Kimberly Smith was living the American Dream: successful working woman, wife and mother, Christian; but she still would lie awake at nights plagued by the hollowness of her life. That all changed when she and her husband answered the call to Spain as missionaries. Exposure to child trafficking in neighboring Portugal irrevocably steered the remainder of her life's course.

Her husband forced to remain in the States by advanced diabetes, Kimberly began a series of harrowing journeys to the Darfur region of Sudan, a nation racked by decades of civil war and Islamic/Christian religious violence. Her efforts there brought about an orphanage and health care facility for the destitute population.

But this is not some rosy, feel-good missionary story. The deprivations of Darfur were horrifying. The toll exacted from Kimberly — her body, her soul, her marriage — was excruciating. The tale is raw and repugnant, exposing the depths of human depravity and degradation.

"With man, it is impossible; but with God, all things are possible." Only God can redeem the unredeemable, rescue the hopeless, and renew what seems so utterly beyond help.

SO WHAT?

Isaiah 1:17 "Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause."

James 1:27 "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world."

Sudan has more than its share of widows and orphans, and the heart of God weeps over the injustice there. Kimberly answered the call. What will we do.

We can't do everything.

We daren't do nothing.

We must do something.

WHY DID I READ THIS BOOK?

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from B&B Media Group as part of their blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

I got to know the ministry of Makeway Partners about a decade ago when I attended a missions conference at our church. Kimberly Smith was one of the featured missionaries and I was privileged to met her and have lunch with her during the conference. Since then, I've kept up with the ministry via her blog and weekly ministry email newsletters. You can imagine my del it when I learned that she was writing a book to tell the story of MWP!

Passport through Darkness by Kimberly Smith is truly a fascinating story ... The story of how she and her husband Milton served on the mission field and learned of the atrocities of human trafficking and the sex trade. This led to one life-changing move after another for them and their children. The book is an easy read and I loved Kimberly's writing style. She doesn't gloss over the hard stuff but gives great glory to God for all the ways she has seen Him work over the past years of ministry. I also appreciated that she was honest about how this wonderful ministry has at times affected her personal relationships with her husband, children, and other family and friends.

This is absolutely fascinating. Read it!

I received a free copy of this book from The B&B Media Group in exchange for my fair and honest review.

I love that last line - Live the life God dreamed of when He first dreamed of you. When you were growing up, how often did you dream about what your life would be like - what you would do - who you would marry - what your kids would be like. I find it amazing that my Creator would dream about me and what he wants for my life. Through this book, Kimberly tells the story of how she came to be living the life she believes God had in mind for her. By the end, she bares her soul for all, things that she even kept from her husband for a time.

Be sure to keep the kleenexes handy when reading - as you will surely need them. I found myself thinking about the conditions she describes in this book as I went about my day - thanking God for all those things we take for granted, like fresh water, shelter, security. It has definitely made me take a deeper look at how I can best serve God.

This is a must read book, both to bring awareness to a part of the world where atrocities abound on a daily basis, and to bring awareness to hearts that might not know God's path - or even know God.

Read my entire post -http://booksandneedlepoint.blogspot.com/2011/03/passport-through-darkness-by-kimberly-l.html

"Passport Through Darkness" isn't your typical missionary workers story. Instead Kimberly Smith takes the reader on a journey around the world to Sudan and other war torn countries. She shares the atrocities that women and children face in these countries every day.

Kimberly Smith was your average American woman, working in the corporate world, a wife, mother and a faithful church member, she was living a good life, but she felt as if something was missing, she longed to make her life matter. About that time her husband Milton started suggesting that they do something meaningful, something to make a difference in other peoples lives. One day as Milton browses thru a magazine in a waiting room he finds an article asking for missionaries to serve in Spain, ironically Milton had been a missionary in Spain back in the 80's, so with what I would consider a giant leap of faith, they were accepted by a missionary agency to work in Spain so they sold everything they had starting a new life journey in the missionary field. While in Spain the couple became aware of the plight of human trafficking, causing them to cofound Make Way Partners, which works to prevent human trafficking worldwide.

I knew a bit of the plight in Sudan before reading this book, but this book brings it front and center, allowing you to see these victims as real people, while it is a hard to read the accounts that are shared in the story, it is a message that needs to be spread.

Thanks to B&B Media for providing me a copy of this book for review.

A gripping account of mass murder, terror, torture, enslavement, rape, and famine in Sudan;

An unblinking, intimate telling of its horrors;

An unvarnished insight into the cultural, historical, religious, economic and geographic/ climatic forces at work;

A sobering assessment of probable failures tempered by inevitable triumph;

A clarion call to the Body of Christ;

An author courageously sharing her own enslavement to self doubt and feelings of worthlessness;

A testimonial to God unshackling her;

A powerful paradigm for putting the Good News into action.

Kimberly L. Smith's Passport Through Darkness is all these things and much more. Its value obvious to those with a heart for the Sudan and the enslaved everywhere, it should be read by the Church, leaders, and seekers everywhere.

Ironically less obvious is its greatest gift: Passport Through Darkness shows not only how to set free the victims of war and modern slavery — it grants a passport to each of us, showing us how to escape our innermost torments or doubts and live fully as a freed child of God.