The Case of the Missing Case!

I am very pleased to say how grateful and changed I am after reading your book…. This is a must read for every woman that needs encouragement,” began the mysterious email from Tanzania. You may remember receiving an SOS prayer request last April while we were in South Africa about the disappearance of an entire case of books. Our South African distributor shipped the box to our hotel, which suspiciously disappeared before we ever saw it. Our hotel concierge’s sleuthing revealed the missing box of books “accidentally” went to Tanzania, with a woman lecturer who had been staying at our hotel in Johannesburg. Since our return from South Africa, I’ve often wondered, what does God have planned for those books? A few weeks ago I got my first clue. The email quote I shared is from a Tanzanian woman who works among politicians and judges of the East African Court of Justice. In our subsequent flurry of emails, I learned that this single mother bought my book in a Ugandan supermarket—right when she most needed its message.

After leaving a violent, 12-year marriage, she was struggling to pick up the pieces of a shattered self image. Quoting my own words back to me, she shared how she is learning to live a life of dignity and strength “even in circumstances that contradict your worth.”

I just knew there was more going on in the case of the missing case than we could see! Maybe the whole box of books went AWOL for the benefit of this one precious woman. Maybe there are other similar stories I may never hear; African women have such hard lives and so few resources. Straight Talk now has an opportunity to send 10 Smart Things books and course materials to Namibia with a vibrant and well-connected Christian woman leader.

You can help to resource and encourage Namibian women, please designate your gift Encourage African Women. (DC)