Contact: Tracy McCarter, The B & B Media Group, 800-927-0517 ext. 109
MEDIA ADVISORY, April 21 /Christian Newswire/ -- In their new book, Refuge, John and Bessie Gonleh, together with their friend and co-author Bruce Beakley, share the unbelievable true story of their flight from their war-torn homeland to a new life for their family in America, a journey nearly twenty years in the making. As they recount the details of their harrowing escape, the tragedies and triumphs are strung together on a thread of faith.
The Gonlehs were devoted Christians, but the ravages of war and the loss of three of their children would push their faith to the breaking point. They battled hunger, disease, and the daily possibility of death at the hands of rebel soldiers -- children armed with automatic weapons. Surprisingly, at one point during their journey Bessie became a mother figure to a group of these soldiers, who seemed for a moment more like Peter Pan's lost boys than cold-blooded killers. John and Bessie's belief in God's provision sustained them in their most difficult times, but they were only human. Even as they witnessed great miracles, they struggled against crushing doubts -- doubts so powerful that John, a Baptist minister, nearly succumbed to the temptation to become a murderer himself.
Refuge interprets the Gonlehs' heartbreak with emotional and spiritual integrity. There is no neat, tidy resolution, no dishing out of platitudes or denial of harsh reality. "Our family has suffered much. Many times we don't agree with what God allows to happen because it hurts us, or those we love, and we can't understand His purpose. Those are difficult, painful times. But we believe the Bible," John emphasizes. "It says that for believers, all things work together for good for every Christian."
The Gonlehs spent months traveling through the Liberian bush with their six children, seeking refuge in tribal villages as they made their way to the border of Ivory Coast. Their youngest child died from a mysterious disease during the journey. They spent years in United Nations camps for displaced persons in both Ivory Coast and Guinea. One of their daughters was confirmed dead in an attack in Ivory Coast, and another has been missing since the same day. During their years as refugees, the Gonlehs were also blessed with the births of two more children. Readers will feel an overwhelming sense of relief as the story reaches its conclusion, finally reuniting the youngest Gonleh children with their parents in America.
www.RefugeTheBook.com
