughters of Hope Michele and Kay have challenged my thinking. This book is filled with stories of ordinary women who have surrendered their lives to Christ and allowed him to use them to accomplish his purpose. They are his servants, showing us how to live out the truth of Colossians 3:3, 'For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.' Each story is different; the common thread is how God uses lives fully devoted to him."

Diane Johnson, Director of Women's Ministries, Midland Evangelical Free Church, Midland, Michigan

"Daughters of Hope is an eye-opening collection of stories about courageous women who are putting their lives on the line every day to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Kay Marshall Strom and Michele Rickett have done a wonderful job of representing these women and presenting, in a very riveting way, the dangers they face on a regular basis. Not only does it challenge the reader, but it also provides practical ways to become involved. I recommend it as a must-read for everyone who wants to know what God is doing in the most difficult to evangelize places in the world and how they can have a part in spreading the good news."

Bev Carey, President, Evangelical Women, Pacific Conference of the Evangelical Church of North America

"An outcast Indian woman who suffered harsh persecution for her faith asked incredulously, 'If it doesn't cost you anything, how do you in America know what it means to be a Christian?' After reading the poignant stories Kay and Michele tell of the persecuted women of faith around the world, I asked myself that question. I wept as I read of the Nigerian woman whose husband was killed the night Muslims burned their church, or the Sudanese mother raped and killed by the authorities, or the young Moroccan believer who escaped after her father threatened to kill her. They persevered because they love Jesus. It's in these dark and difficult places of the world that women of God are demonstrating the reality of what it means to be a Christian. The heart-breaking stories awakened my heart, as they will yours, to seek justice, to pray for mercy and to thank God for the grace I so undeservedly enjoy."

Lorry Lutz, author of Women as Risk Takers for God and Women Finishing Well

"This much-needed book provides compelling stories of the power of the kingdom of God in the lives of women suffering under the tyranny of injustice and oppression. Anyone reading this through the eyes of Christ will be motivated to take seriously the practical prayer and action steps suggested to help ordinary women become extraordinary witnesses in situations seemingly without hope."

James F. Engel, retired missions educator, writer and consultant
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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Introduction: Our Sisters in the Hard Places

Part 1: South Asia
INDIA
1. Marked for Freedom: Sharmila's Story
2. Lowered for Love: Rupali's Story
PAKISTAN
3. As for Me and My House: Fouzia's Story

Part 2: East Asia
CHINA
4. Greater Love Has No One: Gong Mai's Story
5. Beautiful Feet: Zhang Yuan's Story
6. China Trainer: Polly's Story
MACAO
7. From the Rooftops to the Mountains: Mrs. Chen's Story
MONGOLIA
8. The Long Journey: Ye-Ling's Story

Part 3: North Africa
SENEGAL
9. The Name of Jesus: Songa's Story
10. Drawn by the Spirit: Justine's Story
ALGERIA
11. "Dear Madame . . .": Tanina's Story
MOROCCO
12. Put Your Hope in God: Mehdi's Story
TUNISIA
13. A Lamp to My Feet and a Light to My Path: Taiza's Story
SUDAN
14. Mourning into Dancing: Anna Lidu's Story

Part 4: The Middle East
EGYPT
15. By Their Fruit You Will Know Them: Habiba's Story
16. Choosing the Hard Road: Adel's Story
17. Though It Cost Me My Life: Zora's Story
PALESTINE
18. The Baker's Daughter: Randa Alea's Story

Part 5: The Most Dangerous Places on Earth
INDONESIA
19. To Live Is Christ, to Die Is Gain: Mirah's Story
IRAQ
20. With Love to Iraq: Zadah's Story
AFGHANISTAN
21. Tell Me the Stories of Jesus: Bahirah's Story
NIGERIA
22. Under Grace, Not Under Law: Amaka's Story
NORTH KOREA
23. How Can They Hear? Park Choi's Story

How Shall We Then Live?

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Kay Marshall Strom

A professional writer based in Eugene, Oregon, Kay Marshall Strom has written more than thirty books. She now partners with her husband (Daniel Kline) as Kline, Strom International, Inc., and together they have spoken on various topics to well over 100,000 people in more than twenty countries.

Michele Rickett

Michele Rickett is founder and president of She Is Safe (formerly known as Sisters In Service), an international ministry mobilizing advocates to equip women against poverty, oppression, exploitation, and spiritual darkness in the world's hardest places through practical grassroots projects. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, she is also coauthor (with husband, Daniel) of a Bible study course that graduates mentors called Ordinary Women (Wine Press, 2001), and a contributing author to A Celebration of Women (Watercolor Press, 2001).