Daughters of Hope

This book is courageous, inspirational, nearly unbelievable.

Daughters of Hope gives faces to the unnamed and uncounted women oppressed for their belief, yet fighting forward for Christ in the worst parts of the world.
Kay Marshall Strom, well-known author, and Michele Rickett, founder, president and CEO of Sisters In Service (SIS), take the reader on an astonishing journey to the heart of some of the most dangerous parts of the world: places where Christianity is hunted down and destroyed.
Daughters of Hope is a tribute to the lives of women who have fought, and continue to fight, not only against oppression, but for spreading the gospel.
Each section of the book begins with a background of the country or area introduced. This paints a true picture of life for Christian women in these developing countries today. Then follows the heart-wrenching and life-changing personal accounts of some of these women.
From the oppressive caste system of India we read of Sharmila—a Hindu of the untouchable (lowest) level—forced to marry a mentally ill man. Through nothing short of a miracle, she discovers Jesus, becomes a Christian, and prayer heals her husband who joins her faith.
A young Chinese card-carrying member of the Communist party, Gong Mai’s beliefs are shattered as she watches students stand up for their rights at Tiananmen Square. After a long struggle of faith, she was married to a Christian young man, and together they led an underground home church.
Another is Anna Lidu, a Christian doctor for her Sudanese people. She constantly struggles against the National Islamic Front, faces horrific torture, mutilation and death, and sometimes becomes overwhelmed and discouraged. Yet Dr Lidu continues with her work and is spreading the love of God to everyone she comes in contact with.
And finally, Habiba, an Egyptian housewife determined to share Christ with others. She risks social rejection and death to speak of her Saviour to her Muslim friend, yet feels the joy of peace in knowing what she’s doing is eternal, not based on this life.
These are stories of women who are not allowed to vote or be independent, and who are subjected to brutality and general inhumane treatment, left alone to suffer, and yet fully dependent on Christ.

Daughters of Hope, Kay Marshall Strom and Michele Rickett, InterVarsity Press, 2003, 200 pages.