Johanna is a typical teenage girl growing up in the heartland of America, in a "Christian" home. Her best friend, Kelly, a dynamic Christian, has been witnessing to Johanna and inviting her to youth group. Kelly is planning on going on a short-term mission trip to Haiti with Maranatha Missions. Johanna is recovering from a near-fatal snow sliding accident. Both Johanna and Kelly have sponsored girls about their own age in Haiti, named Yolene and Mirline. Yolene's brothers Charles and Pierre have been presented the gospel on numerous occasions but they want to continue to sow their wild oats. 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 E. Woods (writing under the nom de plume or pen name of Robert Dubois) is a transportation designer born and raised in Vermont. Robert has two daughters and five grandchildren in Virginia. He and his wife and their three youngest 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 has 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 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 cultures for Christ.
