Through a Valley of Shadows chronicles the missionary life of Dr. James Hampton, who served the Lord for 40 years in eastern Africa working with the International Mission Board (IMB) of the Southern Baptist Convention. Woven into these memoirs are the darkest hours that Dr. Hampton faces when his first-born daughter, then his first-born son, and finally the wife of his youth are taken to be with the Lord, and how the words of David in Psalms 23 provide comfort, strength, and a continuing faith in God through times of sorrow and despair.