Kay Marshall Strom - Forgotten Girls: Stories of Hope and Courage

1 Stand Up to the Witch: Indonesia
BETI'S STORY

2 Disposable Mothers: Tibet
SONAM'S AND PEMA'S STORIES

3 Sacrificed to Gods: India
SUNSHINE'S STORY

4 Not Enough Girls: North Korea and China
SI-UN'S STORY

5 Education for AIDS Orphans: China
MAI LIN'S STORY

6 Beautiful Music from Untouchable Girls: India
ANNE'S STORY

7 Given by the Chief: Senegal
ESMEE AND AFIA'S STORY

8 A New Way: Egypt
ZAHRA'S AND SAFIA'S STORIES

9 Temporary Wives in Timbuktu: Mali
HALIMA'S STORY

10 Kidnapped! Kyrgyzstan
MEERIM'S STORY

11 Girls for Sale: Nepal
NIMA'S STORY

12 Throwaway Girls: India
POONAM'S STORY

13 Behind Prison Bars: Pakistan
MAJEEDA'S AND ALIRA'S STORIES

14 Surviving War: Sudan
AMINA'S AND KHADIJAH'S STORIES

15 Sisters of War: Iraq
ALINA'S STORY

16 An Awakening: Iran
DORRI'S AND NAHID'S STORIES

17 From Daughter of a Geisha to Daughter of the King: Japan
YOSHI'S STORY

I n old English the leading sheep in a flock was called the bellwether, a term that came to mean the indicator of future trends or the harbinger of what is to come. Today, social scientists consider the well-being of women to be the truest bellwether of a community, culture or country. If thats true, then many communities, cultures and countries are facing a dismal future. Why? Because of their rampant abuse and oppression of women.

Throughout the world women and girls are suffering incomprehensible abuses and neglect. Gendercide, child sacrifice, female genital mutilation, rape, sex trafficking and child marriage shock our senses. Abandonment, hunger and illiteracy prohibit girls from accessing the tools that would help them escape oppression. Tragically, distorted religious beliefs often cloak the oppression of girls and women in moral justifications. Perpetrators of violent conflicts increasingly use brutal gender-based violence as a weapon of war.

Too many girls, abandoned or oppressed from birth, grow up believing they are, in fact, inferior and deserving of abuse. As Michele Rickett says, Unless a life-changing event interrupts this pattern, abused and oppressed girls grow up to be abused and oppressed women.

This book focuses on the life-changing events that have given hope to girls and women who have suffered in ways most of us cant imagine. Their stories are a testament to the strength and resilience of our global sisters. Truly, I am in awe of the women described in these pages.

One reason I love She Is Safe (SIS) , the nonprofit organization that inspires this book, is that SIS supports grassroots interventions by indigenous leaders who understand the local community and know the most effective ways to protect and rescue abused girls and women. Development experts affirm this as the best way to support sustainable change.

I guarantee that if you read this book, your heart will be brokenwhich is why you must read this book. Our hearts ought to be broken by the suffering of women and girls throughout the world. But this book does more. It tells us how to take action on their behalf. I know how easy it is to feel overwhelmed by needs like youll read about here. But consider what would happen if every woman reading this book supported an intervention that helped just one girl. Together we could help thousands of women and girls move from despair to hope! I challenge you to read this book and then pray the simple prayer that I have prayed: God, what is mine to do?

Lynne Hybels

I t is an authors dream to write a book that will live on to inform and inspire people. We have been delighted to see Forgotten Girls continue to capture imaginations and hearts because of the unforgettable and courageous girls in its pages. The book also endures because the world is awakening to the alarming plight of vulnerable girls and the promise they hold to create a better future.

Shortly after the first edition of Forgotten Girls was printed, the Nike Foundation and NoVo Foundation launched an initiative called The Girl Effect. Their findings and messaging were simple. Invest in girls, and they will change the world. United Nations delegates agreed that in order to demolish the root causes of intractable problems that plague our world, such as poverty, disease, illiteracy and slavery, the most effective initiatives must be focused on equipping girls to make their contributions.

Growing awareness and interest in the plight and promise of girls has continued to drive people to look deeply into the everyday circumstances that conspire to abuse and enslave thesethe worlds most vulnerablecitizens. Thousands who hold the conviction that Christ is essential to lasting transformation have been drawn to the pages of Forgotten Girls to see the hope and power he brings to free and equip abused and exploited girls.

To help readers take a deeper look at the issues, this expanded edition of Forgotten Girls includes discussion questions and prayer items along with recommended action points following each section.

She Is Safe colleagues invested their expertise and time to update the book. Diane Fender, Anti-trafficking Program officer, combed through these pages and did further research so that we could include the most current statistics and sources. And Julie Ryan, Director of Womens Ministry Engagement, provided some of the discussion questions and prayer points. We deeply appreciate their important contributions.

Since first writing Forgotten Girls , we have continued our international investigations and work on the most pressing issues for girls in the developing world. And we continue to reconnect and collaborate with many of the caregivers we first interviewed.

Our prayer is that when individuals and groups pause to consider and pray over the stories and issues, they will join us as freedom activists for girls like the ones in Forgotten Girls girls who have so much to offer our world yet languish in the dark corners of abuse and exploitation.

T o the many friends who made Forgotten Girls possible, we offer our deepest gratitude. Affiliate and sister ministry leaders opened their hearts, shared hundreds of ministry hours with us and introduced us to the girls in this book. Without their willingness to share so generously, we could not have completed the book. Many of the ministries work under oppression and asked that we not acknowledge them by name, so we honor them with thanksgiving to God. To those we can acknowledge, we openly give our thanks: Bible Faith Mission, Center for Legal Aid, Assistance and Settlement of Pakistan, Elam of Iran, Oasis India, InterSenegal Mission, Peace Rehabilitation Center of Nepal, Smart Heart of Egypt, and Grace International Ministries of Japan.

Most of the research for the book was garnered by the dedicated international team at She Is Safe. Our gratitude goes to Katherine Anderson, Cherylann Sammons, Pauline Y., Melissa Eisenbrandt, Esther Vukosavovic, Pam Pitt, Bob Morrison, and their boss, Daniel Rickett (Michele Ricketts husband). Daniel receives double acknowledgment, along with Kays husband, Dan Kline. Our husbands once again lovingly encouraged us to travel and invest the time we needed to write.

Cindy Bunch, editor at InterVarsity Press, reached out to us to consider a book to follow Daughters of Hope . She enthusiastically encouraged us to focus on the lives of girls around the world. Her patience and coaching were invaluable.

We offer our deep gratitude to the hundreds of supporters and praying advocates who believed in this book even before it was written. They saw by faith that their prayers and sacrifice would raise the awareness and ongoing support to restore the lives of hurting girls.