The forty men and women whose stories are told in this book may not have started out as perfect people, but they were used by God to do his work. Saints are people who listen to God and try to do what he wants.

The saints included in the book fall into four categories:

• Bible saints from the New Testament, such as St Paul
• Historical and legendary saints, such as St George
• Worldwide saints, such as St Francis of Assisi
• More recent and contemporary saints, such as Mother Teresa

Each story is accompanied by:

• Key date and brief description of the saint
• Bible link
• Prayer
• Related activities
• Symbol
• Suggested songs that might be used

Some of the people have been formally named as saints by their church. In such cases, their name will appear with 'St' before it, as in St Patrick. Others have not been recognized publicly in this way, but are included in this book because God used them to carry out a particular task. These people are referred to simply by their ordinary names such as Florence Nightingale.