Jewels in the Rubble: Unfinished Miracles in Afghanistan —A Memoir of Hope, Faith, and Courage
A fire in her bones. A dream that won’t let go. A nosedive into a snake pit.
Following the attacks on American soil on September 11, 2001, an unlikely candidate—a blue-eyed blonde with little more than a fire in her bones and a dream in her heart—follows her call to Afghanistan to launch a business for struggling Afghan women. Moving to the war-torn country may look like a nosedive into a snake pit, but Jana can’t shake the feeling she was born to do it.
After an arduous journey that requires more than one leap of faith, she lands in a land where she encounters Afghans who want to know more about Jesus. One is a teenage girl who knocks on her door after he appears to her in a dream. Others experience astonishing answers to prayer when the women pray together in Jesus’ name.
She meets Afghan women in prison and the local women’s shelter whose stories of injustice and cruelty defy belief but motivate Jana to keep working to launch her business despite the relentless obstacles. She herself is plunged into crisis when the women and girls in her orbit are beaten, face hunger and homelessness, or are sold into marriage.
Then, in a heart-stopping moment, her lead artisan confides that her brother has arranged for her to become the second wife to a stranger and declares, if nothing changes, she will end her life before the wedding—in three short weeks. Helping her escape may jeopardize the business and put both their lives at risk, but she has to act. The two women plead with God for a miracle but soon realize they will need more than one.
Amid the loneliness, heartbreak, and treachery Afghanistan deals her, Jana discovers the joy of a front-row seat to miracles—and is overcome by the extravagant love of the God she thought she knew.
For readers of Kisses from Katie, The Dressmaker of Khair Khana, Prisoners of Hope, and Behind the Beautiful Forevers.
