Recently, I received a copy of Beaded Hope by Cathy Liggett to review courtesy of Tyndale Publishing. I do not spend a great quantity of time reading fictional stories, but this one peaked my interest due to its setting. The setting involves a missions trip to South Africa by a small group of women, all struggling with uncertainties in their lives. The draw for me was a missions trip and the affects it had on the lives of the women involved. Although it has been years since I've been on a mission's trip, my husband went for years and now our son has been led to go so the subject matter caught my eye.
The setting for this story is South Africa where a small group of women travel together to work with women in that region. I didn't actually understand the premise for the American women going there at first. Usually when a group goes on a missions trip there is a plan to minister in the area through evangelism with Vacation Bible Schools, puppet shows, or special services. In this story it seems like these women are just dropped off with no focus about what to do until it is explained that they will help the women of that area earn a living by buying their bead work and selling it back in the states. The lack of focus about what they were doing there confused me a little. However, they do end up getting involved in the lives of the women there and helping them by purchasing their crafts. Of course, in the process their own problems, which are addressed in the first few chapters, must be dealt with and the encounters they have with individuals in South Africa lead them to understand how to handle their situations.
Although this is a fictional story, it is based on an actual group called Beaded Hope that does purchase the bead work of women in South Africa to assist them in earning money to support their families in areas greatly affected by AIDS. Many women have no other way to provide for their families so this ministry allows them to earn money by their craft.
The idea that spoke loudest to me in the book was the effect the women in South Africa had on the American women. Oftentimes when setting out on a missions trip, the travelers expect to be the ministers, but so often come back home realizing they have been the ones most affected. Sometimes those in poor countries show us how to be content with little. Sometimes those in countries plagued by circumstances they cannot control, like diseases or duress, show us that trials can draw us closer to Christ, whereas if things always go our way, we tend to forget our need for Him. This book shows that in a few of the characters in South Africa.
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