Thirty-one-year-old Magdalene Patricia Balloy's life changed drastically in 1963. It was the turning point and signaled the beginning of her life's journey with Christ. This memoir follows her inspirational path beginning with an out-of-body experience when Jesus, in a glowing robe of pure light, appeared to her.

Covering a span of forty years, "Beyond the Darkness" describes in detail what has transpired in Balloy's daily walk with Jesus since that life-changing experience. The story also relates her life's journey from her birth on the island of Grenada in the British West Indies, growing up in a childhood filled with depravity and abuse, to her current work as a volunteer.

Through personal anecdotes and poetry detailing her faith experiences, Balloy shows how God has worked in her life. She explores some of the doubts, fears, and perplexities she has experienced in various life situations and illustrates how she found comfort and guidance in the Bible. "Beyond the Darkness" serves as an inspirational memento of a Christian life well lived.

From druggie to prison ministries volunteer, Curtis spent his teenager and young adult years partying and strung out on drugs and alcohol. It wasn't until he was faced with a potential prison sentence that Curtis stopped and thought about a higher Power when he heard thunder in the middle of the day with not a storm cloud around. After that experience, Curtis went on a spiritual quest to discover happiness and fulfillment, but strange ideas and religions took him down paths that led away from God. Yet at key points in his life, God once again sent thunder to wake Curtis up. The Seven Thunders is the story of Curtis Shearer and his struggle with drugs and alcohol, his deliverance from his addictions, and his life of ministry and service for the Lord in the prison system, his community, and abroad. The book chronicles his search for peace and joy in the midst of the trials and tribulations of life and the fulfillment of the desires of his heart.

An exciting excursion into the restive Niger Delta of Nigeria through the personal story of Dr. Goodman Obot. His story, hope, and aspiration represent the collective ambitions of the youth of his era. His challenges, failures, and successes provide a road map to the resourcefulness and resiliency of the people of the Niger Delta. Doctor of the Gods offers the opportunity for resolving the struggle for the control of the natural resources of the Niger Delta among competing interests. This is a timely memoir written without bitterness. Dr. Obot focuses beyond himself to address the persisting violence and lack of development in the Niger Delta. The people of the Niger Delta deserve no less. Their children deserve better health care, better schools, and better prospects for the future. Dr. Obot is an eloquent voice of the people of the Niger Delta, a must read for everyone doing business in Nigeria and other developing countries. I will accept Dr. Obot's invitation to visit the Niger Delta with my copy of the Doctor of the Gods as my visa.

In his book "In the Shadow of Angels, ," Charles Maldon reflects upon that season of his life when he was without the peace of God. He presents the contribution of several extraordinary saints whom he addresses as angels who are largely responsible for his journey and victory into the perfect peace of God. He reveals the uniqueness of each angel and relates the love and care provided by each when he needed someone to encourage and stand by him on his march toward his purpose and calling in God.

These individuals displayed strength and character that became an incentive for him to strive to be the best person that God ordained him to be. Without them being there, his life in the Deep South would almost definitely have taken a different direction. By the mercy of God, he encountered each of them at a time when he was in desperate need of love and encouragement to keep from fainting. Each of them left him with a lifetime memory and a victory of healing and peace and thankfulness.

For author "Kenneth H. Thompson," childhood was anything but idyllic. In his memoir, he chronicles his life story and the lessons he learned in the process. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he grew up with two brothers and two sisters, but he suffered abuse at the hands of his step-father.

Hoping for a better life for her son, Thompson's mother adopted him out to another family. The joy was short-lived, as his adoptive mother was a saint by day and a devil by night, due to her drinking. In this memoir, he tells of his miserable childhood and the circumstances that led him to drug use, crime, and an eventual prison stay at Rikers Island.

This autobiography details Thompson's journey through the storms and the darkness in life, but it also narrates how God came to help and instilled light in his mind and his soul and facilitated a complete spiritual balance.

Barb Voss had suffered a lifetime of hurt, trauma, and loss, but that didn't stop veterinarian James A. Kennedy from wooing her and stealing her heart. In this true love story, Barb recalls how she searched, prayed, and waited for her "cowboy knight"-and eventually found him through a Christian website and divine intervention.

Including original e-mail messages, Barb's memoir recalls the love that developed between two former strangers. How do shields come down for love to finally take hold? How does a love for God shine through the most joyful and painful of experiences? How does someone get through poor health, the death of loved ones, and a variety of betrayals?

Telling her life story, Barb recounts seeking to answer these questions while leaving the past behind to find her once-in-a-lifetime love. She met an extraordinary man, and she shares all the romantic details in My Cowboy Knight, My Boaz. This book may contain what could be some of the most beautiful love letters and prayers ever.

Caution: "An Only Hope" could soften a hard heart or open a blind eye. Humor and pathos surely enough for one lifetime unfold in patterned fashion. God's faithful hand on display-so obvious yet mysterious-encourages, protects, comforts and heals.

"A lot of water shimmers under the bay bridge. A lot of aqua and blue streaked water teems with reds, speckled trout, sharks, sting rays, pelicans diving, and dolphins leaping. "

"The wind sometimes churns the sea an angry gray and occasionally threatens to blow my dreams away. Last fall it blew in the red tide with its stench of death, choking the lungs and making the eyes tear. That same wind changed on a whim and blew the algae out to sea, and easy waves covered all as if nothing had happened. And so the waters of the gulf mirror my life with all its beauty and challenge. "

"Katherine's plane has repeatedly crashed-in a childhood rape and a failed marriage, her sons' heartbreaking choices, in her own illnesses of body and soul, as well as sore disappointments in church and work alike. Yet though often smashed, the fine aircraft of her life has never burned. She is indeed an exemplary survivor. Her story will encourage readers who want to look life squarely in the eye, and to be buoyed by her bedrock faith that (as a Tolkien character says) 'everything sad will become untrue.'"
-Ralph C. Wood, professor of theology and literature, Baylor University, Waco, Texas

"There are some people created by our heavenly Father who have courage along with faith, and this book captures the author's steadfast resolve to go through her memory bank of joy along with the agony of loss. I know it will be a blessing to all who read it. The sequel will be in heaven when all are reunited."
-Barbara Creighton, friend, CEO, Sarati International, Bayview, Texas

"A compelling, candid look at a life of faith."
-Hamilton Musser, pastor, CornerStone Church by the Bay, Laguna Vista, Texas

"You are about to embark on a journey that will take you places you've never been before and you will learn much about things you don't even know exist." The words flowed out of Patricia Beirne's hand and onto the paper in front of her. Subsequent sessions of automatic writing encouraged her and gave suggestions. "I never felt alone again," she says about the beginning of her extraordinary voyage of discovery.

To the outside world, Patricia seemed to have it all: an athletic, successful husband, two beautiful daughters, and a home in the San Diego area. Raised with rigid ideas about what women should be, she worked to be the perfect wife, hostess, mother, and homemaker. But as the years went by, Patricia could no longer ignore the growing restlessness and unsettling dreams stirring inside her. She knew she was being called to discover the meaning of her life ... but what was it?

Within a five-year period, both daughters were in serious car accidents, one struggled with drug use, and the other fought depression and a mysterious illness that took her to the hospital-all while Patricia's marriage deteriorated. It was then that she discovered she had a gift. She could trust the divine, loving Voice that directed her, and she could use her gift to help her daughters as well as others. Her story is a testament to what can happen when we listen, trust, and open ourselves to new ways of hearing and healing.