Latest Posts:
Travel, Sketching, and an Extraordinary Life
This Month’s Theme: Travel
Invited to Heal
And a Bruised Ankle Shall Teach Thee
Look For the Marks of Healing
He Binds Up Our Heart Wounds
Where Are You Feeling the Brokenness?
This Month’s Theme: Healing
Just In Case You Didn’t Get the Memo
Will I Ever Stop Missing Something?
Where to buy
The stories within these pages are the heartfelt offering of women all around the world who are shining a light into the realities of cross-cultural work and life. From the unexpected sacrifices to the ways that this life has marked them, and the vulnerable struggles rarely voiced out loud, this collection of stories will resonate no matter where you call home.
Laugh, cry and journey along with these women as they share words of joy and faith in the midst of ordinary days and the most difficult circumstances. Their raw courage and trust in God will move all of us to say, "Yet we still hope."
Endorsements
These stories are raw and deeply vulnerable, not for the faint of heart. But then, neither is faithfully following God in a broken and beautiful world. Grab a box of tissues and let these tender stories usher you into the holy presence of a loving and pain-carrying God. No matter where you come from, where you live, and what you have walked through, you are not alone.
Rachel Pieh Jones
author of Pillars and Stronger than Death
How do we cling to hope when our faith is tested, at times severely? When circumstances seem beyond what we can bear? When we wonder if it's worth the cost? In this collection of sacred stories from our sisters serving around the globe, you'll smile, tear up, and words will resonate as you read of unexpected sacrifices, scars that heal slowly, and those secret struggles we rarely voice. But more than that, you'll see how God intentionally and faithfully pursues each one and reveals Himself, giving strength, renewed hope and intimacy to thirsty, weary souls. A timely read for all of us 'for such a time as this'.
Suzy Grumelot
co-author of Sacred Siblings: Valuing One Another for the Great Commission
Yet We Still Hope invites us into the lives of women who unveil their stories of hope-filled courage. When threatened with fear, anger, or guilt, they found hope, forgiveness, and peace. For any woman in cross-cultural ministry who feels alone in their struggles, these accounts of God’s grace will stir their souls to remember truth. With our eyes fixed on Jesus, though despair seems inevitable, he overcomes it with hope.
Sue Eenigenburg
author, speaker and global worker
If you have ever known the loneliness, grief, joy, and excitement that comes with a life abroad, this book will surely comfort you while also tingling your senses with vivid memories. The words on these pages offer hope, affirmation, and healing to the wanderer's soul...you will find a whole host of best friends you've never met as you escape into a shared experience with these brave, curious, and faithful women.
Lauren Pinkston, Ph.D.
Executive Director of Kindred Exchange
As I read through these stories of women serving cross-culturally from various places around the world, three words came to mind: honesty, openness, and transparency. Women serving cross-culturally today face multiple challenges that can test one’s faith and dependence on the Lord. I was overwhelmed by the spiritual courage and strength demonstrated in each story. If you are serving or have served in a cross-cultural setting, this book is for you. You will be encouraged deeply through each account of God’s abiding presence amid real-life experiences.
Perry Bradford
Executive Director of Barnabas International
In these pages you will encounter the boldness, brokenness, and beauty of a throng of women who are living heroes of faith. We are thirsty for hope that springs from the depths and not superficialities; herein you’ll find stories and perspectives forged in the fires of suffering, honest questions without easy answers, and the rich fare of truly inspiring faith. I believe every woman with a heart for cross-cultural work will have their faith galvanized through this book. Whether to nourish your own soul or encourage a friend’s, I wholeheartedly recommend tuning in to the powerful chorus of these women’s genuine journeys with Jesus. I know I will be gifting a great many copies to all those I hope to see echo the refrain, “Yet We Still Hope.”
Brian Gibson
Executive Director of TRAIN International
Since the day Velvet Ashes began, the heart of this community has been to provide a place for our authentic stories. When we offered a space for women to be raw and real in their journey to follow God into foreign soil, the connections and comments started firing across the globe. A life-giving community was born. Almost a decade later, it’s true joy to see this collection of stories bound as a testament that will sit on shelves and in hearts for years to come. In these pages you will see reality, the soaring mountain tops, the deep valleys, and the long plateaus that one traverses on a journey such as this. Through it all you will see our common Hero. As you read these stories, you will be drawn to the One who bids us, "Come and follow." You will see his tender care, his indwelling strength, and his transforming power. May this book help you "root and ground yourself in his love… that you may know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. And may you be filled to all the fullness of God."
Danielle Wheeler
Founder of Velvet Ashes and Director of Spiritual Development