Contact: Audra Jennings
ajennings@tbbmedia.com – 800-927-0517 x104
Colorado Springs, CO–The INSPY Advisory Board recently announced the winners of the 2011 INSPY, an award created by bloggers to select and showcase preeminent faith-inspired literature of today, both in the Christian and general markets. Passport Through Darkness: A True Story of Danger and Second Chances, written by Kimberly L. Smith and published by David C Cook, was awarded the INSPY in the creative nonfiction category.
In Passport Through Darkness, Kimberly Smith shares her powerful and often horrifying personal stories of fighting human trafficking as an ordinary Christian woman and offers a challenge to those who wonder if God is calling them to greater things. Smith takes readers on a journey from a normal family life and business, to Europe where she was introduced to human trafficking firsthand, to the most volatile and oppressive nations of Africa, and, ultimately, to the deserts of her own soul as she tries to crusade for justice for orphans around the world and fulfill God’s purpose for her. Readers, including many bloggers who were a part of the nomination and selection process for the INSPY Award, have expressed the tremendous emotional impact of Smith’s story on their own lives. The stark reality of crimes against humanity will make readers uncomfortable which is often necessary to mobilize change.
When Smith and her husband risked everything to answer God’s call, they saw God change and restore them—even amid exhaustion, marital struggles, and physical limitations. The couple’s formerly self-centered lives were transformed into an international effort to save thousands from modern-day slavery, persecution, disease, and genocide. Smith’s life, both personally and professionally, is dedicated to bringing an end to human trafficking and offering hope to the hopeless. She is the president and co-founder of Make Way Partners (www.makewaypartners.org), a mission organization committed to finding practical ways to protect those most vulnerable and who have the fewest resources for help, with present efforts in Sudan, DR Congo, Romania, and Peru. A victim of violence while serving in Sudan herself, Smith is working to build the only private and indigenously based anti-trafficking network in Africa and Eastern Europe.
“We are thrilled that Passport Through Darkness is receiving the recognition it deserves,” says Don Pape, vice president of trade publishing at David C Cook. “Smith has paid a dear price to earn the privilege of speaking to the world through her book. She has witnessed atrocities with her own eyes that many do not even know about. We are honored to have played a part in bringing the complexities of human trafficking to the public.”
Through Passport Through Darkness, Smith beckons readers to live sacrificially, to make life-transforming choices, and to follow in earnest the purposes of God, a worthy call and mission that resonates with the team at David C Cook.
David C Cook is a leading nonprofit resource provider serving the global Church with life-transforming, Christ-centered materials. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with offices in Illinois, Canada and the United Kingdom, David C Cook’s resources are published in over 150 languages and distributed in more than 160 countries. Originally founded in 1875 as a curriculum publisher, today David C Cook publishes numerous bestselling fiction and non-fiction books from a variety of award-winning authors. It is also a leading provider of worship music through its Integrity Music and Kingsway Music labels, which produce over one-third of the top 100 praise and worship songs sung around the world.