What They Meant for Evil by Rebecca Deng

*Disclosure of material connection- I received a copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest thoughts. I was not required to write a positive review and all thoughts are 100% my own. 

About the book-

Many stories have been told about the famous Lost Boys, but now for the first time, a Lost Girl shares her hauntingly beautiful and inspiring story. 
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. 
Her story is a lyrical, captivating portrait of a child hurled into wartime, and how through divine intervention, she came to America and found a new life full of joy, hope, and redemption.

My thoughts-

I will never understand the wars that happen in countries between different tribes. I will never understand why we can not all just get along and celebrate each other's differences. I know it is mostly fear but it is still heartbreaking. Rebecca Deng should not have ever had to experience any of the things she did but I am thankful that she shared her journey, both through the war, through her thoughts as she joined a family in the United States, and through her faith. This book isn't for the faint of heart, and I don't think we can ever understand what Rebecca Deng went through, but reading her story is one way to help learn about different cultures. It is a way for us to celebrate our differences. It is a way for us to see one person turn her suffering into her life's work to help others. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone who likes reading memoirs about real people.