A Forest Gate Christian hopes to inspire others using the word of God, which she claims got her through tough times.

Sierra Leone-born author Penny Hall is a regular at St Anthony of Padua, and says her new work, A Book of Hope and Inspiration – If Only You Could Tell, will help give people in crisis hope.

The 63-year-old said she turned to God after losing her husband, job, home, brother and sister – in the space of just four years.

“The book explains how the words of the Bible and my faith in God helped me,” she said. “When my husband left me, I fell apart and ran to the church and fell down and cried and cried.

“I spoke to the priest who gave me some encouraging words and I started praying and the support of God just lifted me up and the passages I was reading encouraged me to stand firm.”

Penny, who describes herself as a “prayer warrior”, believes that her writing offers advice and empowers readers.

She says her book brings a message of hope through her own story, but also features inspirational prayers and healing testimonies.

“It shows how people can cope and live through depression with faith,” she said.

She claims that, after hearing God speak to her during the night, she rapidly wrote the book in just two weeks.

“One day I woke up at 3am and I could hear the voice say to me: ‘You have to teach my word,’” she said. “This was when I was going through the deepest, darkest time in my life – it was like a flash of lightning in the twinkle of an eye.”

A Book of Hope and Inspiration – If Only You Could Tell is available to buy through Westbow Press at http://bit.ly/1h4LVOw