Hope Lives: A Journey of Restoration - Tapa blanda

Compassion changes everything: how you view the world...yourself...even Jesus. Produced in partnership with Compassion International, this five-week exploration of compassion touches both the head and heart--And helps participants discover (and share) God's heart for the poor. The book contains 25 daily readings, divided into five one-week segments. Each of the 25 daily readings includes Scriptural support for the author's arguments, a page for journaling responses to challenging questions about the day's reading, and a prayer asking God for guidance through the issue at hand.

Week 1: The Poverty of the Heart
The first step on the journey is to understand the poverty of the heart, to search our hearts and ask why it's sometimes so hard to help those in need. How are things like materialism and individualism stifling compassion? On the journey, we'll set down the burden of guilt and pick up God's grace instead.

Week 2: God is Not Silent
God has provided a map for our journey in loving others. This week we'll explore what the Bible has to say about serving the poor, the widows, and the orphans, and how God desires for us to show his love to those in need.

Week 3: Understanding Poverty
Understanding poverty will guide the steps we take in releasing others from it. This week we'll explore what poverty is--its causes and effects and how it's a spiritual matter at its core.

Week 4: Prayer
Prayer is the weapon God has given us for the journey of loving and serving those in need. This week of prayer and journaling will help us explore the power of prayer in a world in need of restoration and help us make prayer a part of daily life.

Week 5: Be the Change
The journey of serving those in need is, in essence, the journey of following Christ. And God has created each person uniquely for the journey, giving each one spiritual gifts, skills, and passions with which to serve him, to be the change we want to see in the world. This week we'll explore our individual gifts and be reminded that it is God's grace that sustains us along the way.

Amber Van Schooneveld has contributed to numerous ministry resources and works with an international team of writers and photographers for Compassion International.  She has traveled extensively in developing nations and is committed to alleviating poverty and ending human trafficking.  She and her husband, Mike, live in Colorado Springs, Colorado.