Our lives are filled with trials and challenging situations. Some of those experiences are wonderful and joyful times, filled with laughter and void of tomorrow’s cares.

We experience days when we jump for joy and days we can’t get out of bed. It’s life. It’s a wonderful trek we wouldn’t give up for anything, even when it hurts.

In The Ghost of Africa, I’ve tried to incorporate my own trials and tribulations with those of the main character, the protagonist, Dr. Paul Branson. It may seem a simple thing, but intertwining true-life experiences with fiction is a true challenge.

When speaking one day with best selling author, Michael Hyatt, he encouraged me to use life’s experiences to shape a story, but made it very clear how important it was to maintain the fictional components.

Best selling authors Robert Dugoni and Steven James reinforced the importance of being true to the story, avoiding author intrusion as readers are pulled into a “true fiction” plot.

Alton Gansky, best selling author and friend, helped me to remember that a story had to be real—accurate and compelling.

I’m writing this blog as I sit in a foreign airport for a rather long layover. I just spent the past ten days in the heart of Africa working with the poor, the needy, the castaways, and refugees from several countries where evil currently prevails.

“I’m Gage, sir. Commander of the United States Special Forces Team Seven.”

Paul couldn’t move. Was he hallucinating? A wave of emotion swept over him, but he pushed it down.

But the team of young professionals with whom I was privileged to serve, carried a vivid truth—evil will not prevail forever. What I currently write is on the heels of spending more than a week on the dusty ground of a place that many feel is God-forsaken. But it isn’t God who has forsaken these people—on the contrary, it is man.

In The Ghost of Africa, the horrible truths through which Dr. Paul Branson struggles are real to him because they are real to me. The loss, the hopelessness, the battle from within were enemies because Satan wanted desired for them to be. His attempt was to distract me from the truth—that God is sovereign and in control.

For Dr. Paul Branson, these battles take place on a number of fronts—some spiritual, some evil, some practical. He must overcome them all in order to survive and save thousands of others, especially an innocent little girl who desires nothing more than life, and love.

The Ghost of Africa is on sale at Amazon. Please order a copy today. It helps to support me as I return to Africa regularly, which I am not only committed to do—it is my passion.