The worst brings out the best….
Child abuse, always present in history, was industrialized and globalized in the twentieth century and this continues in the twenty-first. I found that even researching the stories of child labourers, street kids, children of war, and children of the sex-trade was upsetting — what must it be like to be in those stories?
Yet few things are more inspiring than spending time with people who serve children in crisis. I have rarely been as proud of the Church as at those times. Watching people in small, underfunded organizations dream and pray about the whole Church waking up to these needs, I sometimes felt I was on ‘holy ground’.
This book was produced partly as our organization struggled with the call to respond to this new world. Many Christian bodies have since gone through the same struggles.
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The first edition outlined the main issues. For the 2005 second edition, my co-author Tara Smith and I updated things and Tara put together some case studies of Christian responses. It’s an encouraging picture. We are still a very long way, though, from the dream that work among children in crisis should be the ‘hallmark’ of the 21st century Church.
Interestingly, Tara and I were introduced by our publisher and worked exclusively by email. I wouldn’t recognize her even today if she walked down the street. We were months into our working relationship before I learnt we didn’t even live in the same country!
Here’s an American review.
Links
Rainbows of Hope. WEC International’s response to the challenge of children in crisis.
Viva network. This remarkable ministry networks together the many strands of Christian service among children in crisis so as to multiply their effectiveness.