The Archbishop of York’s Advent book
SPCK
ISBN
Price £10.99
112 pages
I like a good Advent book and Stick with Love is definitely one of them. Arun Arora writes with an engaging style in introducing the reader to a constellation of God’s special people, both men and women, from the four corners of the earth and every age.
The author illuminates each character he writes about. The story of famous ones like Ambrose of Milan and Martin Luther King are given an interesting twist. For the latter the author reminds us that the Civil Rights hero had feet of clay but was still used by God.
Perhaps it is in the stories of less well know people that this book truly comes into its own. I was fascinated to read the stories of many of the women featured, like Eglantynne Jebb, who provided a form of words to League of Nations in 1924 that shaped the wording of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child in the following year. Jebb with her sister Dorothy founded the Save the Children Fund on 1919.
Arora reminds us that this organization like so many charities like The Samaritans, Oxfam, Help the Aged, Action Aid, Shelter, the Hospice Movement, Amnesty International, the Red Cross, and Centrepoint were founded by men and women who were following Christ. The organizations are still operating but the founders and the faith that sustained them are all but forgotten.
One of the delightful features in the entry on singer and musician Stormzy opens a window on the complex tensions evident in combining Christian faith with the day job of being an artist in the grime genre.
John Woods is a writer and Bible teacher based in West Sussex. He is Director of Training at the School of Preachers in Riga, Latvia.
