"The Friendships Between Women"

In January 2002, Houston saw a story about a woman from African that moved her in a special way. The program she was watching was "Nightline." They were doing a weeklong series about the plight of the people in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa.

The woman, Houston says, was named Msevumba. She lost her husband after the family had been forced to run for their lives into the jungle because of war.

Plain and simple her story is about violence against women. And, unfortunately "we, the world, tolerates violence again women," says Houston. Houston says the more she heard about the woman’s life, “the angrier I became. Then, I sat in a chair and just cried.”

Months later, the woman's plight was still on her mind. Houston began to think about ‘her’ friends and about how they too had gotten through hardships in their lives with the help of other friends. That's when the word "testimonials" came to heart. In church Houston says, "we have what we called "testimony time." A time when we would share our difficulties, but tell how we believe that with the help of God, we will become the victor.

So, Houston began to ask friends to write letters about their own personal struggles; letters about how they had overcome their challenges. She envisioned the book being a book of "testimonies." Houston's hope is that the book of letters would serve as an inspiration to other women who read it. Finally, Houston decided to sell the book and use the proceeds to buy food and medicine, and create opportunities for Msevumba and the women of her village.