Born into a devout Catholic community on Aug. 5, 1917, in Lubcan, a town in the Philippine Islands, Josephina Veluya—called Joey by her family—grew up with a longing to be like Joan of Arc. As she played, she imagined her heroine’s life: “What would it be like, Joey Veluya wondered, to have God speak to you directly? What would it be like to be a tiny girl in a giant war, surrounded by people who underestimated you? Joan of Arc could have hidden in her village as battles raged around her, but she didn’t. She chose to fight instead. … Joey wanted to be just like that. A girl who was brave, but humble. … A girl who believed in something enough to fight for it.”
Joey’s childhood dream of becoming a fighter was realized in her life in ways she could never have imagined. When she was diagnosed with Hansen’s disease—commonly called leprosy—as a young married mother with a child, she commenced a lifelong fight for personal rehabilitation and to end discrimination against people with leprosy, who were forced to hide their disease and, if discovered, were banished from their families and communities and even imprisoned. Ironically, Joey’s disease made it easier for her to avoid capture when she served as a spy for Allied forces in the Philippines in WWII, completing dangerous missions and gathering sensitive military intelligence that helped to save countless lives.
Throughout her adversities, Joey clung to God, viewing her suffering “through the lens of her faith.” She was convinced that God desired this “strange hidden life” for her.
In 1945, Joey wrote in a letter, “I am just a simple, ordinary person, not a heroine. … I did only what you or any other would have done if called upon to do so. God chose a weak and fragile vessel of clay of the poorest quality when he chose me, but such are the ways of God—they are strange to us poor mortals. … I only ask that I love him with all my heart, all the days of my life, that I remain forever pleasing and beautiful in his sight.”
The book is recommended for ages 8 to 12, but is better suited for readers 12 and older, including adults with an interest in the intersection between world events and the Christian faith. Readers will discover in Joey Guerrero a worthy role model for following Jesus in a world fractured by sin and being made new through his grace.
(Greenwillow Books)
About the Author
Sonya VanderVeen Feddema is a freelance writer and a member of Covenant CRC in St. Catharines, Ontario.