In a volcano camp, Angelie remembers grownups praying over her body while nobody asked what a scared middle schooler actually needed.

Avery talks about growing up in Indonesia with New Tribes Mission, then returning to the United States with a car, a band, and a life that no longer fit the supporter version of who she was supposed to be. She remembers smoky open mics, private journals, family interrogations, and the fear that honesty could cost more than approval.

In Cameroon, Marjorie sat with online strangers, missionary school rules, and a friend’s pain, wondering who would be harmed if she spoke.

A boy on missionary ships keeps Star Wars and superheroes alive, until imagination becomes the door out.

Steve remembers the damp leather seats, the climb into the Malaysian highlands, and the rule that good children did not cry. After losing his mother, gaining new siblings, and moving across continents again, he learned how to smile on command while feeling untethered inside. Years later, a small town in northern Canada, a garden, and evenings with his daughters finally begin to feel like home.

Erin grew up moving between a Kalinga village, the mission center, Faith Academy dorm life, and later the United States, always trying to choose one place that could claim her. She remembers rice pounding, bamboo trips, lockers that felt almost unreal, and a body that froze when danger arrived. Years later, therapy gave language to feelings she had learned to bury, and to the child who wanted sports, friends, and somewhere to stand.

Alicia grew up in Mexico inside a family that knew how to look composed in public while doors slammed at home. A fall from a backyard swing set, a scorpion filled hotel room, white pants in third grade, two cats left behind when the family did not return. Years later, therapy gives those scenes new shape, and Alicia starts practicing a harder skill, asking for what her body and heart need.

She did everything right—faith, marriage, obedience—and still ended up in an abusive home. That’s when she realized: no one was coming to save her. Not even God.