Rating: 
Summary: Keep NGO aid work secular!
Review: I thought this book was extremely interesting. Although not the best written in the world, it makes up for it by the insight you gain about the Afgahni people and the hearts of these brave women. I enjoyed it and would read it again and recommend it to others.
Rating: 
Summary: Prisoners of Hope
Review: I thought this book was extremely interesting. Although not the best written in the world, it makes up for it by the insight you gain about the Afgahni people and the hearts of these brave women. I enjoyed it and would read it again and recommend it to others.
Rating: 
Summary: Criminals legally making money in America
Review: I was appalled to read that these two "Prisoners of Hope" were actually missionaries in Afghanistan under the disguise of aid workers. They lied about who they were and what they were doing, not something that you would expect from "god fearin' folks". Their actions jeopardized actual aid work, and their presence in Afghanistan did more harm then good, and what is even more appalling is that they are now making money of their crimes. If you are really bored and what to see how xtians break the law in gods name then read this book, if not, just use it for an extra leg on that old chair.
Rating:
Summary: Sincere but Naive
Review: I'll try to avoid my own views about missionary work and try to review the actual content of this book. I think these two women are sincerely religious and have a true love for the Afghani people but in their blind religious zeal, they didn't see the harm they were actually doing. I was relieved to see that they did visit hospitals and did do some charity work but they were really breaking the law and drawing local people into potiential danger. I would have liked to know what happened to that little girl with cerebal palsy...I was glad to read their side of the story after seeing coverage of their adventure in the press. I was relieved that they were not grossly mistreated. While their captivity wasn't a luxurious vacation, I think their difficulties were more psychological than physical. One small point bothered me throughout; I felt there was a certain tension between the two of them. Heather seems to have weathered worse than Dayna. She mentions, at one point when the British journalist was confined with them, something about being able to express herself freely and doesn't explain more. I feel like there is something big they're not revealing. I would have liked to have read more about what happened once they were released. I felt kind of let go at the end without a nice tie-up. I found that, while this is not a great work of literature, it's very readable and interesting. Since I'm not a Christian, I wont comment on the religious slant to the book but it was good insight on the outlook their brand of Christianity gives on the world. It obviously was a great comfort to them so I wont judge that. Dayna seems to have good command of the language and I hope she is able to put this skill to use in the future to help this culture she appreciates. Heather maybe should stay closer to home, especially after the tragic death of her sister right before this experience. Her parents have been through enough I think. This book would be a good discussion point for future missionaries. After their imprisonment, other foreigners were evacuated out of Afghanistan, many of whom were doing far more to help the local people and their work was cut short too. If only they had respected the local laws... They know that they were very, very lucky to have made it through it all intact!
Rating: 
Summary: Great Read! Worth the money
Review: I've read and re-read this book several times. I've read the reviews here and most simply missed the point of the book. The heart of the story is about the love these women have for Jesus and their compassion and desire to help people in need. I've re-read this book at times when I feel my life and circumstances are too difficult to bear and it also encourages me. I LOVE the fact that Heather struggled with fear while in prison because that is how I picture myself reacting! You can relate to how she feels. I was encouraged and uplifted to read about these women who gave so much to the people and never expected anything in return. Get it from the library if you want but give it a read. It's worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Great Read! Worth the money
Review: I've read and re-read this book several times. I've read the reviews here and most simply missed the point of the book. The heart of the story is about the love these women have for Jesus and their compassion and desire to help people in need. I've re-read this book at times when I feel my life and circumstances are too difficult to bear and it also encourages me. I LOVE the fact that Heather struggled with fear while in prison because that is how I picture myself reacting! You can relate to how she feels. I was encouraged and uplifted to read about these women who gave so much to the people and never expected anything in return. Get it from the library if you want but give it a read. It's worth it.
Rating:
Summary: A Testimony of God¿s Faithfulness
Review: In August of 2001, we were introduced to American missionaries Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer. Each had accepted their calling into missions and was serving the people of Afghanistan. While many lives were changed as a result of their work, the Taliban arrested them for sharing their faith. For over three months the world watched and prayed for their release and eventually in November 2001, these prayers were answered. While many of us believe that we have heard the whole story, there is more. Told candidly in first person, Heather & Dayna take the reader into their world. We are introduced to the people they impacted, their experiences in Afghanistan, and those who also were involved in their journey during their time in prison. You will truly be moved as you read of the experience that made both women stronger and passionate like never before. Prisoners of Hope is a powerful, moving, and compelling story, one that is true testimony of God's faithfulness and mercy even through the most difficult of times. Dayna and Heather are incredible women and as a young Christian woman I salute them for heeding the call and sharing the gospel to the Afghan people. I pray that God will continue to bless them both greatly. Reviewed by Kanika (Nika) Wade
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
Rating:
Summary: Well worth reading
Review: Prisoners of Hope is a great adventure story and well worth the reading. It is the account of two of a handful of westerners in Afganistan during the Taliban regime and is worth the reading for that reason alone. I was surprised to read so many passionately negative reviews of this book by Amazon[.com] readers. I myself did not approach the book with feelings of sympathy for these ladies, but I walked away from it with a greater understanding and acceptance of their point of view, a point of view which is by no means evil as the other Amazon[.com] reviewers seem to imply.
Rating:
Summary: Dangerous and mind-boggling naivete.
Review: Since when is dumb, dangerous, arrogant and criminal behavior worthy of praise?
Apparently, only when this behavior is conducted by Christian evangelists peddling Jesus in foreign countries. Under the guise of "aid workers", Curry and Mercer went to Afghanistan to convert Muslims to their Christian religion. Real humanitarians provide the necessities of life - food, shelter, medicine - without any religious strings attached. Yet all Curry and Mercer could provide were copies of The Jesus Film and heartfelt sentiments about their relationship with Christ. That doesn't qualify as aid in my book and it doesn't make them aid workers, it simply makes them evangelists looking for easy prey among a desperate and destitute people. Of course, since religious proselytizing was against the law in Afghanistan, Curry and Mercer simply lied about their real activities and motivations. That not only makes them dishonest, it makes them criminals. It also makes them a danger to others. They put Afghanis in danger, they put real aid workers in danger, and since they required rescuing, they put the anti-Taliban forces who sprung them from prison at risk. And, perhaps worst of all, they damaged the efforts of real humanitarians who, as a result of Curry and Mercer's dishonesty, are unjustly tainted by the evangelism brush. Yet despite the fact that they had broken the law and their own government was bombing the Taliban, Curry and Mercer were treated respectfully by the Taliban. They were fed well, were protected during their captivity, and were allowed to conduct their religious practices freely (and, ironically, free of the very proselytization that they subjected Afghanis to).
The Taliban, despite their other crimes, comes off as being much more humane and sensible than these two dangerously naïve young women. One fact emerges clearly from this book: Mercer and Curry went to Afghanistan to meet their own needs, not to meet the needs of Afghanis, who didn't invite them and whom they provided precious little aid to. They went to satisfy their own evangelistic impulses, to gain brownie points with a god who demands evangelization, and to flirt with their own fantasies about martyrdom and self-sacrifice.
Engaged in the relentless Christian battle of "spiritual warfare" against non-Christians, Curry and Mercer were nothing more than enemy combatants in a foreign land. Curry and Mercer are lucky that their captors showed them much more respect than these women showed anyone else. This book does a great - if unintended - job of showing just how dangerous, foolish and self-serving the actions and motivations of Curry and Mercer were. It proves the point made by Charles Dickens over a hundred years ago: "Missionaries are perfect nuisances and leave every place worse than they found it."
Rating:
Summary: dumb dumb dumb
Review: Stop me if you've heard this one:
So these girls go into Afghanistan, then one of the most repressive theocracies in the world. They are -- get this -- missionaries, and they wander around trying to convert the "heathens" to Christianity, which is a little like opening a synagogue in 1930s Germany. It would make a good sitcom, in the tasteless manner of "Hogan's Heroes," but it makes a lousy book. Religious zealotry is the worst thing on the planet and these two crullers merely wanted to exchange one type of fanaticism for another.
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