Hiding In the Light by Rifqa Bary

About the Book:

“After four years of hiding my faith from my family, I knew that it was time. I wrote with shaky hands, ‘Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. I refuse to deny him….’ There was no turning back now. I had to get out of that house if I wanted to live. Was this worth risking everything for? Yes.”
Rifqa Bary grew up in a devout Muslim home, obediently following her parents’ orders to practice the rituals of Islam. But God was calling her to freedom and love. He was calling her to true faith. He was calling her to give up everything.

Leaving Islam for Christianity cost her more than she imagined
but gave more than she could have dreamed.

Hiding in the Light is the story of Rifqa’s remarkable spiritual journey from Islam to Christianity. It is also the untold story of how she ran from her father’s threats to find refuge with strangers in Florida, only to face a controversial court case that reached national headlines. Most of all, it is the story of a young girl who made life-changing sacrifices to follow Jesus—and who inspires us to do the same.

My Thoughts:

I'm not sure that those of us living in America can fully grasp what it means to live a life of sacrifice for our faith.  Possibly, believers who've served in missions may have an understanding.  But, even then, those who serve on foreign soil still have the security of the United States behind them.

For someone like Rifqa Bary, loving Jesus costs everything: her loyalty to her birth country, her family, her friends, her security, and her very life.  To know a single choice to believe will leave you with nothing but your faith...that's powerful.

"Hiding In the Light" is the story of how one young woman raised in an Islamic home chose Christ and allowed Him to become her everything.  Her engaging story begins with her as a little girl, encountering her Savior in a most unexpected and memorable way.

Growing up in Sri Lanka, Rifqa had a happy childhood.  A life obeying Islam was all she'd known, and it was all encompassing.  At the age of six, an argument with her older brother about a toy metal airplane resulted in a severe injury that permanently damaged her right eye and changing her world.

Rifqa was now 'damaged', and the atmosphere in her home grew cold and distant. Eventually her father moved the family to New York, to a tiny home in Queens.  Then September 11, 2001 happened, and Rifqa's world changed yet again.

But through all of the suffering, questions and hardships, God was wooing Rifqa into a relationship with Himself, using her friendship with Emma, a girl living next door and a young boy named Aiden and a close friend named Angela.

Reading Rifqa's faith journey reignited my own.  Her gift with words paints a vivid portrait of one young girl desperate to find truth and freedom.  By the time I'd arrived at the portion of the book where Rifqa makes her choice to flee to safety, I'd remembered her story and how it had made national headlines.

"Hiding in the Light" is so important to the reading world.  We need stories like Rifqa's to shake us loose from faith that just 'is', but too often doesn't seem to have an impact.  We need to meet people like Rifqa, to understand just what faith in Christ costs them, and to understand how we might reach out in the name of Jesus to those seeking Him...

...even if they don't know they're seeking.

I encourage you to buy a copy of "Hiding in the Light", to read it and to talk about it within your circle of influence.  The church in America needs to awaken, to remember her First Love, and "Hiding in the Light" can be that needed spark.

My thanks to my friends at Waterbrook Press for my complimentary copy of "Hiding in the Light" in exchange for an honest review.  Highly recommended.

Happy Reading!





Sell Used Books - Have Your Books Shipped To Us For Free And Get Fast Cash Back!