“Who are the people (living or dead) you would invite to your dream dinner party, and why?”
Ah yes, the classic icebreaker that has been putting us on the spot for centuries! With just a handful of names, your answer can reveal whether you’re a deep thinker, an intellectual, an activist – or, as in my case, none of the above. It’s designed to encourage you to think about who you admire, offering insight into what makes you tick and what’s important to you.
I’ll admit that for many years my answer to this question would have been a series of ums and errs, followed by a panicked list of whichever personalities were the flavour of the month in this fickle world.
If I’m completely honest, the idea of spending an entire dinner discussing art or politics with a room full of academics and Nobel Prize winners sounded downright exhausting (especially after working all day organising said imaginary dinner party!).
But was my uninspiring response caused by a lack of inspiring people? Not at all. Was it caused by not connecting with these people? Maybe.
Perhaps, for me, it has always been less about rubbing shoulders with greatness and more about spending time with people who have stumbled and struggled, yet through their faith found the strength to keep going.
When I partnered with The Good Book Company to write a series of children’s biographies about great women of God, I had no idea the extent of the impact these women would have on me. The more I delved into their incredible stories, the more I learned about faithfulness, love, courage and grit. I learned how God often uses the foolish things of the world to shame the wise… the weak things to shame the strong.
I followed their lives, watching those dreams unfold, those helping hands reaching out, those words of wisdom spreading — and just like that, my imaginary guest list began to write itself.
So, time to polish the silverware and fold the napkins into swans — my hypothetical guests are on their way:
Part of the Dutch resistance, Corrie and her family helped hundreds of Jews escape the Nazi Holocaust during World War II by hiding them in their home. Betrayed and arrested, she and her sister, Betsy, were sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp. Corrie’s faith sustained her until she was liberated. After the war, she travelled the world sharing her message of forgiveness and hope in Christ.
One of the things that really stuck with me while writing about Corrie’s life was her love for the Word of God. As a family, they gathered regularly to read the Bible together. Just as Isaiah tells us that God’s Word never returns empty, I believe the verses Corrie read and memorised propelled her to serve God’s people during persecution. They kept her going through the darkest times of imprisonment, and equipped her to share her experience with thousands — even to the point of forgiving her oppressors.
Corrie’s testimony reminds me of the importance of “stocking up” on God’s Word so that we can draw from it during the more challenging times of our lives.
Gladys was a British missionary who worked in China. She grew up in England and worked as a housemaid, but she dreamed of becoming a missionary. Even though she was told she was not qualified, Gladys saved her own money to cover her travels.
Gladys’ journey began with failure — literally. Her dream of serving God in China was unceremoniously crushed when she didn’t pass the required exams at missionary school. A blow like this would have deterred most people, but not Gladys. She simply had to find another way.
“Oh God,” she famously prayed, “here’s my Bible! Here’s my money! Here’s me! Use me, God!”
And the Lord listened. After a long and tortuous journey, Gladys reached China, where she shared the Gospel with weary travellers, prisoners and orphans. She even led over 100 children to safety during the Sino-Japanese War.
Not bad for someone who’d been told she didn’t have what it took!
Gladys’ determination, despite failures, difficulties and closed doors, helped me reflect on the times I let circumstances get in the way of serving God. Her story reminds me that obedience isn’t about ease or comfort — it’s about faithfulness, even when the path is winding or appears to be closed altogether.
Betsey was born enslaved. Denied access to formal education, she mostly taught herself to read and write. When Betsey gained her freedom, she was finally able to shape her own path. She was free to do whatever she wanted — and what she wanted was to be a missionary! She served in Hawaii, where she established a school for non-elite children. She also trained local teachers and helped plant new schools.
Though a trip to Hawaii might sound appealing, a five-month journey across the Pacific, spent in the cramped quarters of a foul-smelling whaling ship, was far from glamorous. Yet Betsey remained steady in her faith, always finding time alone with God.
After a life spent in enslavement, Betsey had every right to use her freedom for herself. Instead, she devoted it to serving others — especially children who, like her, had been denied education and the freedom that knowledge brings.
Her story challenges me to re-evaluate how I spend my time and how I can, like Betsey, cultivate a heart for social justice and compassion as I partner with the Lord in serving others.
Helen Roseveare was a British medical missionary in what is now called the Democratic Republic of Congo. She served as a doctor, built hospitals, and trained local healthcare workers. During the Congo Crisis, she was imprisoned and endured great suffering, yet later forgave her captors.
Helen’s story challenged me to think differently about discomfort and loss. She often compared her life to a somewhat useless branch that God wanted to transform into an arrow — a process involving painful whittling, sandpapering and stripping.
“Will you thank me for trusting you?” was God’s question to her during one of the darkest times in her life. Helen’s answer was “Yes.” She was prepared for the pain in order to be made a tool in God’s service, knowing that, compared to Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, surrendering our comforts, ambitions and hidden attitudes suddenly shrink.
God used that arrow for the furtherance of His purposes, helping people across countries and across time to trust the Lord as He shapes them into sleek and sharp tools for His glory.
Betty Greene was an American aviator and co-founder of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF). A pilot for the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during World War II, she later used her flying skills to support missionaries in remote areas. She became the first pilot to fly for MAF, carrying missionaries, medicine and supplies to isolated regions across the world.
We’ve all had childhood dreams — fighting baddies, putting out fires, singing, dancing, and everything in between. Mine was writing; Betty’s was flying. Sometimes God shapes our dreams into passion, our passion into service, and our service into fruitful growth for His kingdom.
From her very first flying lesson, Betty knew this was what she wanted to do with her life. God used her passion to reach unreachable places, touch unreachable hearts, and bring hope across the globe. Betty’s life is a beautiful reminder that God will use our passions if we’re willing to place them in His service.
Fanny Crosby was an American hymn writer and poet. Though blind from infancy, she wrote more than 8,000 hymns, including beloved classics such as To God Be the Glory and Safe in the Arms of Jesus.
What struck me most about Fanny was the overflowing joy that seemed to seep from the pages of her autobiography. She did not have an easy life; being visually impaired in the late 1800s brought many challenges, especially for such a bright and inquisitive girl. Yet despite it all, Fanny never stopped praising her Creator rejoicing at the thought that one day, the first face she’d see would be the face of Jesus.
When faced with challenges far greater than my own, Fanny responded with praise that still echoes in churches today. She taught me to be joyful despite circumstances, and to make the words of one of her famous hymns my own: Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Though my dream of spending an evening surrounded by these astonishing women won’t happen in this life, I live with the hope that one day I will eat with them. The Bible paints a picture of a heavenly banquet, a feast hosted by God Himself. At that table will sit people from every nation and generation, including this precious group of women.
There, I’ll thank them one by one for the examples they left behind — Corrie’s courage, Gladys’ grit, Betsey’s selflessness, Helen’s sacrificial love, Betty’s passion, and Fanny’s joy. We won’t need to talk art or politics. We’ll simply marvel together at the One who carried us through every page of our story — great women of God and ordinary women like me, all gathered at His table.
Laura Caputo-Wickham is a children’s author originally from Rome, now based in Kent with her husband and two daughters. When she’s not writing, Laura works as a school librarian, sharing her love of books with students. She is also actively involved in her church community, leading Bible studies with her husband and helping run the church’s bookshop.
