Getting In The Way: Stories From Christian Peacemaker Teams

by Tricia Gates Brown (editor)

The stories recounted in this collection of first-person narratives were written by members of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT). The fear, joy and challenge faced by these committed Christians is reported vividly from trouble spots like Haiti, Iraq and Colombia, where the CPT work to reduce violence and conflict. Whether relating an account of incarceration in an Israeli prison, the death of a CPT member in Iraq, or coming face-to-face with angry loggers in the forests of Canada, the narratives in Getting in the Way are intimate, moving, and deeply humanizing. Edited by Tricia Gates Brown.

Genres: Theology

160 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 2005

Reviews

[Victoria (hotcocoaandbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been really fond of Christian Peacemaker Teams for about five years now and even follow their twitter account so that I can see what updates there are in struggles for peace and the violence they try to stop without using violence.

A few CPT members wrote each chapter in this book to talk about what life was like for them and those that they encountered while living for their extended periods. While a place may be occupied by soldiers and unrest, driving fear into the communities, they stand up for them and try to help both the soldiers that occupy the area and the people living there to get to know one another and to be kind to each other s othat there will be no need of a military presence. A lot of these people are enemies of one another, with a lot of death seen, but CPT diffuse the situation with the love of Christ by showing the importance of loving your neighbor as yourself and to love your enemy as well.

These stories are not always pretty. Some are a bit tragic, but there were lessons that the workers learned and friendships that were made along the way, and they share that within the pages of this book.

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

CPT is pretty rad and I was excited to read stories and reflections. The stories were definitely interesting, but as a whole it got a little long, even tedious. I think stylistically it would have been nice to have some broader information about CPT's work in different areas (infographics, maps, and dates would be a great addition, to place the stories visually) This also would have allowed the contributors to write more directly about their experiences and less broadly about what CPT was up to in time and place.