Customer Reviews

The New Friars: The Emerging Movement Serving the World's Poor

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Scott Bessenecker shines a light on a movement of Christian young people who are sacrificing the "American Dream" and giving up their rights to not only serve the world's poorest in the name of Christ but to live as they live, in poverty, in the name of Christ. The New Friars begins to chronicle this movement with compelling stories of young people who choose to join in the suffering of people in the world's largest urban slum communities. These stories were both shocking and refreshing. Bessenecker does a great job informing the reader of the links between this current movement and that of the past. God has always called people to the "margins" for His sake. And no doubt our greatest model of this will always be Christ as the author so states. As someone who likes to think of himself as a "serious Christian" I was deeply challenged by this book and it led me into thoughtful and prayerful dialogue with God about His heart for those on the fringe and, more importantly, what God might be saying to me about my current life-style and vocation. I whole-heartedly recommend this book and really appreciate the fact it was written.

This was one of the most encouraging books I have read in years. Bessenecker establishes a connection between young leaders that emerged in the history of the church at strategic, divine moments -- whose ministries had a profound influence among the world's poor -- and contemporary movements of young leaders who are having a transformational effect among squatter setlements in today's world. I was transfixed by the very real, unsanitized examples of young people following Christ in ways that go beyond talk, and finding joy as a result.

As someone who's read many books related to Christian concern for social justice, I found this one particularly helpful in its international and historical perspective as well as addressing some U.S. domestic ministry. Personally, I found the book affirming in the ways that I can relate to "the new friars", but also found in the book an exhortation for me to continue to grow my own life of understanding and caring for the poor.

However, I also thought that the book would be helpful for Christians with some interest and concern for social justice who have had less experience. Just as Hebrews recommends that we find encouragement, strength, and challenge in others who have gone before us, the stories and examples in this book provide a good picture of what a serious commitment to Christian social justice can mean for others.

Finally, I think that this book is a good resource for anyone with concerns about international poverty regardless of their faith. The examples that Bessenecker gives us in this book raise two questions for anyone who would say that they care about the poor, "what does it mean for me to live in integrity in light of global poverty? And what will I need to be able to live that way?"

The author does a great job of simply pulling back the curtain and exposing us to worlds that we never new existed.

It is a story of hope amidst hopeless situations. It shows that in our limited lifetime, we can make a difference. It is proof that while we may consider some people and places "god forsaken", God does not. God cares very deeply and His care is reflected in the "New Friars" who have chosen to give up the world's pleasures and wealth to share God's love with these people.

This is a challenge to consider how we live. The author does a fantastic job of presenting the message without trying to make the reader feel guilty. The truth of these situations is sufficient enough to challenge the reader, but in a positive way.

This book also challenges some of our assumptions about the poor and the dispossessed, and that too is healthy.

Few books have the potential to impact your life and challenge your spirit like this book. I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

This book was a very convicting read, especially as a twenty-year-old college student with the resources of the world at my fingertips. Scott encourages people to look out of their self-contained Western bubbles and face the grim reality that is poverty. With loads of scripture and personal testimonies, he makes Christ's call to the poor a personal one. "Go and do likewise" is his favorite mantra as he encourages a generation to rise up and create change.

I appreciated this book, especially since I am preparing to spend six weeks in Phnom Penh, Cambodia among the poor. Scott really placed social justice into a context that I could appreciate and grasp. Change is possible, and it will happed through one dedicated soul at a time.

A very painful awakening to the real world. What a reminder at how calloused we Westerners are, especially those of us who woudl claim the term "Christian" for ourselves. Bessenecker debunks the myth of Christianity being a comfortable personal spirituality. Instead he introduces the reader to individuals who have chosen to actually follow Jesus. Writing from a distinctly evangelical perspective, Bessenecker clearly distinguishes between a theology that proposes works as a means for salvation and a theology that takes a call to true discipleship, the following after Christ's example, seriously. For those who want to understand "radical" christianity rather than using such terms as buzz words only, this is a must-read.

While reading this book, I kept thinking of people I wanted to give it to. "This section explains perfectly the importance of Christians doing relief work," I would think to myself. "This would help me explain Jesus' mission to the poor to a non-Christian friend."

Or, "Holy smokes--my church is full of suburban-dwelling, self-pampered folks. This part is exactly what I want to remind them sometimes: that Christ would have lived among transvestites and AIDS patients and shantytown dwellers, loving them and knowing them instead of acting condescending." Some churches I know should buy this book by the case.

Or even, "His brave description of the hardships endured by this new generation of Jesus-lovers-in-the-dirty-places of the world would be so encouraging to missionary friends, who often feel dejected and alone. But clearly, this is a movement God has been working for ages, through many less qualified than they!"

By connecting the individuals who began and led the hard-core Christian missions to the poor of the past with present-day "new friars" who go to the hardest, poorest, places on earth, Bessenecker draws our eyes to some of God's overarching purposes throughout history. And that's something we don't always see very well. (His friendly, laid-back tone throughout helps.)

My favorite parts: his careful, wise exploration of the way sin works in slum communities, and his unequivocal conclusion: "Sin does not disqualify a person from receiving help" (52); his reminder that Christ is already at work in these places, and that we can meet him there by participating in his work there--"Slum communities are kinds of chapels in which one can meet face to face with Christ in the dispossessed" (87); and his brave telling of his own struggles with wanting to stay focused more on Jesus himself than the actions of ministry.

Even those hungering for wide-scale structural changes to the global economy will find much good here. After all, if global capitalism eventually needs to be dismantled or regulated or humanitarianized or whatever, it will be key to those big-picture workers to remember the faces of those who are willing to enter into the day-to-day lives of those in need of attention, love, and personal kindness.

This book is the most recent addition to my must-read list for Christians. It packs a similar punch as Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, but it's brevity makes it more accessible. Also, while it does include plenty of stats, this book is more about people incarnating a faith (Christianity) that has been done very badly by a lot of people. Anyone who suggests that it ascribes a works-based theology clearly hasn't read the parts of the Bible where Jesus and the other writers state that our works are a sign of the authenticity of our faith. That is a dangerous thing to miss; Jesus himself pointed out that if we fail to care for the poor and oppressed, we prove that we don't know Him at all, and more detrimental to our eternal situation, He doesn't know US.

I appreciate the humility I sensed in Bessenecker's approach. He is not pointing fingers as much as he is laying out the facts, and inviting the reader to revisit his/her approach to the outworking of the Christian faith. I plan to give away many copies of this book and am so grateful that someone wrote it.

The New Friars is a great book for Christians to read. Bessenecker writes a thoughtful, cogent book that looks at ministry to the impoverished in the pattern of greats like St. Francis of Assisi, St. Clare, St. Patrick & Mother Teresa among others. This book is not a guilt trip to Western Christians nor does it idealize a way of ministry. Bessenecker demonstrates a keen awareness of the realities of poverty and Christian ministry. He illustrates the economic factors at work in poverty, what he calls intractable poverty, and the challenges of helping the impoverished.

Bessenecker highlights five characteristics of effective ministry to the impoverished: incarnational, devotional, communal, missional & marginal. He also describes effective ministries in the past and the present. He emphasizes the importance of keeping Christ first and supreme in all ministry. He does not promote a works-based mission but a Christ-centered mission that relies on devotion to and imitation of Christ. He contrasts the work of the "new friars" to those of secular humanitarian efforts. He promotes sharing the love of Christ to the least among us--those God considers his children.

He tells several stories of new friars moving into slum communities to share the love of Jesus with those around them. You don't have to feel called to this type of ministry or have any desires to change your vocation to benefit from reading this book. It challenges the world view of the Western Church though, and Bessenecker offers resources for readers to contact to support Christians ministering to the poor around the world. I think the efforts of the new friars are worthy of the support of the churches throughout the world. This book can help Christians and churches find their purpose.

I hope you will read this book and take it to heart.

Craig Stephans, author of Shakespeare On Spirituality: Life-Changing Wisdom from Shakespeare's Plays

THE NEW FRIARS: THE EMERGING MOVEMENT SERVING THE WORLD'S POOR

Scott A. Bessenecker
Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2006

Reviewed by Darren Cronshaw

In 1999-2000 I met some of the hundreds-of-thousands of people who were homeless and displaced because of religious/ethnic violence in the Maluku islands of Indonesia. A friend and I were visiting an island off South-East Sulawesi that many of them had fled to. They came to the island because they or their ancestors had migrated from there, but they had little in the way of assets and resources, local infrastructure was stretched beyond capacity and many came with the grief and recent memories of friends and close family members being killed. Hearing their stories and seeing their displacement left me with more questions than I had answers to. They asked us to send help, but I knew that sending dollars and recruiting visiting experts in an effort to lift them up would not be as effective as placing ourselves among them to help them rise up from their poverty. Reading The New Friars reinforced this lesson for me and reminded me of the needs in that part of the world which are repeated in too many places around the globe.

Back in Australia, the example of workers with Urban Neighbours of Hope (UNOH) in Melbourne and Bangkok has prompted me over the last year to open my eyes to those who are challenged with poverty and marginalization in my own suburb. Early in 2006 when the Australian government was offending British censorship guidelines with the `Where the bloody hell are you?' tourism commercials, UNOH and their asylum seeker friends reminded me that a warm welcome is not offered to everyone who wants to come to Australia! Many missionary organizations are grappling to connect Generation-X and Generation-Y with a vision for global mission; UNOH are speaking to thousands in churches and conferences and successfully recruiting a new generation of urban missionaries eager to serve at or below the poverty line. They are also empowering a larger team of volunteers and associates whose imagination has been captured by UNOH's work.

Scott Bessenecker delves into the small but potent and growing movement of which UNOH is a part. InnerCHANGE, Servant Partners, Servants to Asia's Urban Poor and Word Made Flesh (WMF) are some of the other incarnational mission groups that represent what he calls `the new friars'. Like the Francisan ideal, they take seriously the call to downward mobility, turn their backs on conspicuous consumption and pursue lives of simplicity and compassion to society's rejects. As director of Global Projects with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, Bessenecker takes groups of students to work in slums around the world and has seen them up close. As he describes in different chapters, they are incarnational in living the gospel among people; devotional in pursuing intimacy with Jesus through spiritual disciplines; communal in depending on one another and sharing wealth; missional in pursuing the Kingdom and ministering to the poor; and content to be marginal in churches and society in order to connect with people on the edges.

The New Friars paints an evocative picture of Jesus' incarnation that sent him into the stench of human poverty, and the mission he sent his disciples on without the insulating power of money, food and extra clothes. I found particular inspiration from its stories of other movements through history - Francis and Clare of Assisi, St Patrick and the Celts, the Jesuits, Nestorians and Moravians, and the new monasticism and the 24-7 prayer movement. New missional orders today hold in common with those movements a willingness to embrace the condition of the least and the lost.

Bessenecker helps us imagine what it is like to live like one of the billion slum dwellers in the world. His exploration of the causes of poverty, the effects of sin, and the corporate and political injustice and crumbling infrastructure slum dwellers face is insightful. The figures of child slavery, genocide and ever-widening global inequality is almost unbelievable from the comfort of my suburb. But I appreciated his practical suggestions for simple living from where I am. And for potential incarnational mission workers, he wrestles with issues of lifestyle, family opposition, sharing resources and inevitable grief, and pathways to short-term and long-term service among the world's poor.

`To really dig deeply into the wound of poverty will require thousands of healthy "blood cells" who will take on the entrenched viruses of culture, personal sin and spiritual forces: devoted, focused and radical men and women who are not afraid to link their destinies with the destinies of these poor communities, people who are willing to live with Jesus among the "least of these." And the "least of these" have never needed advocates more than they do now.' (p.57)

The New Friars offers an informed overview of a passionate movement that is committed to one of the biggest and most overlooked challenges of global mission today.

This review originally appeared in Church Missionary Society book reviews (2006).