Passport through Darkness: A True Story of Danger and Second Chances

** spoiler alert ** This was a very emotional book, but I was slightly disappointed. From the blurb I thought it was more about the actual trafficking in slaves and less about the atrocities of war. In actuality, the book is really more the authors memoir of her journey to God through Christ's example. It was well written, just not quite what I was expecting. It opened my eyes to the callousness of humanity nearly as much as Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda by Romeo Dallaire. I was already aware of the genocide and torture/mutilation occurring in Sudan. I was not aware of the corruption and lack of sympathy portrayed by the Portuguese authorities. Coming from a background of law enforcement, and with several relatives and close friends in the field as well, it's hard for me to understand how they can turn a blind eye on the continual sexual abuse of children. The small section dealing with Portugal was also the only part of the book that dealt with what I would consider what most people think of as 'human trafficking', which was the importation and holding of children as sex slaves. The majority of the book dealt with her experiences along the Kenya/Sudan border with the widows and orphans of the civil war in Sudan. The females who aren't captured as slaves are raped and mutilated so that if they survive, no man will want them. The children who aren't taken away as slaves are left to fend for themselves against the lions, hyenas, heat, dehydration, malnutrition and disease. One thing I found rather unsettling was her rather casual, almost flippant, description of her rape and how she dealt with it at the time. It was almost like it was thrown into the book as an afterthought; as in "Oh, yeah, this also happened". Another part of the book dealt with her and her husbands strained relationship due to the fact that they felt they needed to hide things from each other to remain strong for the other. Part of this may have been due to the extreme distance, time and culture that separated them. The eBook was formatted fine with no obvious errors.

I don't really have much patience for reading, but I read this book in just a couple of days. Mama Kimberly's story is so heart-wrenching it touched my soul and hooked me right away. I had no idea how things were there. She has to be the strongest lady EVER. To be able to survive all she has and still tell her story... Incredible. Amazing lady and such faith.

To actually witness suffering and persecution...to stop living your dream and open yourself up to live the dream God intended for you....thanks for opening my eyes to this.