Danger...

I love danger. Safe danger, that is. The kind that can be escaped by simply closing the book or clicking off the television.

But on a mission trip last month, I met countless people who’d experienced true danger. 

One woman shared her story with me. "Do as we say," the village men told her, "or you will die." They punctuated the threat with a beating. 

She and her husband escaped. They spent days in the bush with no food or water. Eventually, they got out of their country and, after a few stops, illegally entered Turkey, where they were discovered, arrested, and thrown in jail for three months.

They were released and finally made it to the west coast, where they, along with thirty or more other refugees, boarded a life raft built for ten. 

Many of the refugees don't know how to swim. 

"...nobody puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land."

My friend, her husband, and all the others on their raft, made the harrowing journey at night, across four miles of sea to Greece, and finally to the refugee camp on the island of Lesvos. 

I wish I could report that the camp is a safe place. It's certainly safer than the village she escaped, but the people in the camps come from different backgrounds, nations, and religions, some with long rivalries. Add to that the fact that they can't work, have little money and nowhere to go, and tensions run high. 

Danger.

The world is fraught with it. We can forget, can't we? Relaxing in our safe homes with running water and refrigerators full of food, settled in peaceful neighborhoods filled with the sounds of sprinkler systems and children's laughter. We can forget what a dangerous world we live in.

But God never forgets. 

She escaped her village and desperately seeks a new home.

I'm home, in my safe little Texas community, but I hope I always remember how blessed I am and how much the world needs what I have. Not money--though many need that too. But the love and hope and peace that can only be found in God. It sounds so trite to say, but Jesus really is the answer. 

The stories I heard in Greece will stay with me. Maybe they'll make it into my books someday. Right now, I'm still processing, trying to figure out what to do with what I've learned. 

Have you ever been on a mission trip? If so, what did you learn? If not, do you want to try it? Comment below. I'm giving away an ebook copy of my latest book, Courage in the Shadows, to one lucky winner. 

INTERVIEW WITH LISA HARRIS

Marji here. I was delighted to get an advanced copy of Vendetta by Lisa Harris. It was the first I'd ever read from her. Wow! Check out my entire review here.

Reading the book left me terribly curious about the author and the more I learned the more I wanted to know, especially about her work in Mozambique!

Lisa Harris is a Christy Award winner, the winner of the Best Inspirational Suspense Novel for 2011 from Romantic Times, and the author of nearly thirty books, including Dangerous Passage, Fatal Exchange, and Hidden Agenda. She and her family have spent twelve years living as missionaries in southern Africa. They currently live in Mozambique, where Lisa leads a women’s ministry and runs a nonprofit organization that works alongside their church-planting ministry. Learn more at www.lisaharriswrites.com.

And then we got to do a little email chit-chat!

Vendetta is outstanding! I recently shared my thoughts about it on the Suspense Sisters review page. But it made me curious. After writing so many books – I’m counting 29 from your website, Lisa Harris Writes – how do you keep things fresh?

Yeah! I’m so thrilled that you enjoyed Vendetta. As for keeping it fresh. . .I guess it’s just as important for me to enjoy what I’m writing as for my readers to enjoy what they’re reading. Because when I really love what I’m writing, I think—hope— that will translate into something fresh and fun for my readers.

I’m also curious about how you organize your stories. Vendetta had great twists. Did you plan them way ahead, or did they surprise you?

I do a bit of both. I plan a lot of what I want to happen in the story since it’s pretty complex, but there are always twists along the way I don’t expect. It makes it fun and keeps me interested in the story too. In fact, my husband always laughs at me when something I write makes me cry or surprises me.

And along the same lines, have you ever cut things from your stories – where you expected your plot to go or subplots? Did any of them become new stories?

No. In fact, I usually end up short on words rather than having it too long, and usually I ‘know’ what scenes need to be there so I don’t end up cutting much.

Switching gears, I’m delighted with what I’ve read about your work in Mozambique, particularly with the ECHO project. Did you go to Mozambique to work with that program or was that project a bonus?

Our time in Mozambique has been challenging, but also a huge blessing to our family, and The ECHO Project was definitely a bonus. After we’d lived in Mozambique for a couple years, we realized we were dealing with so many physical needs that we needed to start a non-profit so we could help more people. That was the beginning of The ECHO Project. I’ve often had to remind myself that I still can’t fix everyone’s situation, or help everyone who has a need, but for that one person who’s life is changed, that is enough.

How did the ministry come about?

Everything is based on the needs we see on a daily basis. We provide food packets to families caring for orphans, medical treatment, housing, school needs, and some micro loans. My current dream is to build a compound where we can bring in people who need hospice care or children/women who need a home. This is a huge need for this. We will have some of the local Christians trained to help them as they run the small compound. I’m also hoping to begin a sewing project to help the single mothers, especially out in the villages, earn money for their families.

What type of work do you do with it daily/weekly?

My role has changed and shifted over the years depending on how many kids I have at home. :-) And that role varies with things like delivering food baskets, to driving people to the hospital for treatment, to visiting people in the hospital, handing out vitamins, medicine, and baby formula.

How can people in the states get involved with your work in Mozambique?

You can learn more about what God is doing through this project at http://theechoprojectblog.blogspot.com or our church planting ministry at www.africanoutreachministries.org

Thank you so much for having me on the Suspense Sisters!

And here's the skinny on her newest book that comes out October 1, Vendetta!

Christy Award Winner Invites Readers on a Spine-Chilling Case where the Hunter Becomes the Hunted

With this explosive first book in the new Nikki Boyd Files, Lisa Harris takes readers on a fast-paced pursuit of justice that will have them holding their breath until the heart-stopping finish.

No one needs to push Nikki Boyd to excel on the Tennessee Missing Person Task Force. The case of her own missing sister, still unsolved after ten years, is the driving force in her work. When a Polaroid photo of a missing girl shows up at a crime scene, Nikki quickly recognizes similarities to the past. The closer she gets to the abductor, the more she feels that this case is getting personal and that she is not the hunter at all—but actually the one being hunted.

We were planning to give away a copy of Lisa's book, Hidden Agenda, but Lisa is offering up a copy of Vendetta! Woohoo! Please leave a comment below with your email address to be entered in our drawing! (U.S. only, please.)