BOOK SHINES LIGHT ON CHILDREN IN WAR ZONES
Local writer and publisher Alison Uitti is hosting a book launch with a difference.
Impossibilities are Targets for Miracles, the book being launched, was produced by Uitti’s Wordwind Press publishing company. It is a compilation of two dozen stories written by Cassandra Basnett Lee and 18 other Saskatchewan authors. The proceeds from sales of the book will go to Justice Rising, Lee’s ministry organization which works mainly in Africa.
Lee, originally from Saskatoon, is the founder, president and codirector of Justice Rising. The goal of her work in war torn regions of Africa is to bring hope to children who have been trapped in a world of child soldiering and child brothels. Her organization brings peace to communities affected by war by educating children at risk, creating sustainable jobs, and developing community leaders. Her efforts are characterized by a deep trust in God and a heart for the children she rescues.
“I will never forget the first time I sat in an internally displaced persons’ camp in Goma, the provincial capital in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, listening to war stories,” Lee writes in her introduction to the book. “I was sitting on a rock for a chair, the jagged stone edges digging deep into my hip. As I sat there, listening to story after story, I tried desperately to wrap my mind around some of the horrors that far too many children and families have been exposed to.”
She tells of a boy abducted into the rebel army, barely big enough to hold a gun. A young girl forced to marry at just eight years old. A father, hidden deep in the jungle with his terrified wife and children, fighting constant fatigue as he kept watch for rebel soldiers.
“My heart had already been stirred as a young girl ... listening to news stories of the Rwandan genocide,” she says. “But now these stories had faces. I said, ‘What can I do to bring about peace in conflict areas like these?’ ”
Lee realized that education was one of the things that could make a critical difference in the lives of many and begin the transformation of war torn communities.
The first Justice Rising School started small. It required Lee cleaning out her bank account to build a school and educate just under 100 Congolese children. The work has continued and this year Justice Rising acquired land for its seventh school.
Alison Uitti (pronounced Wheat-y) heard Lee’s stories at a fundraising dinner a few years ago where Lee gave a report on her organization’s work.
“During her presentation, Cassandra made a statement so profound it struck me then and has impacted my life ever since,” Uitti says. “Cassandra said, ‘Impossibilities are targets for miracles.’ ”
Uitti was equally impacted by Lee’s blog, www.justicerising. org/blog, where she maintains a vividly descriptive account of her day-to-day work with Justice Rising, often relating the miracles that have taken place in impossible circumstances.
“I know that people experience miracles all the time,” Uitti says, “and I felt it would be good if people could read a book about everyday miracles and learn more about Justice Rising at the same time. I contacted Cassandra who was very much in favour of the project.
“The fun part for me was putting out invitations to people I knew who’d had miracles in their life. I believed it would be an opportunity for Saskatoon and Saskatchewan people to share their stories and bless readers, as well as helping to support Justice Rising.”
Uitti contacted 50 different Saskatchewan authors about contributing their personal miracle stories. She received 18 submissions. Lee contributed seven miracle stories that stem from her work with Justice Rising in Congo and Kenya.
“The rest are peoples’ everyday encounters with God,” Uitti says. “They are everyday miracles that impact and change our lives.”
Impossibilities are Targets for Miracles features stories from Cassandra Lee, Caroline Bykowy, Sakina Bikuta, Boyd Hopkins, Carol Ann Kopperud, Jodi Kozan, Adela Lenz, Deborah McConkey, Michelle McGaffin, Sally Meadows, Euphrasie Nyiranzoza, Jakob Palm, Beielle Retsof, Corrine Shantz, Michelle Shaw, Brian Smith, Becky Thomas, Maylane Wong and Alison Uitti.
A book launch and author reading is planned for Sunday from 3 to 4 p.m. in the auditorium of Horizon College. This is a free public event; no tickets are required.
Michelle Shaw, Deborah McConkey, and Uitti will do readings, and Wendy Basnett, Lee’s mother, will share stories about her daughter’s work and ministry in Congo and Kenya.
Copies of the book will be available for $20. All money raised goes to Justice Rising.
Horizon College is located at 1303 Jackson Avenue. Entry is on Jackson, just past the parking lot.
I know that people experience miracles all the time. I believed it would be an opportunity for Saskatchewan people to share their stories and bless readers, as well as helping to support Justice Rising. Alison Uitti