About the Book
Sixteen years ago, Juli Boit, a 25-year-old nurse practitioner, moved from Los Angeles to a small village in Kenya to be a part of an HIV program. In 2009, she founded a hospice called Kimbilio where men, women, and children come either to heal or to be loved until they die.
On an ordinary Friday afternoon in 2016, a three-pound baby boy, Ryan, wrapped in pink was brought to Kimbilio. He had been born prematurely earlier that week. His mom passed away while giving birth, and neighbors miraculously kept Ryan alive on water alone for five days until they brought him to the hospice. Juli and her husband, Titus, brought Ryan to their home to care for him, simply wanting to make sure he would survive. When Ryan was six months old, he, along with two of his other siblings, were diagnosed with sickle cell disease. In Kenya, 80% of children with sickle cell die before they reach their second birthday. From Beyond the Skies is a remarkable story of love, courage, and new life found within the dark. It is an invitation to all who read it to do courageous things.
About the Author :
Juli Boit is an author, community builder and non-profit leader working at the intersection of faith, global health, and human dignity. For 17 years Juli has lived and worked in Africa, founding and serving as International Director of Living Room International (LRI), a community-led nonprofit providing hospice and palliative care services to adults and children in Western Kenya. Through her training as a Family Nurse Practitioner, Juli has combined her dual passions of healthcare and social justice into a unique expression of love that is providing desperately needed services in an underserved community. That said, Juli would be the first to add she’s the one who has been loved the most by her patients and neighbors in her home village of Kipkaren — most notably by Titus, her Kenyan husband and their children Sharon, Alice, Ella, Geoffrey, and Ryan. Juli’s new book From Beyond the Skies, releasing this September, chronicles her journey of moving to Kenya, founding LRI and becoming the adoptive parent of three children with Sickle Cell Disease.
Review :
“This is a remarkable story about impossible things becoming possible through love, perseverance, and the strength of community.”
~ Eliud Kipchoge
Marathon World Record Holder and Olympic Gold Medalist
“Juli’s story reminds me that God will and does choose the most unlikely people and places to show up through. It inspires me to see and remember the impact, power, and necessity of not doing life alone!
“From Beyond the Skies dives deep into the suffering and fear Juli and her family went through during one of the hardest, scariest seasons of their lives; it dives even deeper into the healing, transformative power of having a community knit together by love, intentionality, and openness around you.
“Reading Juli’s book reminds me how different life can look when you’re surrounded by people who care. I needed that reminder.
“If you’re seeking community and need to believe in the goodness of your fellow man again because you can’t quite see it lately, grab this book.”
~ Albert Tate
Co-Founder and Lead Pastor, Fellowship Church, Monrovia, California
“In From Beyond the Skies, Juli Boit describes far more than the harrowing struggles her family endured prior to triumphant bone marrow transplants for her two Kenyan sons facing pain and early death from sickle cell disease. Hers is the story of how a life grounded in love can dare to be vulnerable to the unexpected as an essential path toward wholeness for herself, her family, and the community of support that surrounds her. We all need to face the unknown empowered by her invitation to the wonder of love.”
~ Dr. Joe Mamlin and Sarah Ellen Mamlin
AMPATH Kenya
“For years, I’ve had the grand privilege to watch God call Juli Boit to just take the next step in Love. And I have seen her, as well as Titus, do just that. Jesus once said, ‘In this world you will have trouble, but take heart for I have overcome the world.’ This true story of faith, hope, and love is one that shows as real as our troubles may be, they are not the end of the story. Your challenges may not be the exact same as Juli’s remarkable story, but I trust through this you will be strengthened to take God’s next step for you in Love.”
~ Tom Hughes
Co-Lead Pastor, Christian Assembly Church, Los Angeles, California
Author: Down to Earth: How Jesus’ Stories Can Change Your Everyday Life
“Juli’s story is a gift to all who read it. It’s a story of the brutality of love; how it is a mess and a burden and a great invitation, all in one. Juli’s story is a reminder that love looks like saying “yes” when it is scary, saying “yes” when it’s shrouded with uncertainty. Love is being interruptible, as Juli and her husband demonstrate when they said yes to bringing a premature baby boy into the fold of their family. As Juli said, ‘We had a choice, and it wasn’t necessarily that there was a right or wrong way. But there was a yes and a no. There was a stopping to pay attention, interrupting our plans and the way we imagined our family would grow, as we chose to affirm Ryan’s worth, to discern and discover—one day at a time—what it meant to love.’ Love is a privilege that is both hard and holy. As you read her story, Juli’s grief will become yours. You will find yourself in tears at times as she shares her pain and her questions in their rawest state. You will likewise share in her joy as you see God and others show up in her story to embrace her in the love and support her story is defined by.”
~ Blythe Hill
CEO/Founder, Dressember Foundation
