This book left me in awe and opened my eyes in more than one way. About a young Muslim girl who finds herself in the middle of her countries Civil War life is not easy. Sunni and Shia Muslims are at war with each other and many suffer. Prominent families lose their status and wealth. They have to burn their furniture to keep warm, and many die from the cold. Food is scarce and many kill wild dogs or worse just to eat. There are bread lines but they are often fruitless and citizens are told there is no more bread to give despite standing outside for hours.
During one of these times in the bread line a commotion begins and an angry mob begins fighting. Gunshots are fired, people are trampled and Samaa finds herself praying to God. By some miracle she is spared when she could have been dead. More so they were lucky enough to get bread. Realizing that none of her prayers were ever answered by Allah Samaa starts realizing there is more to this God than she knows, and she yearns to know more.
Craving Jesus she begins finding out more and more on Christianity. She finds herself at some of their services, she begins Tae Kwon Do classes taught by Christians, and she begins to absorb all the knowledge she can. With that knowledge comes an unshakable faith that Samaa did not quite expect, and the hold she has always carried within her closes up.
Loving her new relationship with God she yearns to share His love with others, especially her family. Tentatively she starts spreading the news to others. Despite persecution, despite others throwing rocks at her, and her own family beating her Samaa does not give up. Slowly her loved ones begin transforming and Samaa realizes this is only the beginning of her journey.
An explosion at her church where she was a victim goes further to prove her theory that there is much more for her to do for Jesus in the world.
This book is not for the faint of heart. This is a real story of one young woman's harrowing experience in a land where freedom of religion is not accepted, and where all Christians are considered traitors. It is heart-breaking, heart-warming, and will send you on a roller coaster. It will leave you breathless and you cannot help but to sit at the edge of your seat. The difference between this book and many others is this is one young girl's TRUE accounting of what happened to her, her family, and her land.
I was left awed by this book. I was encouraged by Samaa's unflinching faith and I believe every encounter she detailed in this book. It is sometimes hard for us to accept such strong emotions and miracles. Sometimes it is easy for our minds to shed doubt on such things because certain circumstances are incomprehensible to us. For me I loved this story and am grateful it was shared. I just know this book will go on to change lives, and I am thankful to have had the chance to read it. I have been recommending this book left and right, and will continue to do so. It woke me up even further to a lot of the issues pressing on Christians in other countries. Samaa's story is one of courage, faith, love, hope, determination, and the strength of Jesus. It just goes to show when we have Jesus on our side anything is possible.
::Book Details::
- Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Chosen Books (June 3, 2014)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0800795792
- ISBN-13: 978-0800795795
No comments:
Post a Comment