When Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer arrived in Afghanistan, they had come to help bring a better life and a little hope to some of the poorest and most oppressed people in the world. Within a few months, their lives were thrown into chaos as they became pawns in historic international events. They were arrested by the ruling Taliban government for teaching about Christianity to the people with whom they worked. In the middle of their trial, the events of September 11, 2001, led to the international war on terrorism, with the Taliban a primary target. While many feared Curry and Mercer could not survive in the midst of war, Americans nonetheless prayed for their safe return, and in November their prayers were answered.

My thoughts
This is the amazing and shocking story of two ladies who dared to venture into Afghanistan in an attempt to reach people many of us considered to be unreachable. By serving as humanitarian aid workers in a war torn country, they shared their love for Christ, were arrested, imprisoned, and eventually rescued by Special Ops forces.

I will warn you, if you are easily offended by Christian values and/or if you don't like "preaching", you will not like this book. However if you can step past that and try to put yourself into these ladies' shoes, however unfathomable that may seem, you'll find a remarkable story.

This is the second book I've read about "missionaries", if you will, who went into a politically unstable country to try to help the local people and ended up in captivity. There is no doubt in my mind that people who are willing to make this sacrifice and take this kind of risk are incredibly special people. While I have a heart for mission, I can't imagine in my wildest dreams doing what these people have done. (The other book I read is Gracia Burnham's book, In the Presence of my Enemies. Gracia lost her husband in the rescue attempt in the Philippines.)

I admit to my own bewilderment about life in captivity. Dayna and Heather were "guests" in these prison compounds with mice and scorpions, not to mention bombs going off around them, and yet they made out shopping lists of fruit and bread from the bazaar and they received care packages from their families with cookies and candy and make-up. Even after reading these books, I truly cannot comprehend life in capitivity by rebel forces. I can't imagine why seemingly trivial things, like candy bars and scented soaps, are obviously important at a time when much more important things -- their health, their well-being, and their faith -- were at risk. Honestly, I hope I never understand because it means I've never been in their shoes.

My personal feelings aside, I thought this was a fascinating book. It's full of interest and culture as they write about the inside life of women wearing the burqas.They had daily experiences with children in Afghanistan -- they saw their smiles and their tears. They went into homes of local people to talk with them, to sit with them through their illnesses, to give them hope when hope is hard to come by. When people asked, they shared their faith. For that they were arrested and imprisoned.

The book is full of adventure as they live through 9-11 and the Shock and Awe bombing campaign. It's got it's gorey parts (ohhh, the worm thing gives me nightmares!) and it's violence (in the form of beatings.) It's got some humor, although it's more subtle than the laugh-out-loud kind. And it's got faith. At times during their captivity the girls struggled with their Christianity. They squabbled with one another. They squabbled with God. They felt hurt and betrayed. They had strength, they had weakness. They saw the best and worst of each other but no matter what they faced, they always came back to their faith. That's some serious courage and trust.

To be honest I struggle with some of the decisions they made. I understand their desire to touch lives, but in doing so they put themselves, their Afghan friends, and the United States Special Ops units in serious peril. I wonder what happened to their friends after they were extracted from the country. I wonder if the people had learned enough to become self-sufficient; if they had enough time to learn how powerful love can be; if they still want to learn about Jesus or if they felt abandoned when the prisoners were freed.

Favorite Passage
My favorite passage is the creep-factor passage of the worms, but that's not the one I'm going to share with you. This isn't my favorite passage by any means because it's a horrible story, but I think it will give you a good idea of what you'll find in the book:

As frequently as we could, we provided medicine to the women who were sick or injured. Khalida, probably in her mid-thirtes, arrived two weeks after we did. She had married off her daughter to a Talib, who ended up abusing the young girl. Khalida attempted to help her child get away and got caught. Khalida loathed the Taliban.

In an effort to reform Khalida's strong will, Mariam insisted she do her prayers five times a day...Khalida insisted she could not bend down to pray due to arthritis in her knees. To us, however, it appeared Khalida did not particularly want to pray.

Mariam and Khalida fought constantly over the prayer issue. One evening the argument got out of hand, and Mariam reported Khalida to Taliban authorities. A Talib came to the gate to get Khalida that night. As instructed, she put on her burqa and left the courtyard with Mariam. An hour later, Khalida returned, clearly shaken. The next morning she was escorted out of the compound again; and when she returned this time, Khalida could barely walk.

Immediately the other prisoners gathered around Khalida and draped a burlap sheet over the clothesline in the courtyard to prevent us from seeing the extent of her injuries. Some of the Afghan women went back and forth to the water faucet dampening rags. Later I stole a private moment with a few of the women and learned that the Taliban had beaten Khalida with pieces of wood on her feet, wrists, and back. For weeks Khalida limped on a swollen, black-and-blue foot. To help alleviate the pain, we often snuck her Naproxen tablets by dropping them off on a barrel by the water faucet.