Give Me Hope With Johanna

🏆 Dual-Category Award WinnerBest AutobiographyBest Memoir of Hope & ResilienceHonoring Mikhail Sebastian OkunugaAuthor of Stateless in ParadiseSome books tell a story.Others bear witness.Stateless in Paradise is a deeply human testament to what it means to live between borders—geographical, emotional, political, and spiritual. From the very first pages, I was captured by Mikhail’s voice, his honesty, and the quiet courage threaded through every chapter.The journey begins at birth—shared with a twin brother, fifteen minutes apart. To understand that bond is to understand that identity is never singular. It is relational. It is felt before it is named. That twin connection sets the emotional compass for a life shaped by movement, separation, and belonging without papers.From childhood onward, Mikhail’s life unfolds across shifting landscapes and uncertain ground. He is a man without a recognized nation, forced to negotiate systems that decide who belongs and who does not. Detentions. Threats of deportation. Months stranded in limbo. Medical emergencies faced in exile. Silence imposed by fear. Each chapter reveals the invisible cost of statelessness—the exhaustion, the vulnerability, and the quiet erasure of being unseen.And yet—this memoir is never without light.Because alongside displacement, there is connection.Alongside fear, there is love.Alongside loss, there is reinvention.Mikhail writes of the kindness of strangers who become lifelines, of chosen family formed across cultures, of friendships and love that offer safe harbor when no country will. He explores sexual awakening amid political turmoil, the cost of curiosity, the courage to leap without guarantees, and the slow, deliberate work of building a self when the world refuses to define you.This book is filled with unforgettable meditations:That home can be a room, not a countryThat borders can bleed, but hearts can still openThat invisibility does not erase worthThat faith sometimes looks like movementThat identity can survive even when nationality does notThere are moments of heartbreak—being forgotten, exiled in flight, struggling to settle, carrying survivor’s guilt and isolation. And there are moments of breathtaking hope—love discovered, purpose reclaimed, and a day when belonging finally arrives, not because a system allowed it, but because the soul recognized it.Stateless in Paradise is not just a memoir of displacement.It is a declaration of humanity.It reminds us that resilience is not loud. It is persistent.That hope does not deny pain—it walks through it.And that identity is not issued by governments, but forged through experience, courage, and love.For its emotional honesty, its poetic strength, and its unwavering belief in the dignity of the human spirit, Stateless in Paradise is a profoundly deserving recipient of both the Best Autobiography Award and the Best Memoir of Hope & Resilience Award.Congratulations, Mikhail Sebastian Okunuga.Your story gives voice to the invisible, light to the displaced, and hope to anyone searching for where—and how—they belong.

🏆 Best Faith-Based & Inspirational Book AwardHonoring Madelyn BekkerAuthor of He is the God of Jacob.Some books begin with certainty.This one begins with questions.And that is exactly why it is so powerful.When I read He is he God of Jacob, I found myself deeply moved—because this is not a book written from blind belief or inherited faith. It is a book born from doubt, from intellectual rigor, from relentless searching, and from a heart courageous enough to ask the hardest question of all:Is there even a God?Madelyn Bekker does what so many are afraid to do—she examines faith from the inside and the outside. She weighs science, philosophy, history, theology, art, and lived experience. She asks where DNA comes from, why the universe exists at all, and whether morality, beauty, and consciousness can truly be explained without a divine source. She does the work. She researches. She listens. She questions. And through that process, she arrives not at shallow certainty, but at earned faith.This book is a breathtaking exploration of God’s beauty, grace, and mercy—not as abstract ideas, but as lived realities. Madelyn reminds us that God’s beauty is not merely aesthetic; it is moral, spiritual, relational. It is seen in love, harmony, transcendence, and the quiet fact that an immeasurably powerful God is still intimately concerned with our lives. What happens to us matters to Him.She writes with humility about grace—the unmerited favor that meets us not when we are perfect, but when we are broken. Through her own life, she shows how grace transforms, heals, forgives, and restores. And she speaks tenderly of mercy—the compassion of a God who withholds the punishment we deserve and instead offers hope, redemption, and new beginnings.What makes The God of Jacob extraordinary is that it never claims one narrow path. Instead, it offers a map—a guide for contemplation and exploration. Madelyn shares her personal journey alongside philosophical arguments, scientific inquiry, theological reflection, and the voices of believers, skeptics, and seekers alike. She honors both those who have found God and those who are still searching, allowing readers to see themselves honestly within the pages.This is a book that understands something profound:the search for God is not only intellectual—it is emotional, intuitive, relational, and deeply human.Madelyn invites us to search with our minds, but also to allow our hearts to remain receptive. She reminds us that God can be found in scripture and science, in nature and silence, in compassion and coincidence, in joy—and often, in the darkest valleys of pain and hurt.And the title itself carries a revelation:God calls Himself "The God of Jacob" —not because Jacob was righteous, but because he was broken. A sinner. A schemer. A struggler. And still, deeply loved.This is the God Madelyn reveals:a God who loves us before we are changed.A God who uses broken people.A God who is not repelled by doubt, but meets us within it.That is why "He is he God of Jacob" so profoundly deserves the Best Faith-Based & Inspirational Book Award.Because this book does not demand belief—it invites it.It does not silence questions—it honors them.It does not reduce God—it magnifies Him.Congratulations, Madelyn Bekker.Your courage to search, your integrity to question, and your willingness to share your journey have created a work that inspires faith not through fear, but through truth, beauty, grace, and mercy.With open hearts and curious minds, this is a book that will continue to guide countless readers on their own sacred journey of searching—and finding—God.

🏆 Dual-Category Award Winner

🏆 Dual Award Winner — Faith-Based & Spiritual Truth

🏆 Mental Health Encouragement Book Award Winner.Honoring William A. Stephens Jr. Author of The Broken Mirror. Some books are written to be read.Others are written to save lives. The Broken Mirror is the latter. The second of two things mentioned... Example: "Between Hope and Fear"

A Story Rooted in Identity, Faith, and the Echoes of Those Who Came Before Us.Some stories are not written to teach history, nor to entertain through fantasy. They are written to *remember*. To search. To honor. This year’s *Cultural Heritage & Identity Book Award Winner* is exactly that kind of story—a deeply personal odyssey grounded not in dates and documents, but in emotional truth.

There are stories that change us, not because they offer easy answers, but because they tell the truth with courage. Michael Reed’s story is one of those stories.

🌟 A Partnership Rooted in Hope: