Customer Reviews

Hope Lives: A Journey of Restoration

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I have some confessions to make.

First off, I'm one of those millions of Christians living in America who donate time and money out of guilt and obligation. I have found peace of mind knowing that when I wrote a check, I could cross that off my list of "Christian things to do." Kind of a, "Whew! I'm glad that's taken care of" sort of attitude.

My next confession is that I'm absolutely paralyzed by the sheer enormity of the needs that exist in the world. I would often think to myself that I SHOULD do something more and would often talk about doing something more but was filled with self-doubt thinking, "what difference is it going to make anyway? I mean really, how is my pittance of a donation going to end poverty or cure aids or feed the World's hungry?"

Here's my last confession. I've held the opinion that I also struggle financially and my family's needs come first before anyone else gets a slice of my financial pie. Afterall, I've worked hard for what I have and I'm not about to put myself in dire straights because someone else didn't put in the same effort.

OK. Now that I've come clean, I have to admit that reading Hope Lives has changed my life and I don't make this statement lightly.

What this book has done for me is open my eyes and revealed to me what God has asked me to do; not from a position of guilt but rather from an expression of love and grace. Truth be told, I'm blessed. I mean truly blessed. Blessed that I live in America, blessed that I have the opportunities that I have and blessed that I've been given the God-honoring privilege to serve him. Through this book, my eyes were opened to the causes of poverty and I can honestly say that my heart has been changed and I'll never quite be the same.

In short, Hope Lives helped me recognize that God is on the move and he's weaving an amazing fabric that I play a small role in helping to weave. He isn't asking me to do EVERYTHING but he has put me in a time and place and has given the means to do SOMETHING. What I do with this opportunity is ultimately up to me.

The cover of Hope Lives refers to a "Journey of Restoration." I assumed "restoration" meant that the poor would be restored to self-sufficiency. What I didn't realize was that I was being restored and the greatest transformation was occuring within me.

I pray that this book does the same for you.

This book is really special. It's laid out as a five week read, with each week broken down into five daily readings (along with some space for questions and reflections at the end of each reading). It's about poverty, but in a more general sense than some books. It's not just about one problem (or solution) or one kind of poverty; it's about the general problem of living in a world with people who have real, desperate needs, be they monetary, food-related, housing-related, emotional, spiritual, opportunity-related, physical, or what have you. The five chapters are: Poverty of the Heart (which is about our own attitudes and beliefs), God is Not Silent (what the Bible says about poverty), Understand Poverty, Prayer, and Be the Change (which is about how to take action).

The book stands on its own, but it's also part of an all-church curriculum (kits for pastors, small groups, children, and youth) that's supposed to last 5 weeks and includes a dvd, lessons, sermon suggestions, promotional materials, etc. I haven't seen the kits since they're not out yet, but the book is really great.

First off, this is a very attractive book. It has lots of fun art and lots of pictures and even pictures of the people that the stories are about, which is neat. The pictures really help reinforce the tone of the book, which is about poverty, but is meant to be encouraging. And even though the pictures are of tough things, kids living in poverty, they're really nice pictures and really help to humanize the subjects, instead of just making you feel guilty and presenting you with a world so different from yours you can't identify with it. The writing is really good, too. It's written in a sort of personal reflection type of form, almost like a conceptual journal, which softens the blow of some of the hard stuff being said a little (if you want to take it straight on just replace the "I" with "we" in your head). The way each chapter is broken up helps you to digest the material (this book covers a lot in a short space) and keeps you from being overwhelmed. The attitude of the book is really positive, which is nice, and the stories are really powerful.

Overall, a really great book, and I'm really looking forward to seeing the dvd. Poverty is kind of a hot button topic right now, so this book is very timely. It's a great treatment of the fundamentals of the subject; instead of focusing on just one temporary problem or one limited solution, it goes for the eternal core of the problem and how it relates to ourselves, our faith, and our world. It takes a tough subject and tackles it in a way that anyone could handle. If you have any interest in the subject or want to help someone else understand it better, this would be a great choice. Five stars.

I am a pastor who leads a church that is committed to serving the poor, so this book didn't contain anything really "new", but it sure is POWERFUL.I personally found it very challenging (and convicting). We have also used the small group DVD in our church, and did a sermon series with the same topic (based on the useful pastoral resource). Our church has done other "40 Day"/all church things before- this honestly was the first one I REALLY enjoyed- mostly because the book was so well done. Awesome stories, great photos, wonderful quotes, helpful reflection questions and the author's honesty with her own struggles in serving the poor make this a worthwhile read as a stand alone book.

After reading this book I am more aware of third world countries and the struggles of the common people living there. They struggle with getting the things they need to live, food, health care, cleaning products. But it also show what I can do to change this world one person at a time. I can change it through a number of different organizations that have been set up, I don't have to reinvent ways to make these changes. Compassion International is a premier organization that can help do the work that needs to be done. It helps one child at a time and through that it changes whole families. Read this book and another book called To Small to Ignore. they will move you to action.

This is a wonderful book!!! You really can make a difference in this world! We have become so accustomed to nodding our heads in agreement that action needs to be taken to alleviate the suffering in this world, and sit on our hands waiting for someone else to do it. This book should be required reading for every congregation in America. "If you think you're too small to make a difference, then try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito." (African Proverb).

I REALLY, REALLY LIKE this book. I've read a lot of books on the Christian's response to the poor, and this one is one of the better ones. What I like about HOPE LIVES:

1. It is Biblical. It is full of scripture, and she does a good job of harmonizing the relavant scriptures. There are Christian books on this subject that are not Biblical, that take ideas from the non-christian foriegn aid movement and teach them as if they were Christian ideas. Some of those books even explain away the clear teaching of Jesus in order to teach their worldly ideas. For this reason the solid biblical foundation is the first thing I look for in books on this subject. This author is thoroughly scriptural.

2. It is balanced. And this relates back to the first point, in that she harmonizes the scriptures that approach the subject from different vantage points. The cammands of scripture are clearly taught without being legalistic. It is about how we are called to help and serve the poor, but it does not do it with guilt motivation. In fact, this is a "grace filled" book. The last chapter is titled "A Life of Grace".

3. It includes great stories. She brings many personal stories from her extensive travel with Compassion International and puts a face on the truths presented. She weaves these into the book at appropriate places which makes the book a joy to read. She is giving us a good dose of theology and illustrating it from real life.

4. It emphasizes the main thing. She emphasizes the spiritual aspect of the problem of poverty, and the role of prayer. Poverty is ultimately a result of sin. If there were no sin in the world, there would be no poverty. Any secular approach to poverty that leaves out the spiritual answer to the sin problem will only put a bandaid on a serious wound. She does this without minimizing our need to act on the scriptural commands to help the poor.

Never condemning, always gentle, always thought provoking. It's broken down into daily readings, but it's hard to put down sometimes. It will make you look inside yourself, and that's something I loved about it.

I lead an intern program with a Christian non-profit organization that does development work around the world. I've had our team members read many books over the years, but none led to more interaction than Hope Lives. Team members loved the book, encouraging me to have all future teams read it.

The book challenges without leading to guilt, and encourages without letting anyone off the hook. I especially appreciate the ways Amber connects life in our own context with ways we can help others in need around the world.

My priorities have changed, my outlook has expanded, and I've seen the same in others who are part of the growing army of compassion around the world.

I recommend it to people of all ages!

I read a lot of books but this one is definitely one of the most thought provoking. The authorgives a very personal look into her journey of "seeing how the God of hope fits into the sick, needy world around us". The book is a 5 week journey where the reader reads a chapter, reflects on it, journals and is led in very specific applications and then prayer. This book is a journey in understanding the poverty of the world, prayer and how YOU can be the messenger of God's hope and love to a dying and lost world in need of a Savior. Read it and EXPECT to be changed.