The Sound of Worlds Colliding: Stories Of Radical Discipleship From Servants To Asia's Urban Poor

by Kristin Jack, Craig Greenfield, Dave Andrews

In the late 1970s God spoke to a young man called Viv Grigg, living in the sprawling metropolis of Manila. Although almost crushed by the poverty and sense of abandonment he saw all around him, a dream was of ordinary Christians who would rise up and take God's love to the poorest in the slums and ghettoes of Asia and beyond. A remarkable movement was born. These are their stories...

234 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shares ~50 stories of life for the people who are part of the Servants organization and the communities around them. The stories are organized to highlight the organization's five guiding principles: Incarnation, Community, Wholism, Servanthood, and Simplicity, though many stories could have been used interchangeably.

The stories are fascinating, showing a great variety of people who serve with Servants, many different kinds of situations faced by the residents of slums and squatter communities, and quite a few ways in which residents and Servants staff live and work together in the midst of difficult situations. A number of the stories do not have positive outcomes, which gives perspective to the reality and difficulty of their situations. Almost all of the stories were intense, which made me curious - are those stories typical of life in Asia's urban slums, or is the monotony of daily life just less readable?

As someone who would like to serve in such a context soon, I appreciated the many different stories I read and models for service I saw. I highly appreciated the lack of judgmental distinctions made between the Asian squatters and the (usually Western, but not always) staffers, a sign of respect that several books I've read have not demonstrated as well. In the situations where long-term ministries had developed (HALO, Oresimo, TASK, etc.) I wanted more detailed accounts of how those long-term efforts developed. However, that was probably beyond the scope of the book.

Overall, I think that this book would be beneficial to anyone who does not have a perspective on life in the rapidly growing urban slums in the world. It would also be of great benefit for those who already are living in such contexts and want a broader perspective of what others are doing.

[D'face · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of stories from those living and working with the world's poor from an incarnational Christian perspective reveals the many challenges and some achievements. There is some overlap with 'Urban Halo', offering more than one account of incidents and events. To live like this, immersed in the grinding poverty of urban slums and shanty towns for long term missions takes a very special type of person, and their stories are related here. A book to challenge and to provide perspective.