Locusts are everywhere.
They swarm together and fill the world with hate and darkness,
stripping it of goodness and love.

On Sunday morning, September 15, 1963, Josie Bee Johnson is on her way to visit Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Before she arrives, however, “locusts” attack. A bomb placed by the Klan is detonated in the church basement, killing four young girls. It is a life-changing tragedy that will grab the attention of the entire nation. In the meantime, Josie’s heart breaks. She is overwhelmed by dark distrust and anger. She questions her family, her church, her faith, her God.

But then God singles her out for a Challenge. Honor the four girls killed in the bombing. But how? That’s where the Hallelujah Circle comes in. These ladies know how to love through encouragement, prayer, and good home cookin’. They send Josie on a journey that will change her forever, a journey that will teach her the true nature of friendship, acceptance, belonging, and love. But first she has to learn how to not be transformed into a locust herself. In accepting the Challenge and honoring the four murdered girls, Josie will learn the hard way that hatred is overcome not through anger and violence but through forgiveness and service to others.