Читать книгу Nail Scarred Hands Made New - John Shorack - Страница 5

A wise friend with published works to his name kindly educated me one day when I rather proudly put before him my “final draft.” Not unlike a sensitive father who praises his five-year old’s first colorful stick drawing, he tenderly explained to me that there are “three kinds of drafts . . . one that’s for yourself, another that’s for an audience, and finally, one you write for a publisher.” He let me connect the dots. I swallowed my pride and admitted to myself that I had not come as far as I had thought.

Many have helped bring my fledgling manuscript to the point of publishing. In the earliest, most painstaking stage (when I truly didn’t know which end was up), my brother Todd gave way too much of his valuable time. I think he’s forgiven me for what I put his editorial skills through. Later, my uncle Lloyd Johnson took the time to coach me in my self-editing skills. Thank you! In the home stretch, my InnerCHANGE colleague and friend, Catherine Rundle, provided big-picture editorial instincts that the project needed. Her enthusiasm for the book also spurred me on at a critical juncture.

Two individuals inspired this journey of reflective writing. Bob Ekblad, whose visit to our team in Venezuela played a central role in what gave birth to this project, represents so much of what is needed in the church today: courageous leaders who build bridges long enough to reach across the widest divides in the body of Christ. Vishal Mangalwadi penned a little-known book in the 1980s called Truth and Social Reform. Tucked away in the last chapter is a beautiful treatise on hope from his context of poverty in India. His insights into Christian hope, chiseled out of his experience of persecution and hardship, took the blinders off my eyes for a rereading of biblical passages that helped me connect the dots between suffering and hope, between our part and God’s. Without Vishal I don’t know if I would have had the courage to address the whole matter of suffering.

Many others have encouraged me along the way. InnerCHANGE colleagues and friends John Hayes, Mark Smith, and Darren Prince have cheered me on, believing in me at each stage of the manuscript. The Caracas InnerCHANGE team has exercised great patience with this never-ending project that inevitably pulled me away from team commitments. My wife, Birgit, has been a constant source of strength and encouragement along the slow and often arduous path it took to get to the final line (thank you!).

When I reach back further, I remember with great fondness a day while studying at Fuller Seminary, when a visiting speaker named Tom Sine came to give a talk. At the conclusion of his speech, his challenge to seek first the kingdom of God struck a chord with my buddies and me. Carl Johnson, John Macy, Grant Power, and I, were meeting regularly with a mentor named Viv Grigg, who had come to campus to inspire students to give their lives in the slums. At that moment, through the word spoken in the meeting and in the faces of my friends on the journey, I knew—we all knew—this was the life for us. And here I am today. ¡Mil gracias!