The Journey Of Hope

The savage murder of 78-year-old Bible teacher Ruth Pelke by four teen-age girls was the beginning of Bill Pelkes Journey of Hope...From Violence to Healing. Initially Bill did not object when 15-year old Paula Cooper was sentenced to death for his grandmothers murder. Through the power of prayer and transformation, he moved from supporting her death sentence, to working to have it overturned, to dedicating his life to the abolition of the death penalty. This is the story of Bills journey, the obstacles he overcame, and the amazing, loving, forgiving, committed people he met on the way.

Liberia was founded by the American Colonization Society (ACS) in the 1820s as an African refuge for free blacks and liberated American slaves. While interest in African migration waned after the Civil War, it roared back in the late nineteenth century with the rise of Jim Crow segregation and disfranchisement throughout the South. The back-to-Africa movement held great new appeal to the South's most marginalized citizens, rural African Americans. Nowhere was this interest in Liberia emigration greater than in Arkansas. More emigrants to Liberia left from Arkansas than any other state in the 1880s and 1890s. In Journey of Hope, Kenneth C. Barnes explains why so many black Arkansas sharecroppers dreamed of Africa and how their dreams of Liberia differed from the reality. This rich narrative also examines the role of poor black farmers in the creation of a black nationalist identity and the importance of the symbolism of an ancestral continent. Based on letters to the ACS and interviews of descendants of the emigrants in war-torn Liberia, this study captures the life of black sharecroppers in the late 1800s and their dreams of escaping to Africa.

Lisa and Sol board the luxury ocean liner St. Louis in Hamburg, Germany on May 13, 1939. Lisa and her family are in first class; Sol and his parents are below in tourist class. Both children have mixed feelings Ð theyÕre excited to be beginning this voyage to a better life, but sad to be leaving their old lives behind. They are Jewish, as are almost all of the 937 passengers on board, and although war has not been officially declared in Europe, the Nazis have been persecuting Jews for years. As the ship sets sail for Cuba, the atmosphere is optimistic. The passengers feel fortunate to have been able to buy landing permits, and their German captain, Gustave Shršder, is determined to get them to safety. The captainÕs voice alternates with Sol and LisaÕs, revealing the details they didnÕt know. As HitlerÕs propaganda machine turns Cuba against them, the mood on board changes to despair. The St. Louis and its Jewish passengers are turned away Ð first from Cuba, then the United States, and then Canada. This was the tragic true history of the St. Louis. Denied entry from port after port, the captain was forced to return his passengers to Europe, where many died in the Holocaust. Through the eyes of Sol and Lisa Ð both of whom survived the war and shared their experiences with Kathy Kacer Ð we see the injustice and heartbreak that were caused by the prejudice and ignorance of so many.

"It's 1852, the year of the largest migration of people leaving the states and traveling by wagon train from Missouri to the Oregon Territory. The two thousand mile journey takes six months across the vast panorama of America's wild west. Over prairie, mountains and rivers, through untamed landscapes, the overlanders have a common goal: to find a better life. Though hardship and deprivation are constant companions, hope is a bright beacon leading them ever forward. Through the course of the voyage, three young women form an unlikely bond that will carry them through unspeakable horrors, binding them together forever as they discover the deeper places of the heart."--Page 4 of cover

During a violent Civil War, a Somali teenage girl flees her country evading clan warlords and hoping to reunite with her family.

This story is about a stubborn, German workaholic farm girl who qualified for the marathon, but instead conquered the fight of her life through 30 years of surgeries, illnesses, severe pain, job loss, loneliness, financial loss, and divorce, but kept her focus on one thing, her faith through the strength and love of Jesus, and becoming an Overcomer to help others in their struggles. With two visits to Heaven, and a special message from Jesus to you, I can tell you that life on Earth is just the beginning. Jesus has a special Home for each of us, only if we want it. The righteous will be saved, the wicked will be punished and Jesus is establishing a Heaven on Earth. The success, is going back to that very first day and trying to qualify for that race again, but this time with a tarnished, broken body and an unwavering Faith in our God. Coming soon, is her new book, "The Gift, God's Fulfilled Promises." This sequel tells the results, what happened after the first book was published and does God really keep His promises?

The extraordinary story of a man's survival in the face of great adversity. Fostered as a baby and placed in four state-run institutions, Michael was kidnapped by his father and returned home to an abusive mother. He managed to survive the horrors of his early years and went on to university and a successful career.

A must-read for all fans of the inspirational former Miss South Africa and businesswoman Basetsana Kumalo and her family.