This book reminded me of A Long Walk to Water. Many of the themes of the Sudanese Civil War (Wars?) felt very familiar and heart-breaking. I was grateful to be able to hear such a moving and inspiring story.

Rebecca Deng's story is important and must be a staple in every high school reading. People need to understand what it is like for people living in war-torn areas and what they go through. When people have conflict it doesn't just affect those people it affects children, women, babies, elderly, and even people who don't want the war. This story encompasses how hard this was for Rebecca and what she went through even when she rose above a lot of it and received her Master's and is now helping others who lived like she did.

This is a truly heart wrenching memoir told with passion and courage. Rebecca’s story is incredible and I couldn’t put it down.

Wow, what an incredible story! It's really unreal what some people go through in the lives. It's amazing that they can overcome things and share their stories with the rest of us. I appreciated this book so much.

So beautifully written, a very moving story of God's faithfulness and providence in the life of one woman.

I couldn't put this one down. It's an amazing, true blue testimony of God's love 💕

Thanks netgalley for giving me the pdf so that I can share my thoughts and opinions with y'all 🧡

What an amazing story of loss, forgiveness and redemption! I hadn't read about the civil war in Sudan and the Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan before so this was a good introduction to a horrific time in Sudan's history. This book wasn't overly graphic but got the point across in a way that really made the reader understand the horrors of war and the refugee plight. Rebecca was accepted into the Lost Girls program and come to America to continue her education and made a life for herself. She also hasn't forgotten her past and helps others through the traumas that war bring.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion.

What an inspiration Rebecca's story is! I am sad to admit that I never even considered that there would be Lost Girls of Sudan, just as there are Lost Boys. Rebecca's faith, determination, and love for God, family, and country are so evident in her story. I highly recommend this book! She is exactly my age yet has experienced so much more heartache than I could imagine. The courage and hope she demonstrates in light of it all is amazing to read about. What a great read (though I am grieved that things she experienced actually happen).

This first-person memoir of the author's life as a refugee is heartrending and eye-opening. Rebecca Deng endured things that no person should ever have to, and she did it while a child. She fled her home, lost her entire family, lived in a refugee camp for nearly a decade, and moved to Minnesota as a Lost Girl in a relocation program. Her faith in God and community with Christians sustained her through it all.

There are not a large number of books about female teenagers who came to the U.S. as refugees from South Sudan. This is one of those books.

We follow along with Rebecca beginning with her village in South Sudan when she is a young girl and the war is still something happening someplace else. Until suddenly it's not, and she and her family must flee for their lives. Along the way, she loses some family members, several of which she'll never see again. Eventually, she ends up in a refugee camp with some of her extended family. There she is able to apply as a refugee to the U.S., but it requires leaving her relatives behind. She decides to go with the blessing of her uncle.

Rebecca's story doesn't end there, though. Upon arriving in the U.S., she is placed with a family since she is still a minor. She struggles to adapt to the culture and school system within the U.S. plus an unexpected challenge related to her last days in the refugee camp. Through it all, Rebecca shares about her faith in God and how this helps sustain her in spite of everything she is going through. The experiences Rebecca has had allow her a unique perspective on helping others which is the direction her life takes once she graduates from college.

I strongly recommend this title for anyone who would like to expand their worldview as it provides a remarkable firsthand account of a historical atrocity that we only heard about on the news. Deng’s writing is descriptive and beautiful, painting a brightly woven tapestry of heartbreak, sorrow, hope, and healing. I don’t know how anyone could read it without being moved by her story – her strength, her brokenness, her light, her voice. Candid and captivating, she doesn’t shy away from the darkness encountered in her journey, but leads you carefully by the hand as you take every step with her. Rebecca Deng is a beacon of purpose and peace as she shares her incredible history without bitterness.

My thanks to the publisher for the complimentary copy of this title via NetGalley. I will be purchasing when I can locate a supplier in Canada.

I just don't know how to properly describe this biography. Powerful is the first word that comes to mind, but it isn't adequate!

It took me a few chapters to really get into this, but once I did, it became almost impossible to stop thinking about this book when I wasn't reading it. I would go to sleep at night thinking about this child and her trials

Rebecca tells of her childhood seeking safety in war-torn Sudan. When she is 5 years old, her mother dies and she is left to be raised by an uncle and a grandmother. Her father is a soldier fighting the war. As the war comes closer, they are forced to flee their village and everything familiar to a child. I sometimes wondered how far she actually walked seeking a place of refuge. She faced hunger, the terror of night, fear of wild animals, thirst, separation from her family, and then later the people who took her in as one of their own. Eventually she makes it to a refuge camp where she is reunited with some of her family, but they still face hunger as the rations they are given are so sparse. As I read, I was distressed when I imagined one of my granddaughters, the same age as Rebecca at any given time in her life, suffering as she did.

She is able to get an education in the refuge camp schools set up when it becomes clear that no one is going home. The conditions of the camp are horrifying to those of us in the safe western world.

And yet, her faith arrises her through, even though at times she doubts God's goodness. Rebecca is brought to America, has a supportive foster family, goes to college, she marries, has children, works to help other child refugees. It is a good ending for a story that had so many opportunities to go wrong.

I am writing this a week after finishing the book and I still can't get things out of my mind. Today I learned about something happening in my own community that brought me to tears. It had to do with food for hungry children. I knew that the children here are so much better off than Rebecca and her companions were and I cried for the children locally and for the children of Sudan who indured much more hardship than the children here.

I really believe that this should be required reading for high school students. The early part of the book is written as a child telling her story. As Rebecca matures and goes to college, the story becomes more adult, Because there is a rape in the story, I would not recommend it for lower grades.
The reading is simple enough, but the subject might be too much for younger children to handle.

“I guess that’s why God calls each of us to a specific purpose- to serve others. Each of us is called to make this world a better place by addressing the issues of injustice. For me, sometimes that has been doing big-picture things... More often than not, however, serving others and seeking justice is about doing the right things for those around us.”

This book is a powerful memoir of one woman’s journey from being a little girl in her remote village in Sudan, to being on the run from an opposing army, to being a refugee in an overcrowded camp in Kenya, to being a student in the United States, and beyond (I don’t want to spoil the story by revealing any more). A testimony to God’s faithfulness and goodness in times where it seems hopeless and dark, this book will make you examine your own heart in the midst of whatever your circumstance.

I really enjoyed reading this book. The author is very descriptive and so many times I could feel what the character was going through. This book will stir many emotions and the author did a great job of really making you feel what the character was going through. I highly recommend this book and thanks to the publisher and netgally for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Title: What They Meant for Evil
Author: Rebecca Deng
Genre: Nonfiction
Rating: 4 out of 5

One of the first unaccompanied refugee children to enter the United States in 2000, after South Sudan's second civil war took the lives of most of her family, Rebecca's story begins in the late 1980s when, at the age of four, her village was attacked and she had to escape. What They Meant for Evil is the account of that unimaginable journey. With the candor and purity of a child, Rebecca recalls how she endured fleeing from gunfire, suffering through hunger and strength-sapping illnesses, dodging life-threatening predators-lions, snakes, crocodiles, and soldiers alike-that dogged her footsteps, and grappling with a war that stole her childhood.

I cannot imagine the strength it takes to go through something like this…and to not just survive but thrive! I love how the story is told through Rebecca’s eyes at the age the events happened. This gives the story even more impact. While the things she went through are horrific—and the idea that untold numbers also experienced the violence and pain of this same war—her determination and accomplishments are very inspiring!

Rebecca Deng is one of the Lost Girls of Sudan who came to the U.S. in 2000 to escape the violence and war that had plagued her country for years. What They Meant for Evil is her story.

(Galley courtesy of FaithWords in exchange for an honest review.)

This was an amazing story of a young woman from the Sudan who showed incredible courage, determination, and faith.

I received an advanced digital copy of this book from the author, publisher and Netgalley.com. Thanks to all for the opportunity to read and review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Rebecca Deng is a Lost Girls of Sudan. She is one of just 86 female refugee survivors of the Sudan war. She survived incredible hardships and terrible pain from childhood on, but she relied on her faith to sustain her through the worst of it.

Ms. Deng did not want her story to die with her, and thank God, she told it. Her beliefs will offend those without faith, but her story should be read by everyone, especially in these very times when everyone wants to be a victim of something. Ms. Deng illuminates for her readers what is to have something truly horrific happen to you and ultimately overcome it.

5 out of 5 stars. Highly recommended reading.

This is a story of struggle, poverty, family, and overcoming challenges. It is rich in details and invites you to continue to read until it’s ending.

I picked this because I thought it was interesting- I've read stories about the Lost Boys of the Sudan, but never about the Lost Girls. I guess that makes sense since there are only 89 of them. This could definitely fall under Christian Lit which is not a preferred genre of mine, but I found Deng’s life story to be absolutely enthralling- what she survived, how, how she took opportunities nearly by force, how she clung to hope in situations where many were unable or incapable of doing so, what she thought of America and "all these white faces, looking almost identical" (haha), and her unfaltering drive to get an education. She kind of lost my interest at the end because she started getting preachy, but overall I was captivated.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What a story! This woman's perseverance was unfathomable. Her love of family and culture, her love for God and her reliance on His plan throughout the war was so inspiring. Even though Rebecca had her own struggles and trials she was able to help others. By the grace of God she found it within herself to give to those with even less than she had. Somehow, she was able to see God as mighty and able even when she herself could have been asking questions like "why me?" She could have turned, angered at God, but instead, dug in her heels and fought it out alongside God and helped others see the love of God through it all. Simply beautiful.