Blessings of the Burden: Reflections and Lessons in Helping the Homeless by Alan R. Burt. Wm. B. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, Mich. 125 pages
This book is one man’s testimony of what happens when one seeks to follow God’s will “by loving and helping the poor, the ill, the oppressed, the homeless.” It is a powerful response, in the author’s own experience, to the comment of Martin Luther King Jr. that “there will be generations of regret regarding how poorly the homeless have been treated by some, and the appalling silence of the many.” Alan Burt is a social worker and a Christian whose ministry with the homeless began in 1993 and soon became a profound missional calling from God. This book tells multiple stories of the people he has served. Burt is dedicated to abolishing homelessness because of a deep love for actual persons who are homeless and a conviction that ending their plight is a matter of doing what is just in God’s sight. This is not a sentimental book, even though the love and care are poignantly displayed. It is testimony and calling. It is bearing witness to a better way for the least and the lost among us.
