Johanna is a typical teenage girl growing up in the heartland of America, in a "Christian" home. She has found a dynamic Christian friend, Kelly, who is planning on going on a short-term mission trip to Haiti with Maranatha Missions. Johanna has visited Kelly's church, and the two girls have decided to sponsor girls named Yolene and Mirline in Haiti. In the meantime Yolene has been on the waiting list for months to be sponsored, so she can go to school near her small village in rural Haiti. Yolene's brother, Charles, has been exposed to the Gospel and has a close brush with death. The book examines cross-cultural issues involved with life in two very different cultures: a rural Midwestern American setting, and a North Central Haiti setting, and the parallel lives of the characters day-by-day. Robert Dubois is an engineer born and raised in New England. Robert has made over 20 short-term trips to Haiti, including 10 months in the rural provinces. He and his wife and three children live in South Florida, where they attend Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale and are active in the Children's Ministry. Robert has been extensively involved in child sponsorship programs for several large missions organizations, and he and his wife have personally sponsored over a dozen children in Haiti with World Vision, Compassion International, New Missions and Bethanie Missions. He and his wife Marie are writing the Johanna series to raise awareness for the need for child sponsorship in Haiti and other underdeveloped countries, as they believe that the hope for these countries rests with the youth, who can be reached with the Gospel and educated, and eventually impact their native lands for Christ.
