Everyday Missions: How Ordinary People Can Change the World

Review"Some of the best things in church history, and some of the worst, have been done in the name of 'missions.' It's one of those words we need to dust off, reclaim and re-envision so that we are spreading the real gospel?not the white man's gospel, not the prosperity gospel, not the American gospel, not the fluffy, do-it-yourself gospel, not the empire's gospel or the colonialist's gospel?but the gospel of Jesus, the gospel that is always good news to the poor, the gospel that comes with a cross and an invitation to suffer alongside those who suffer. Leroy Barber is at the forefront of reimagining what missions looks like in the twenty-first century. He helps us see missions not just as something we do with our mouths but something we do with our lives." -- Shane Claiborne, author, activist and recovering sinner, thesimpleway.org"Leroy Barber dreams big dreams for our generation?dreams that have the power and potential to change the world forever. This book will inspire anyone who wants to move beyond the ordinary toward an extraordinary life lived for God." -- Margaret Feinberg, author of Scouting the Divine and The Organic God"Leroy Barber has earned the right to be heard by helping hundreds of young college graduates discern how to live out the Christian life in lay vocations. This book taps into the wisdom he has accumulated over the years, along with his biblical insights as to how those of us in the pew can become radical followers of Jesus in our everyday lives." -- Tony Campolo, professor emeritus, Eastern University"In an age when missional engagement has been reduced to dramatic short-term immersion experiences, Leroy Barber challenges us to live a consistent life of credible compassion. In Everyday Missions Leroy reframes the conversation about mission by illuminating the need to live missionally. He reflects on a life of service, not one that merely talks a prophetic game but one that embodies love. Everyday Missions is provocative and challenging, inspiring and accessible?a clarion call in an age of vocational confusion, this book will nurture your imagination to doing good better." -- Chris Heuertz, international director of Word Made Flesh and author of Friendship at the Margins"[Barber] displays a contagious love for others and a willingness to risk common comforts in God's leading throughout Everyday Missions. Youth leaders and others in leadership or looking to lead may find useful guidance and encouragement here." -- Jamie Lee Rake, CBA Retailers + Resources, April 2012"Through the surprisingly normal stories of heroes of faith in the Bible like Moses, David, Esther, Peter, and others, and through Barber's experiences with Mission Year and other ministries, in this book you'll learn what it means to change the world from your own little space in it." -- Journal of Christian Nursing, Volume 31, Number 2"Everyday Missions champions the solution for the mundane life as finding personal significance by connecting with God through engaging in a variety of activities that are abnormal to twenty-first-century suburban Westerners." -- Scott Zeller, Themelios, November 2012"Everyday Missions is anything but an everyday book. Leroy Barber speaks directly and convincingly into the lives of ordinary people, challenging us to consider commitments that have extraordinary impact. Provoking-?in the very best sense of the word?this hopeful, can-do book inspires readers to risk pursuing their created purpose and discover their true source of meaning." -- Bob Lupton, president, FCS Urban Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia"A Christian who wants to invest his or her ordinary life in bringing about God's kingdom on earth will find examples, suggestions, wise counsel, and warm encouragement in this very readable book." -- Church Libraries, Summer 2012It's not every day that you get a visit from God. Burning bushes, ladders to heaven, chariots of fire and all that--we look for those stories i