Showing results by author "Neta Jackson" in All Categories

What do an ex-con, a former drug addict, a real estate broker, a college student and a married mother of two have in common? Nothing, or so I thought. Who would have imagined that God would make a prayer group as mismatched as ours the closest of friends? I almost didn’t even go to the Chicago Women’s Conference—after all, being thrown together with five hundred strangers wasn’t exactly my “comfort zone.” But something happened that weekend to make us realize we had to hang together, and the "Yada Yada Prayer Group” was born!

An urgent call for help cut through the morning mists that floated along the shore of Lake Shirwa. Two young African boys, Wikatani and Chuma, had been captured by slave traders, but their desperate cries would never reach their village. Overpowered by their captors, the boys’ only hope is to endure a ruthless march through the jungles that takes them far from their village to a destination unknown.  Fortunately for Wikatani and Chuma, help on the way. David Livingstone, a missionary and British government official, is doing everything he can to put a halt to the slave traders.

The Yada Yada Prayer Group is in trouble—and they’re having a hard time getting out. Jodi Baxter is feeling overwhelmed, to say the least. Every day it seems that more blessings, problems, and everything in between crop up among her Yada Yada sisters, and their prayer list is getting out of control.

Neil Thompson had promised his grandmother that he would wait for his grandfather to bring him to see the great oceangoing ships at the docks in Liverpool, England. But when he convinced himself that it was okay to go alone, he did not know the danger he would face on that bright morning in September 1853. The docks were no place for a 12-year-old boy who was alone. Stopping to admire a small clipper ship, the Dumfries, Neil is suddenly grabbed and dragged aboard the ship, then locked in a small, dark room until the ship is on its way to sea.

Jerry Newman doesn’t mean to keep getting into trouble - it just sort of happens. But when a practical joke goes wrong, burning down a church in his small east Texas town, Jerry’s widowed mother quickly sends him to live with his journalist uncle in Los Angeles. Jerry is secretly pleased not only to avoid being punished for his crime but also to live in California. On the night before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Jerry and his uncle go to investigate a popular warehouse church in Los Angeles. There, they hear a man predict the coming quake.

It is sometime during the 1880's, and Jack and Amy have come to London searching for their uncle.
On their own without money, food, or shelter, they have nowhere else to turn. But what is the chance of finding him when they don’t even know where he lives? For the two youngsters, attempting to live on the streets is frightening, dangerous, and an opportunity for the worst elements of the city to take advantage of them. London society has become uncaring, even cruel, to the needy. Where can they find safety?

Jodi Baxter is feeling overwhelmed, to say the least. Every day it seems that more blessings, problems, and everything in between crop up among her Yada Yada sisters, and their prayer list is getting out of control. Not only are the Yada Yadas still recovering from the vicious racial attack on Mark, but Ruth and Ben’s midlife pregnancy takes a dangerous turn, Avis’s daughter and grandbaby show up unannounced, Florida’s artistic son gets caught tagging, and Uptown is talking about merging with New Morning into one racially mixed church—raising anxiety and stress to new levels.

By the time Curly Roddy was 12 years old, he’d already survived six years as a homeless orphan on the cruel streets of London in the 1870s. He had perfected his skills at snatching purses and picking pockets. But when Curly overheard that a church was raising £3,000 for an orphan house, the church’s treasure should easily be taken. But the highway robbery brings Curly more trouble than he had bargained for. Will George Müller, the man in charge of the orphanage, make Curly into a slave to earn back at least a portion of the money? Or might they do something even worse? 

In Where Do I Go? by Gold Medallion Award winner Neta Jackson, Gabrielle Fairbanks hopes her move to Chicago will help her find real purpose in life. When she stumbles over a homeless woman and into a job as program director of the House of Hope—a downtown women’s homeless shelter—she believes she’s found what she’s been missing. And then her disgruntled husband threatens to divorce her and take custody of their children unless she quits working at the shelter.

Karl Schumacher was 15 when he came to the German city of Wittenberg in 1520 seeking an education. He had been very fortunate that the esteemed university professor, Doctor Martin Luther, had taken him into his household as a servant. Luther’s promise of tutoring Karl in exchange for his labor was the chance of a lifetime - until a poster on the church door declared his master a heretic! Karl is asked to travel with Doctor Luther to appear before the emperor’s Imperial Council in the city of Worms. Will his life be at stake as well as Luther’s?

Sometimes the person you most need is the one least like you. Kathryn Davies is a bright young woman form a prominent Phoenix family. But after making a leap of faith at a Christian music fest, dropping out of med school, and moving to inner city Chicago, her family all but disowns her. When Kat discovers SouledOut Community Church, she longs to become a part of the multicultural church family.

When her husband locks her out of their Chicago penthouse and disappears with her sons, Gabby Fairbanks is left homeless and stunned. Taking refuge at the women’s shelter where she works, she tries to salvage the shattered pieces of her life. There, her friends—including the Yada Yada Prayer Group—offer their support. Yet from therumors of a midnight intruder to the warm attentions of a lawyer, circumstances seem to threaten her chances of ever putting her family back together again.

Now that Gabby is back on her feet after being in a homeless shelter, she has a new dream that will stretch her faith further than ever. Gabby expects a fight from her husband over custody of their boys, but she is taken aback when he leans on her for a loan to cover his gambling debts. When she turns him down, Philip makes a desperate move that puts Gabby, her friends at the shelter, and even the House of Hope at risk.

Six-year-old Mei-en screamed in terror when she realized her gypsy owner was about to sell her to a foreign lady. Orphans were often sold for pennies. But foreigners in China were considered "devils," and Mei-en thought surely the little woman in Chinese clothes would eat her for supper! But this time, Mei-en’s new owner was the compassionate and respected missionary, Gladys Aylward. Mei-en saw wonderful silver "birds" flying in the sky, but her delight turned to dread when they began dropping bombs that exploded all over the city. Their only escape was over the mountains! 

Kat Davies is suddenly wondering if her good deed was a bad idea. Kat may be new in her faith, but she's embraced the more radical implications of Christianity with reckless abandon. She invited Rochelle, a homeless mother, and her son to move into the apartment she shares with two other housemates. And she's finally found a practical way to channel her passion for healthy eating by starting a food pantry at the church. And her feelings for Nick are getting harder to ignore. The fact that he's the interning pastor at SouledOut Community Church and one of her housemates makes it complicated enough.

Thirteen-year-old Elizabeth Tilley and her family have been waiting for this day for months - the day the Mayflower sets sail from England. The late start means uncertain weather and a long, hard journey for everyone. But the trip seems especially rough for Dorothy Bradford, the frail young wife of William Bradford. One night, Elizabeth discovers Dorothy alone on deck. Thinking the woman wants to be alone, Elizabeth returns to bed. But the next morning, she awakes to the news that Dorothy has disappeared!

Eleven-year-old Niwa is outlawed by his tribe, the Auca, for angering another tribe, and not even his family will protect him. Then a huge "woodbee" flies overhead, dropping gifts to Niwa’s tribe from pilot Nate Saint and the other members of a missions team hoping to share the Gospel with them. Alone and afraid, Niwa is excited by the prospect of outsiders who want to help him. But when someone else from the tribe lies about the five men wanting to attack them, the whole village wants them dead - except for Niwa. 

Sarah Poyntz is the daughter of an English merchant who operates a shipping business from Antwerp, Belgium, in 1535. Her father is very interested in the ideas of William Tyndale, who has fled England as a condemned outlaw for refusing to stop his translation work of the English Bible. Tyndale believes that the word of God should be read by the common people in their own language, a belief shared by the Poyntz family.  

Jodi Baxter is slowly recuperating from a horrific car accident, but before she’s fully recovered, other problems arise within the Yada Yada Prayer Group—big problems. The turmoil starts when a heroin-addicted woman charges into a prayer meeting with a knife and isn’t afraid to use it. Things really take a turn for the worse when grim accusations are made against Jodi’s husband. Racial division, pain, and pride are tearing this close-knit group of women apart, and Jodi isn’t sure if she and her spiritual sisters will be able to survive the mess.

After a particularly exhausting year with the Yada Yada Prayer Group, all Jodi Baxter wants is a break. She even asks God for a little “dull and boring” in the new year. Instead she finds that when you’re open to His plans, life is unpredictable—in the best and hardest ways. Jodi’s life is suddenly full of changes, and they can be described as anything but boring.