Embrace (eBook)

The walls between us seem impenetrable. We live in an age of strife and division. Factors such as race, class, values and lifestyles keep us from connecting with others in meaningful ways. It's easy to avoid or ignore those who make us uncomfortable and those we simply do not like, but God's call to the church is to do just the opposite. Leroy Barber has spent decades pursuing reconciliation and justice amongst groups of vastly diverse people. He knows the challenge of embracing those who are difficult to embrace, yet he advocates that the way to radical shalom on earth is through pursuing these relationships. We have the opportunity as the people of God to bring true peace and unity to a world that desperately needs it. Embrace the challenge to show a divided world the bridge-building power of God's love.

Leroy Barber has dedicated more than twenty-five years to eradicating poverty, confronting homelessness, restoring local neighborhoods, healing racism and living what Dr. King called 'the beloved community.' He is the author of New Neighbor and Everyday Missions, and the coauthor of Red, Brown, Yellow, Black and White with Velma Maia Thomas. He was also a contributing author to Tending to Eden by Scott Sabin and the groundbreaking book UnChristian by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons. The co-founder and director of the Voices Project and college pastor at Kilns College, Barber starts projects that shape society. In 1989, burdened by the plight of Philadelphia's homeless, he and his wife Donna founded Restoration Ministries to serve homeless families and children living on the streets, and in 1994 he became the director of internship programs at Cornerstone Christian Academy. He was licensed and ordained at Mt Zion Baptist Church where he served as youth director with Donna, and also served as associate minister of evangelism. In 1997, he joined FCS Urban Ministries, working with Atlanta Youth Project to serve as the founding executive director of Atlanta Youth Academies, a private elementary school providing quality Christian education for low-income families in the inner city. He also helped found DOOR Atlanta, Community Life Church, South Atlanta Marketplace and Community Grounds Coffee shop in Atlanta, as well as Green My Hood and the Voices Project. He is on the boards of The Simple Way, Missio Alliance, The Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN) and the Christian Community Development Association (CCDA). Barber and his wife Donna have been married thirty years and together they have five children.

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The walls between us seem impenetrable. We live in an age of strife and division. Factors such as race, class, values and lifestyles keep us from connecting with others in meaningful ways. It's easy to avoid or ignore those who make us uncomfortable and those we simply do not like, but God's call to the church is to do just the opposite. Leroy Barber has spent decades pursuing reconciliation and justice amongst groups of vastly diverse people. He knows the challenge of embracing those who are difficult to embrace, yet he advocates that the way to radical shalom on earth is through pursuing these relationships. We have the opportunity as the people of God to bring true peace and unity to a world that desperately needs it. Embrace the challenge to show a divided world the bridge-building power of God's love.