This book will take you less than 10 minutes to read aloud (which is the only way to read it). Once you’ve read it once, you’ll want to read it again and again (so keep it on the coffee table, next to the remote).
I promise you.
I would do you a great disservice if I quoted from the book, or showed images from the book. You need to discover these for yourself. Buy your copy. Find a quiet place, a place that is uninterruptible. Take a deep breath and then read, read aloud – and see where this little book takes you. OK?
Resisting that urge to give you a taste of words and images, I am going to settle instead for some reasons why the book has impacted me.
The words
Khaled Hosseini, the author of The Kite Runner, knows how to craft a phrase and a word picture. Oh yes, he does. It is poetic. For any lovers of a haunting word picture out there, you will be captivated, captured.
The images
I am no artist, but my best friend, Marty Roy, certainly was. In this book, the illustrations, done by Dan Williams, take up far more space than the words, with full pages given to those messy, smudgey watercolours, which Martin himself did so well. The outcome is a combination of word and image that is as good as it gets. I’m serious.
[BTW: Martin died of cancer a few years ago and today is his birthday, and so it is a good day to be talking about art. I used to dream of doing a book together with him, with me attempting the words, knowing that the images would be so compelling].
The genre
It is written as a letter, a prayer, from a father to his little boy. More than that, the story of their lives can be overheard, as he writes and prays. Yep, now the affective, the emotional side of the reader is fully engaged. Oops – I forgot to mention it above. Remember that quiet, uninterruptible place where you read it aloud? A few tissues might be a good idea.
The setting
It is a story drawn from the refugee crisis, generally, but also that image of Alan Kurdi, specifically. Remember him? The three year old Syrian boy washed up and found face down, on the beach in Turkey? I keep that picture of him in the same folder as the ones of my grandchildren, watching it appear randomly on my desktop, reminding me that my vision and my heart must be for more than my own.
The message
The message is one we need. Borders are going up. Countries are shutting down. Trade wars are heating up. Compassion is cooling down. The idolatry of the nation state is taking over. I am so disappointed by those Christian brothers and sisters who fall for this idolatry. Why do they use so much energy, as Christians, to demonstrate that their nation (or, ‘our nation’, when my sights are turned on NZers) is so special, more special than the next one? What Bible are they reading? What Christ are they worshipping? God’s heart is so clearly and explicitly for the peoples of the world, irrespective of nation. Why can’t we image that same heart? Why can’t peoples who are without a nation, wandering and displaced, become a priority for us?
These days a lot of my time is given to helping people preach from different biblical genre. Well, this book is a hybrid genre. As I suggest above, it is epistle and poetry, with a pinch of narrative. But for those with ears to hear and with eyes to see, maybe it is a bit of prophecy and apocalyptic as well. And doing all of this in less than 10 minutes…
nice chatting
Paul
About Me

the art of unpacking
After a childhood in India, a theological training in the USA and a pastoral ministry in Southland (New Zealand), I spent twenty years in theological education in New Zealand — first at Laidlaw College and then at Carey Baptist College, where I served as principal. In 2009 I began working with Langham Partnership and since 2013 I have been the Programme Director (Langham Preaching). Through it all I've cherished the experience of the 'gracious hand of God upon me' and I've relished the opportunity to 'unpack', or exegete, all that I encounter in my walk through life with Jesus.
Recent Posts
Just when I thought that it could not be possible to have another first-hand account of the impact of John Stott’s life (d. 2011), along comes this book by his close friend, John Wyatt. I am always ready to learn more about John Stott, but also about friendship. It fascinates me. It keeps coming up…
Reading stories to grandchildren over Christmas reminded me again of how powerful they can be. They are so compact and simple in presentation, and yet so clever in construction. There are just so many features at work in an effective story. It is some years since I taught narrative preaching, but when I did I’d…
Apart from the eight years in which we were based overseas, Barby has been working at the Refugee Resettlement Center in Auckland since 2002. This year she is a ‘release teacher’, spending one day each week in three different classrooms, with three different age groups. Impressive—and demanding. One day is spent with 11-13 year olds—from…
Yes! Just been given this by a friend who knows a refugee family very well. Beautifully written and illustrated to strike the heart.
definitely hooked me – just ordered!
Glad you discovered it, too, Libby – and hope your copy has arrived by now, Mark
Received my copy just in time for Labour Weekend. A beautiful book, so touching, profound….. thanks for recommending it.
I spotted this in my local library yesterday. Remembered you'd written on it. Affirming everything you say Paul! Thanks.
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