Download or read book An Enduring Journey of Hope written by Ya-chi Yuan and published by Rhythms Monthly, Tzu-Chi Culture and Communication Foundation. This book was released on 2023-10-01 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Africa is big, and so are its problems. In their midst, people are so small. There is light on the land. The light travels in people’s minds and on the land. The light takes root in Africa. The Danger of a Single Story The Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie once gave a TED talk on "The danger of a single story". She stated something to the effect that "Stories are important but to diversify the story is even more important.” Indeed, many people associate Africa with poverty, famine, and disease–an impression that they might have learned from a single story. Although partially true, this impression is inadequate at best, especially in the context of charity work. That impression seems to have a way of morphing into stereotypes, or labels, with which the outside world associates with Africa. Ironically, such labels are welcome in some African communities because, being labeled poor, they get more external assistance for free. As they get used to receiving aid, they even begin to believe those labels. They unknowingly and slowly lose the memories of their gifted toughness. When Africans get used to getting freebies from the outside world, they believe those labels are indeed accurate. This loss of self is a more serious problem than the problem on the label. Yet, something gratifying has happened in Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic started to sweep across the world in 2020. Many people predicted that the poor would become poorer, the hungry hungrier, and charitable aid would be more difficult to get through lock-down barriers to reach the needy. But our local volunteers in Durban, South Africa started vegetable gardens and enthusiastically shared their harvests with needy people around them. The pandemic made it clear that they must step up their efforts to cultivate in their own communities the ideal of neighbors helping neighbors so the community collectively would be more able to face the next disaster. In 2020, our volunteers developed more than 130 vegetable gardens in Durban, and residents in surrounding communities started more than 500 vegetable gardens. Vegetable garden became so popular that even recipients of Tzu Chi aid had asked for vegetable seeds instead of rice. During the pandemic, international travel was second to impossible. That made it very difficult for our Durban volunteers to travel to Eswatini to conduct any aid operation. Our local Eswatini volunteers stepped up and provided hot meals to poor children in their community every weekend. Namibian volunteers rebuilt corrugated metal shacks for the homeless. Malawian volunteers raised money to buy fabrics to sew masks and gave them to the elderly in their community. Zambiaian volunteers paddled canoes after the flooding to provide aid to poverty-stricken villages. All of these volunteers did not wait for the arrival of foreign aid. Instead, they have all proved that they have what it takes to handle any challenge that may come their way. I have been fortunate to have worked with those volunteers in Africa for many years with a common ideal to purify people's hearts. The stories here may help the readers to have a glimpse of their transformation from hopeless aid recipients to hopeful and helpful volunteers who pay it forward. Together, we have overcome numerous obstacles. They continue to help their own countrymen and leave many touching and true stories, which may help the world get a more comprehensive understanding of Africa. I hope that through our efforts, more people will be able to join together to help others so that Africa will get better. As Chimamanda also said, "When we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we will regain a kind of paradise." I sincerely hope that one day the world will associate Africa with confidence and warmth. I believe that the glimmer of hope in Africa will be brighter. The story continues.
Download or read book The Christmas Journey written by Donna VanLiere and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2010-10-26 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The eighty-mile journey of a common carpenter and a simple peasant girl is one of the most powerful stories in history. As books go out of print and stories fade from memory, the journey of Joseph and Mary and her delivery inside a common barn continues to bless and inspire hope in people around the world. Accompanied by moving and beautifully rendered illustrations throughout, Donna VanLiere's retelling shows that the story of the Nativity is alive in our modern world.
Download or read book Raising Jess written by Vickie Rubin and published by Page Publishing Inc. This book was released on 2021-08-02 with total page 127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2022 Readers' Favorite Gold Medal Winner in Non-Fiction - Memoir Genre Award-Winning Memoir “Courageously exploratory, making for a truly enlightening read." (Kirkus Reviews) Raising Jess is the powerful story of one family’s survival when faced with adversity. Written with compassion, honesty, and humor, it tells of a family changed forever by the birth of a child with a rare chromosome deletion and their courageous decision to choose hope. Facing the challenges of caring for her daughter, marriage struggles, and the question of having more children, Vickie Rubin gives a glimpse into the world of her family and transformation while Raising Jess. This beautiful, gripping memoir will delight and leave you wanting more. "This is an inspiring story of tragedy and triumph, brilliantly and powerfully told. I highly recommend it." - Ashley Adams, Author “This is a triumphant tale.” - Cathy Shields, Author" "A heartwarming, compassionate story. This story will bring tears to the eyes of readers as they are educated and enraptured by one family’s journey with a child with special needs.” (5-Star Review by Emily-Jane Hills Orford for Readers' Favorite) “Couldn’t put it down! Raising Jess is an amazing book! Vickie Rubin’s writing is masterful! Highly recommend.” - Mike Steklof, Ed. D. “Beautiful Insightful Narrative That Resonates Deeply. I feel enlightened, inspired, hopeful and transformed by Vickie's story.” - Janet G. “Beautifully written and a must-read for anyone that knows someone with disabilities or wants to know a family’s perspective.” - Jill G. “I couldn’t put it down. Get a copy of this book—so pure, raw, and beautiful.” - Ashleigh Bussinger “Vickie reveals her Soul to the reader. A Must-Read for All” - Lori N. Vickie Schlanger Rubin, M.S Ed., three-time award-winning author, contributes essays to Newsweek, Buffalo News Opinion, and blogs worldwide. Vickie is an experienced public speaker and passionate advocate for families of children with disabilities. Her blog, Vickie's Views (www.vickierubin.com), gives a heartwarming and humorous view of everyday life.
Download or read book Enduring the Cure written by Rachel Carter and published by . This book was released on 2019-10 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Harrowing" . . . "Gripping" . . . "A medical miracle!" How do you live when all you can feel is pain? The best word to describe Rachel Carter's life was "fearless." She rode a motorcycle in high school, she worked in a cannery in Alaska at 20, and then backpacked solo through Europe. When she finally "settled down," she married Josh and pursued a career in sales. She lived a picture-perfect life--then Multiple Sclerosis caught up with her. After two years of rapid decline, Rachel found herself lying on the floor, writhing in agony, hoping to die. In Enduring the Cure, Rachel Carter shares how she overcame her struggle with the debilitating disease. It's a story of pain, decline, an experimental treatment, and healing. But most of all, it's a story of inspiration, determination, and hope for anyone who has suffered a debilitating disease or diagnosis.
Download or read book Journey of Hope written by Victoria Murata and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2012-07-20 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "It's 1852, the year of the largest migration of people leaving the states and traveling by wagon train from Missouri to the Oregon Territory. The two thousand mile journey takes six months across the vast panorama of America's wild west. Over prairie, mountains and rivers, through untamed landscapes, the overlanders have a common goal: to find a better life. Though hardship and deprivation are constant companions, hope is a bright beacon leading them ever forward. Through the course of the voyage, three young women form an unlikely bond that will carry them through unspeakable horrors, binding them together forever as they discover the deeper places of the heart."--Page 4 of cover
Download or read book Surviving the Shadows written by Bob Delaney and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2011-09-01 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Filled with examples of courage, wisdom, and innovation, Surviving the Shadows is a must-read for anyone in the military, anyone associated with the military, or anyone protected by the military." —Nate Self, Army Ranger, Captain (ret.), decorated Iraq and Afghanistan War hero, author of Two Wars: One Hero's Fight on Two Fronts—Abroad and Within "The news Bob Delaney brings...is poignant, up-to-date, well earned, and maybe lifesaving: You are not alone; sharing yourself with others can transform your very existence." —James S. Gordon , M.D., author of Unstuck: Your Guide to the Seven-Stage Journey Out of Depression "Bob Delaney was very effective in addressing our personnel...His perspective as a former law enforcement officer who suffered through PTSD was eye-opening and comforting for our men and women." —Jane E . Castor , Chief of Police, City of Tampa Police Department "Surviving the Shadows is a must-read for all those who serve their city, county, state, or country. Post-Traumatic Stress for too long has been treated like a secret—this book helps to remove that stigma and provides education, awareness, and hope." —Don O'Leary , New York City Fire Department Captain (retired) We are all touched by PTSD in some way—husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, families and friends. Too often we have questions without answers, or don't know where to turn for help. But the truth is, what we really need is each other. Surviving the Shadows is an uplifting journey through powerful and inspiring stories—marked by perseverance and personal courage—about an array of people who have suffered directly or indirectly from Post-Traumatic Stress. Along the way, PTSD education and awareness leader Bob Delaney introduces you to medical experts who have developed groundbreaking methods in dealing with the disorder, and profiles one-of-a-kind programs around the country devoted to assisting PTSD sufferers. The first step to healing is one person away. The stories within Surviving the Shadows will help you understand the truth about Post-Traumatic Stress, and how we can help each other overcome it every day.
Download or read book Love s Long Journey Love Comes Softly Book 3 written by Janette Oke and published by Bethany House. This book was released on 2003-11-01 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Book 3 of Love Comes Softly. Clark and Marty's daughter, ready to start her own life, must rely on faith in the face of homesickness and mounting hardships.
Download or read book Providing Promise written by Kris Rystrom Emmert and published by Christian Book Services. This book was released on 2021-08-03 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: I saw stripes going by my dining room windows. Naval stripes. Stripes on dress blues. What are naval officers coming to my house on a Friday morning while Jon is at sea? In an instant, time stopped. Embark on a life-changing encounter as you journey through the remarkable life and death of an accomplished naval flight officer and his grieving widow's path from unimaginable heartache to unstoppable hope. With captivating and highly accurate military scenes, excerpts of touching long-distance love letters, and raw, unfiltered emotions, Providing Promise isn’t just another memoir--it is a lifeline. Experience your own inner healing and uncover your God-given destiny as you walk alongside one who has seen firsthand how God can turn tragedy into triumph. “I pray that my story of heartache to hope will inspire people to find answers to their hard questions in the midst of their suffering. God is faithful to walk with us through difficult circumstances. He provides promise for us and heals us by taking something unbelievably awful and turning it into something truly good.” Discussion guide included. A portion of the proceeds from Providing Promise is being donated to the VAW-VRC Memorial Scholarship Fund. For more information about this fund or to donate, visit vvosa.org.
Download or read book A Journey Toward Hope written by Victor Hinojosa and published by Six Foot Press. This book was released on 2020-08-04 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: p>Four unaccompanied migrant children come together along the arduous journey north through Mexico to the United States border in this ode to the power of hope and connection even in the face of uncertainty and fear. Every year, roughly 50,000 unaccompanied minors arrive at the US/Mexico border to present themselves for asylum or related visas. The majority of these children are non-Mexicans fleeing the systemic violence of Central America’s "Northern Triangle": Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. A Journey Toward Hope tells the story of Rodrigo, a 14-year-old escaping Honduran violence; Alessandra, a 10-year-old Guatemalan whose first language is Q'eqchi'; and the Salvadoran siblings Laura and Nando. Though their reasons for making the trip are different and the journey northward is perilous, the four children band together, finding strength in one another as they share the dreams of their past and the hopes for their future. A Journey Toward Hope is written in collaboration with Baylor University’s Social Innovation Collaborative, with illustrations by the award-winning Susan Guevara (Chato's Kitchen, American Library Association Notable Book, New York Public Library's 100 Great Children’s Books / 100 Years). It includes four pages of nonfiction back matter with additional information and resources created by the Baylor Social Innovation Collaborative.
Download or read book Hope Endures written by Colette Livermore and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-12-02 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The searing memoir of an extraordinary woman who served as a nun for eleven years in Mother Teresa's order, Hope Endures is a compelling chronicle of idealistic determination, rigid discipline, and shattering disillusionment. InÊher life's journey from certainty to doubt, Colette Livermore enters the Missionaries of Charity order in 1973 with unwavering faith and total surrender ofÊher will and intellect after seeing a documentary on the order's work in India. Only eighteen at the time, Livermore has been studying to enter medical school -- a lifelong goal -- but virtually overnight severs her many ties with family, friends, and the life she's known in beautiful, rural New South Wales in order to train as a sister to aid the poor. In the process, she also gives herself over to the order's unexpectedly severe, ascetic regime, which demands blind obedience and submission. Given the religious name Sister Tobit, Livermore serves in some of the poorest places in the world -- the garbage dump slums of Manila, Papua New Guinea, and Calcutta -- bringing hope and care to people who are desperately ill, hungry, abandoned, and even dying, and comforting whomever she can. Although she draws inspiration and strength from her humanitarian work, Livermore and other nuns risk their own physical health, as they are sent to dangerous areas while being unschooled in the languages and cultures, untrained in medical care, and sometimes unprotected by vaccines. Livermore herself succumbs to bouts of drug-resistant cerebral malaria that almost kill her and to a new strain of hepatitis. Over time she also beginsÊto notice that the order's rigid insistence on unquestioning obedience harms the young sisters mentally, emotionally, and spiritually -- and she experiences a terrible inner struggle to find the right path for herself. As she tries to respond to the suffering around her, she often falls into an incomprehensible conflict between her vow to obey and her vow to serve, between religious strictures and the practice of compassion, between authority and personal conscience. Pressured to stay with the order by Mother Teresa and other superiors, as well as by the younger nuns, Livermore nonetheless decides to leave at age thirty and attain her medical degree, continuing to take health care and relief to impoverished people in remote areas -- the isolated aboriginal communities of the Outback and war-torn East Timor. Even as she serves others as a medical doctor, she continues in a crisis of faith thatÊeventually leads her to become an agnostic. Hope Endures is the eye-opening, deeply affecting story of a brave woman's search for meaning in a world that is rent with tragedies and contradictions. It is also an unflinching critique of any faith that insists on blind obedience. For true hope to endure, Dr. Livermore demonstrates, we must always strive to question, to face the hard truths, and to discover the courage to follow our convictions.
Download or read book Hope Is an Imperative written by David W. Orr and published by Island Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author has championed the cause of ecological literacy in higher education, helping to establish and shape the field of ecological design, and working to raise awareness of the threats to future generations posed by humanity's current unsustainable trajectory.This volume brings together his most important works.
Download or read book Love s Enduring Promise Love Comes Softly Book 2 written by Janette Oke and published by Bethany House. This book was released on 2003-11-01 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Book 2 of Love Comes Softly. Their family growing, Clark and Marty look to bind each other together with love and faith. Over 800,000 sold!
Download or read book The Way of Hope written by Melissa Fisher and published by Baker Books. This book was released on 2017-07-04 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most churches today struggle to answer the same-sex relationship debate that is quickly transforming our culture, our kids, and our churches. As a result, Christians struggle to demonstrate love and grace to those with same-sex attraction. That means that more and more people who are looking for truth and a place where they belong are deciding that the church is either indifferent to their struggle or outright hostile to "people like them." There's a better way--the way of hope. With deep understanding born from her own painful experiences, Melissa Fisher shows that somewhere between the extremes of condemning and condoning is compassion. In this book, she aims to equip the church to make a positive difference in the lives of those hurting from relational or sexual brokenness. Perfect for pastors, parents, siblings, and friends of the ten million people in America who identify as LGBTQ, who long to love them well.
Download or read book Waiting Here for You written by Louie Giglio and published by Thomas Nelson. This book was released on 2015-11-03 with total page 113 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Waiting Here for You helps us anticipate rather than dread the busy season of Advent and Christmas. Life is full of waiting – we can’t escape it. We find ourselves in the middle of it every day – waiting on a prognosis to be given…a verdict to be reached…a promotion to be announced. And in these seasons of waiting that anxiety, desperation and hopelessness creep in. Waiting Here For You takes us through the advent – the season of waiting. In it we see the story of the coming of Jesus. It teaches us that waiting is the means God often uses to carry his plans in our lives. And it brings us back to the truth that our waiting is never wasted when we are waiting on God. Join pastor and author Louie Giglio and take hold of the chance to uncover the vast hope offered through the journey of Advent. Find peace and encouragement for your soul as anticipation leads toward celebration! Waiting is not wasted when it is waiting with the Lord.
Download or read book Enduring Love written by Ian McEwan and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2010-07-20 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In one of the most striking opening scenes ever written, a bizarre ballooning accident and a chance meeting give birth to an obsession so powerful that an ordinary man is driven to the brink of madness and murder by another's delusions. Ian McEwan brings us an unforgettable story—dark, gripping, and brilliantly crafted—of how life can change in an instant.
Download or read book The Enduring Ark written by Gita Wolf and published by . This book was released on 2013-02 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Retells the biblical tale of Noah's ark through an Indian adaptation that features scroll-painting-style illustrations.
Download or read book Such a Long Journey written by Rohinton Mistry and published by Emblem Editions. This book was released on 2011-02-11 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is Bombay in 1971, the year India went to war over what was to become Bangladesh. A hard-working bank clerk, Gustad Noble is a devoted family man who gradually sees his modest life unravelling. His young daughter falls ill; his promising son defies his father’s ambitions for him. He is the one reasonable voice amidst the ongoing dramas of his neighbours. One day, he receives a letter from an old friend, asking him to help in what at first seems like an heroic mission. But he soon finds himself unwittingly drawn into a dangerous network of deception. Compassionate, and rich in details of character and place, this unforgettable novel charts the journey of a moral heart in a turbulent world of change.
