Summary: In the Land of Blue Burqas by Kate McCord (pseudonym) allows you see though the eyes of the author as she takes you into the homes of families in Afghanistan and talks with (primarily) women about their lives and religion of Islam.  You learn about how Islam is truly practiced though strict Sharia law, the poverty and suffering of a country that has been in a war for thirty years and that Jesus provides hope and healing despite the oppression and loss.  McCord sheds light on many Muslim practices by Islam such as fasting during Ramadan, good works (sawab), prayer (salah) and polygamy, but more importantly she explains how Jesus provides the forgiveness, peace and love that Islam does not.

Assessment: In the Land of Blue Burqas  is highly recommended book and would great choice for book club discussions or mother/daughter (high school or college) discipleship time.  The book intertwines Biblical truth and compassion in the story of a woman who faced the difficulty of living out the message of the Gospel in Afghanistan for five years.   It is both grounded in doctrine and translated across a wide cultured divide to be lived out in practice.  Blue Burqas is partly a comparison between Christianity and Islam, partly a study of the Afgan culture and partly a call to love our neighbor (and our perceived enemy).  The narrative is well written, so that the reader is engrossed in the neighborhood encounters while also learning about the vast differences from our religion and life.

If you want to hear more from the author, you can hear her interviewed on Midday Connection.

Disclosure: This book was provided me by Moody Press in exchange for an impartial review.