Books by Jana O’Guin
Stories of Faith, Restoration, and the Women Who Changed Her Life
Jana O’Guin is the founder and executive director of Building Families For Tomorrow, a nonprofit helping women leaving prison in Kenya rebuild their lives, reunite with their children, and create a different future for the next generation.
Her books share the stories and experiences that shaped that mission—from her first encounters with women and children affected by incarceration in Kenya to the journey that eventually led to Building Families For Tomorrow.
Through stories of faith, courage, heartbreak, and restoration, Jana invites readers to see what can happen when we are willing to step beyond what is comfortable and say yes to where God is leading.
The Forgotten Women of Kenya
The book that introduced readers to the women behind the mission.
The Forgotten Women of Kenya takes readers inside the lives of women whose stories are often unseen—women affected by poverty, incarceration, family separation, and limited opportunities.
Through their stories, Jana shares what she discovered in Kenya and the experiences that ultimately changed the direction of her own life.
Through these stories, readers encounter not only the challenges facing women in Kenya, but also the faith, resilience, and relationships that ultimately inspired Jana's continuing work there.
More than a book about hardship, The Forgotten Women of Kenya is a story of hope, faith, and the extraordinary possibilities that emerge when women are given an opportunity to rebuild their lives.
Incredible stories from across the globe about a chance encounter that changed the author’s life, and how she in turn affects others’ lives. An easy, yet thought-provoking read, this book serves as a reminder of the power of one person’s influence and the transformation that is possible through Christ. Carla, Reader.
Coming Soon
The Women I Couldn’t Forget
One Mission Trip. One Question. A Life Changed Forever.
What happens when saying yes to one unexpected opportunity changes the direction of your life?
In January 2005, Jana O’Guin traveled to Kenya on a mission trip. During a visit to a men’s prison, she learned there was a women’s prison nearby and asked a simple question: Could we visit the women?
That question would change everything.
Inside the prison, Jana encountered women whose lives had been shaped by poverty, incarceration, and circumstances far beyond what she had understood. She also encountered children—some living inside prison with their mothers and others separated from them outside the prison walls.
One little boy captured her heart.
What began as a mission trip eventually became a calling that Jana could not walk away from.
The Women I Couldn’t Forget tells the story of that journey: the women and children Jana met, the steps of faith that followed, the obstacles and unexpected provisions along the way, and the founding of Building Families For Tomorrow in Kenya.
It is a story about ordinary obedience, unexpected purpose, and what can happen when we are willing to say yes—even before we know where that yes will lead.
Coming Soon
The Women I Couldn't Forget is currently being prepared for publication.
From the Page to a Mission
The stories in Jana’s books are more than stories from the past. They are connected to work that continues every day in Kenya.
Today, Building Families For Tomorrow works alongside women leaving prison and their children through a whole-family restoration model that includes counseling, biblical discipleship, education, vocational and business training, family reunification, and transitional support.
The goal is not simply to help a woman leave prison.
It is to help her rebuild her life, restore her family, become self-supporting, and create a different future for her children.
Invite Jana O’Guin to Speak
Jana speaks to churches, universities, businesses, nonprofit organizations, women's groups, and community organizations about faith, purpose, leadership, stepping out of your comfort zone, and the lessons she has learned through more than two decades of involvement in Kenya.
Her message challenges audiences to consider a simple question:
What might happen if you say yes to the opportunity God puts in front of you?
About Jana O’Guin
Jana O’Guin is the founder and executive director of Building Families For Tomorrow. An engineer by training, Jana spent much of her professional career in aerospace before an unexpected mission trip to Kenya changed the direction of her life.
What began with a visit to a women’s prison eventually grew into Building Families For Tomorrow and a long-term commitment to helping women and children affected by incarceration rebuild their lives and families.
Jana divides her time between Texas and Kenya and writes and speaks about faith, purpose, leadership, and the extraordinary things that can begin with a simple willingness to say yes.