Submerge: Living Deep in a Shallow World: Service, Justice and Contemplation Among the World's Poor (Paperback)

~ John B. Hayes (Author)
Key Phrases: incarnational ministry, mission entities, mission workers, Minnie Street, Los Angeles, Phnom Penh (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

It s time to change the face of poverty, to live our faith authentically and to get involved with the people who need help. It s time to sub-merge ourselves, to go deep beneath the surface of shallow living and make a difference in our world! Follow author John Hayes as he lives out his faith on some of the toughest streets and poorest ghettos in the world. Learn what real compassion looks like in the trenches. Discover why people of faith cannot ignore the poor and how the St. Francis model of compassion can help alleviate suffering today. You ll also be energized to action through an inside look at the workings of InnerCHANGE, a mission organization that seeks to work among the poor, rather than just offering aid and handouts. Readers will come away with practical ways they can work for justice and find significance in the process.

From the Back Cover

Two-thirds of the world's population lives in poverty. Children go to bed each night hungry, while despairing parents wonder where the next meal will come from. It's not enough to feel compassion--or guilt--about this desperate situation. It's time to make a difference!

Join director of InnerCHANGE John Hayes as he takes you into the heart of some of the most distressed ghettos and neighborhoods in the world. From the streets of Los Angeles to the forgotten villages of Cambodia, you'll find that the face of poverty is as close as your own backyard and as widespread as the furthest continent. Learn what it means to do more than give a handout. Discover how building authentic faith-based relationships through can change the world one person at a time.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Regal Books (December 6, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830743065
• ISBN-13: 978-0830743063
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #64,774 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good substance from a community of practitioners, January 11, 2007

By	Darren Prince (San Francisco, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

John Hayes would be enough of a writer to have done this alone. But, true to his philosophy of ministry, he's collaborated at a community level to make Sub-merge a book that reads more like the book of Acts than an Epistle. Watch John and the InnerCHANGE community dive deep into ministry among the poor. More importantly, watch them articulate and live by a way of being community that goes beyond mission towards a new way of living as the people of God. Read this . . . and then buy it for a friend.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How an Ivy-Leaguer quit the rat-race to become a good Samaritan, accidentally started a missionary order-And what to do about it, January 19, 2007

By	T. Lockie "sojolo" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When someone decides to take Jesus at his word and love the poor, what does it look like? John Hayes journeys from being a Rich Young Ruler as a successful businessman in Japan to becoming a neighbor in the inner city of Santa Anna. The Order, InnerCHANGE, that has grown from John's work, is an expression of what it means to love the poor as next door neighbors, not as short term volunteers. It's great to read from the experience of someone who's done it for more than 20 years, rather than from people who think about what it could look like.

This book lays out the history of this order, and the perspectives that it's important to know poor people as friends, and not just know about the poor. Those people looking to serve incarnationally among the poor should read this book. (Their parents might want to read it too!)

SELLING POINTS: it includes stories of people who live it out, it doesn't have all the answers (but includes many of the right questions), the photos capture the dignity of the poor, and it feels personal.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a book born of broad experience and serious study, January 16, 2007

By	Susan Smith (Cambodia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

John is not just a man of the library, a Harvard grad a history buff theorizing about scripture and poverty. He is not a just a man of action, going to the streets, walking with the poor, and sharing their lives. And he is not just a wordsmith who crafts every sentence. Being all of these, John has brought us a delightfully readable book that looks at the Bible, history, and personal experience, and out of them shows us where we are going, or where we could go, as we walk with God among the poor.