Eye Opening Insights From An Indonesian Slum

Downward Discipleship is published by 
William Carey Publishing.

In Anita Rahma's first book, Beyond Our Walls, Finding Jesus in the Slums of Jakarta, she describes how she and her husband Yosiah's call to live among the poorest of the poor in a slum in Jakarta, Indonesia, has radically shaped their lives. In this sequel, she reflects on how the life and writings of the late Amy Carmichael, a servant of India's poor, provided much of the inspiration for their choice of location and vocation.

In a time when we North American Christians are increasingly caught up in the pursuit of wealth, comfort and self-indulgence, this should be on our short list of must-read books. 

Some excerpts:

"There, in that crowded, hot little room, a sense of the unequal distribution of the Bread of Life came over us. The front rows of the Five Thousand are getting the loaves and fishes over and over again, till it seems as though they have to be bribed and besought to accept them, while the back rows are almost forgotten... Is this what Jesus our Master intended?"

- Amy Carmichael, Things as They Are

"I can get stuck asking, "Why?" Why do my friends back in America have homes of such abundance, each decked out with enough books, toys, and resources to open a kindergarten program for a hundred slum children? Why do people have huge garages for their cars while people in slums are living in makeshift shacks? Why do wealthy people in Jakarta complain about the smell of smoke, unaware that it is their own trash burning? Why do so many if my students drop out of elementary school? Why do so many thirteen-year-old girls in my neighborhood 'choose' marriage? Why was I born with a blue passport that entitles me to an entirely different reality than my friends in Jakarta?"

- Anita Rahma, Downward Discipleship

Taking Jesus as seriously as people like Anita Rahma and Amy Carmichael will forever transform our lives.