Hope Rising

As I sat in my comfy chair, armed with an Iced Coffee and a highlighter, prepared to crack Hope Rising open, I prayed a short but heartfelt prayer. “God, use this book to wake me up and give me hope for the poor. “ Just reading the subtitle, How Christians Can End Extreme Poverty In This Generation, and feeling my heart immediately ask that telling question, “End?” “Does it say END extreme poverty?” 

I immediately recognized my problem was that of so many others in my generation. We just don’t think we have it in us. Furthermore and perhaps even more disturbing, we may not even question if God would use us to do something HUGE like ending extreme poverty in our generation. As a middle class, stay at home mom of two kids, I struggled with the age old cop-out, “But what can I do? I am just one.” So I chose this book. And I’m so glad I did. 

What this book is not:

This book, written by Scott C. Todd, the SVP for Global Advocacy for Compassion International is not an emotional strong-arm to sponsor a child. It is not a book full of faceless statistics. It is not a self-righteous treatise on why American Christians are overprivileged brats who could not care less for the world’s poor. The blurb on the back of the book gives a staggering fact that 18,000 children die from preventable causes every day and that we CAN do something about it. Regardless of how small we feel.

What this book is:

Hope Rising is a poignant and you guessed it, HOPE-FILLED look at the facts of poverty and what we CAN do in the name and power of Jesus Christ. Todd identifies and defines what true extreme poverty is and how it can feasibly be ended. Reading Hope Rising graciously challenges our startlingly low expectations and moves us to purposeful action. This book reads like a coffee shop conversation with an impassioned, well-traveled, close friend. Its brief chapters get right to the point, while not neglecting the beautiful element of story-telling.

Who is it for?

The short answer? YOU. Really, whether you are a mom, a dad, a college student or a grandparent, YOU have a part to play and this book just might give you the push in the right direction you need.

I highly recommend it. And you can pick up your own copy *HERE: Hope Rising: How Christians Can End Extreme Poverty in This Generation (Affliate link, Thanks for supporting HappyGoStuckey.com) 

 

Thank you, Thomas Nelson Books and Book Look Bloggers for the review copy of this book. I chose to read this book for review and am happy to give my very positive opinion, which is all my own.