A romantic suspense comedy set in Silicon Valley, San Antonio, Texas and
Nuevo Laredo, Mexico– a young Latina elementary school teacher, Dina
Salazar, is asked by her Mexican-born grandmother to rescue her cousins from
a dangerous Mexican drug cartel. After all, her stern grandmother tells her,
she is the “smart one” in the family.The mission involves
convincing the DEA that her cousin and her cousin’s child will be killed by
the new leader of this dangerous drug cartel if they are not rescued.
Another obstacle: Dina must contact her cousin and arrange a clandestine
pick-up site in a Mexican-Texas border town. To do so, she has to recruit
help from her hated ex-fiance, her quirky brother-in-law and a Hispanic DEA
agent. Being an amateur sleuth is no picnic, but what’s a girl to do
when “la familia” calls?
About the Author
Donna Del Oro is a bilingual, bicultural retired teacher who loves her
Hispanic heritage. This labor of love was her way of immersing herself in a
culture that has always influenced her. She lives in Northern California but
regards Texas as her second home.
Do you long to let go of self-centeredness and be more eternally minded?
Do you desire to make a difference in the lost world but aren’t sure how to go about it?
Get ready, your life is about to change!
“Lord, I’ll give myself to speak for You.”
Young Yohannan had no idea what those words of surrender would mean for his life and for millions of others in his generation. Once an insecure 16-year-old, he became a missionary statesman who has impacted the world of missions and whose unbending message has touched hungry hearts on every continent.
Step into his story and experience the world through his eyes. You’ll walk right into the book of Acts. And through his telling, you’ll hear the very heart of God beating for His creation. K.P. Yohannan’s passion is contagious and spurs you on to be all for Jesus.
He chose to take the road less traveled many years ago, and today Gospel for Asia, www.gfa.org the mission he founded, is one of the most respected organizations in our time with thousands of national workers and vibrant congregations throughout the heart of the 10/40 Window.
Change Your Life Many people have said that Revolution in World Missions changed their life—and it just might change yours too!
We have all heard of Rosa Parks, who refused to give up her seat to a white man on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, but did you know that nine months prior to this incident a teenager refused to give up her seat for a white woman on a bus?
Associated Press; restored by Adam Cuerden, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Rosa Parks being fingerprinted by policeofficer
The teenager, Claudette Colvin, born 1939, said the high school she attended in Montgomery, Alabama had observed Negro History Week in 1955, and she learned a lot about the Black freedom fighters like Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth. That day when she and her three friends were told to give up their seats for a white woman, Colvin, her history lessons still fresh in her brain, refused. In an interview with NPR, she stated, “It felt like Sojourner Truth was on one side pushing me down, and Harriet Tubman was on the other side of me pushing me down. I couldn’t get up.”
For this act of defiance, Colvin was arrested and placed on indefinite probation. Although Colvin’s refusal to give up her seat came nine months before Rosa Park’s did, the NAACP did not acknowledge her as the one who started the Montgomery bus boycott. The reason? Colvin became pregnant at the age of 16, and the NAACP believed the face of an unwed mother was not appropriate to represent the movement, and so they chose to use Rosa Parks instead.
However, this did not stop Colvin from becoming an activist. She later joined three other women —Mary Louise Smith, Aurelia Browder and Susie McDonald—as the plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, which legally put an end to racial segregation on public transportation in the state of Alabama.
Two things struck me as I read this story: 1) Colvin’s determination to defy the law came about as a result of her school having observed Negro History Week. At a time when pressure is being put on schools to ban certain books and to refrain from teaching African American history, I think this is significant. Browder v Gayle may never have come about had these young girls not been taught their history.
2) You may not always receive the recognition you deserve, but that should not stop you from joining with others who are fighting for the same cause you believe in. Most of us have only heard of Rosa Parks, and so we never stop to think of the thousands of unnamed persons who rallied behind the organizers of the boycott to elicit social change. Let us follow the example of Colvin and those who “believe[d] that a way will be made out of no way.” — MLK
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Today is International Women’s Day, a day set aside to observe and celebrate the social, economic, and political achievements of women worldwide. Women have worked hard to achieve the status they enjoy today. They can be found in the boardroom, at the helm of Fortune 500 companies, in the courts of law, in operating theatres, and in the halls of Congress. Today, the United states boasts of its first female Vice President, Kamla Harris.
Still, gender equality remains an elusive dream for women all over the world. In some countries, girls are deprived of a formal education and women are not allowed to work outside the home. Here in the US, women are still paid lower than men. According to the Pew Research, women earned 84% of what men earned in 2020. However, this percentage varies according to age group with the smallest wage gap being among workers 25 to 34.
The United States Senate – Office of Senator Kamala Harris, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
All this being said, women continue to make their voices heard in the workplace, in social activism, and in the home. A home without a woman/wife/mother is just a place to eat and sleep. It’s the woman who nurtures, cherishes and brings some sort of balance to the home. She fills hungry bellies, heals bruised knees as well as broken hearts, and makes sure your socks match.
On this International Women’s Day, I salute all the women out there, and especially female writers. We cannot all be a Jane Austen or a Maya Angelou, but in our own small way, we are turning out books by the hundreds —not just romances— but sci fi, suspense, detective, you name it, we write it. So, to my fellow female writers, I admire you, I applaud you, I celebrate you. Not just today, but everyday.
Read more about the great achievements of women here.
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