Facing Danger

[DESCRIPTION]  Developing a Practical Theology of Risk In a world where danger and uncertainty loom large, it's easy to feel overwhelmed and unsure about how to tread wisely in ministry. Yet, imagine having a comprehensive guide to aid in discerning, reshaping, and skillfully handling the risks that come your way.   Facing Danger: A Guide through Risk is that resource. Against the rich backdrop of her family’s own sojourn in perilous places, Anna Hampton presents a treasure trove of practical tools and profound insights to help you thrive in an increasingly hazardous world. With deep spiritual contemplation and meticulous research, she offers a unique viewpoint on cross-cultural service and the art of making sacrifices. Missionaries, pastors, and those yearning to embrace a life of unyielding faith will find Facing Danger to be an indispensable resource. It includes a trauma recovery recipe, sixteen risk myths, a hermeneutical methodology, and risk assessment and management training. Facing Danger equips you to create a systematic action plan to faithfully traverse dangerous landscapes. Hampton empowers readers serving Christ to decipher and adeptly handle risk with wisdom and hope. [/DESCRIPTION] [SUBTITLE]A Guide through Risk[/SUBTITLE][CREDIT] Anna Hampton [/CREDIT] [PAGES] 244 [/PAGES] [BINDING] Paperback [/BINDING] [PUBLISHER] William Carey Publishing [/PUBLISHER] [PUBLISHYEAR] 2024 [/PUBLISHYEAR] [ENDORSEMENT2] Anna Hampton’s Facing Danger on risk is one of the weightiest books I have ever read on the subject. It is not a textbook; it is not a book on spiritual formation; it is not a theology of suffering and it is not a guidebook for leaders in times of risk and danger—yet it is all of these and much, much more. This powerful and profound book has many provocative questions, lists of key points, intriguing quotations from thinkers, and personal stories. Each chapter ends with a summary and points of application. This book is a classic for cross-cultural ministry workers in places of risk and danger. It should be required reading. The author has been there. The book is field-tested. I can’t recommend it highly enough. Laura Mae Gardner, DMinFormer International VP, Wycliffe Bible Translators and SIL International;Author, Healthy, Resilient, and Effective in Cross-cultural Ministry [/ENDORSEMENT2] [ENDORSEMENT3] Responding to God’s call means facing decisions about stepping out of the boat when the wind blows and the seas are the roughest. Peter’s first step onto the water was only possible because he knew with certainty that Jesus was reaching out for him. This outstanding book draws from years of living with risk and danger while ministering in Afghanistan and Central Asia. I found the personal stories of complicated and risky choices compelling; they gave life to the theory and its practice. Facing Danger is a must-read for those facing decisions about following Jesus into dangerous situations. Charles Schaefer, PhDCoauthor, Trauma and Resilience: Effectively Supporting Those Who Serve God [/ENDORSEMENT3] [ENDORSEMENT4] With friends, families, churches, and organizations confused by the fact that Christ followers knowingly step into dangerous and even life-threatening situations, I wonder why it has taken so long for us to engage with the content covered in Anna Hampton’s book. Facing Danger will prove invaluable for those planning to serve God in dangerous settings and those who need faith to stand with them. Martin CampbellPrincipal, EastWest College of Intercultural Studies, New Zealand [/ENDORSEMENT4] [ENDORSEMENT5] Facing Danger: A Guide through Risk is a compelling read for any worker living in a high-risk area. When I moved overseas nearly ten years ago, I did not have a theology of risk, and I wish I had this book in training. Anna Hampton is a veteran worker in hostile areas, and she helps bring clarity to a theology of risk based on decades of ministry experience, research, and a life led by the Spirit. After reading Facing Danger, I have more confidence in facing crises and better understand how God’s call and risk work together. Leslie TaylorWorker in a Muslim Country [/ENDORSEMENT5] [ENDORSEMENT6] Someone has said that the gospel has already reached all the easy places. It is now the riskier and more difficult places on the rough edges of our world that still need the good news of Jesus Christ. Facing Danger delivers more than what we would expect from an armchair theologian or missiologist. It is born from the author’s diligent research set in the complicated context of a decade of living and working in war-ravaged Afghanistan. Responsible leaders will read Facing Danger before placing workers in high-risk areas. It should find its way to the required reading lists of cross-cultural Christian courses. It is perhaps the most authoritative book in this field. Ronald Brown, DMinFormer International Worker, Africa, Senior Associate, Mobile Member Care Team,Missions Coach, Christian and Missionary Alliance in Canada [/ENDORSEMENT6] [ENDORSEMENT7] Having lived with our family for many years in high-risk countries and spiritually dark places, facing danger and threats on numerous occasions, I am thankful to Anna Hampton for writing Facing Danger. She challenges readers on various levels to be spiritually sensitive and discerning, follow God’s call, and count the cost. Anna shares deep theological insights from the Old and New Testaments, reflecting on the cosmic battle we are in and thus making workers aware that reaching challenging places with the truth of Christ needs more than an adventurous spirit. Her section on rearing children in risky environments is insightful and helpful. Anyone going to or already working in high-risk countries should read this book and assess their motivation, personal relationship with the Lord, and biblical understanding of risk. A. G.Psychologist, Member Care Partners Germany [/ENDORSEMENT7] [ENDORSEMENT8] Facing Danger would have been most helpful in my preparation for cross-cultural work! Years ago, while serving in a country next to Afghanistan, our family was attacked by a frenzied mob. We lived through it (by God’s grace) and, after that, saw more fruit. Eventually, we left the field, but I have learned over the last twenty years of equipping workers for ministry in Muslim contexts that Facing Danger is more needed today than ever before. This text draws from both Testaments to show that risk-taking is biblical. For example, Facing Danger points out that the church in Jerusalem chose men like Barnabas and Paul because they had “risked their lives” for the gospel’s sake (Acts 15:25–26). The exegesis of several passages demonstrates a difference between taking risks and suffering—something easily missed in our study of Scripture. Finally, Anna Hampton interjects several personal experiences that add credibility and make for exciting reading. I highly recommend this book as a training manual for crosscultural workers in areas of high risk. Warren Larson, PhDProfessor Emeritus, Muslim Studies, CIU and Senior Fellow, Zwemer Center [/ENDORSEMENT8] [ENDORSEMENT9] In all of my years of studying this subject, there has never been a book written by an individual who has been able to blend so well the excellence of biblical theology interspersed with relevant testimony and practical application. In Facing Danger: A Guide through Risk, academic rigor has neither dumbed down emotions nor has the importance of the emotions compromised robust and sound research. Practice informs theology as it should, but theology is not manipulated by the drama of reallife stories woven into each page. This is a rare and unique contribution to the study and practice of risk and the whole global church. Facing Danger everything to say to a Christ-follower in Pakistan, a pastor in Iraq, or a student leader in a megacity anywhere in the world. Download it, buy it, give it away, and keep it. There will be nothing else like it. Kate WardGender and Religious Freedom [/ENDORSEMENT9] [ENDORSEMENT10] I respect few people alive today more highly than Anna and Neal Hampton. For years I have watched them wrestle in the chaos while grounding themselves and their team in a scripturally rooted, authentic, lived experience of God. In Facing Danger, Anna Hampton develops a much-needed God-centered understandingof risk forged out of her “doing theology” and learning to “walk in the Spirit” in Afghanistan. She takes the conversation deeper, avoiding the common moralizing approach to Scripture seen in many books on risk and suffering. Anna writes with the substance, practicality, self-awareness, and insight that develops by coming toknow God anew from within the experience of prolonged risk. Facing Danger should be required reading for ministry leaders who send staff to high-risk areas, as well as by individuals who live and work in those locations. David Bochman, PhDOrganizational Development, Paraclete Mission Group [/ENDORSEMENT10] [TOC] Contents List of Figures Foreword to the First Edition by Stuart Briscoe Preface to Second Edition Preface to First Edition Acknowledgments Part I: Bible and Spiritual Background of Risk Chapter 1: The Enraged Beast Chapter 2: Three Risk Words in the New Testament Chapter 3: The First Israelite War Chapter 4: Custodians of the Alabaster Vase Part Two: Discernment and Transformation in Risk Chapter 5: Listening for God’s Voice in the Risk Moment Chapter 6: The First Question of the Bible Chapter 7: Finding Our Sacred Question in God’s Heart Part Three: Assessing and Managing Witness-Risk Chapter 8: What Is Witness Risk? Chapter 9: Common Risk Myths Chapter 10: Emotions and Risk Chapter 11: Stewardship in Risk Chapter 12: Risk Assessment and Mitigation Process and Tools Chapter 13: Under-Shepherds and Risk Chapter 14: Pastoring Christ-followers in Risk Chapter 15: Responses to Common Risk Questions Chapter 16: Final Thoughts from an Under-Shepherd Appendix A: Trauma Recovery Recipe Appendix B: RAM Training (Risk Assessment and Management) Endorsements About the Author Bibliography Index [/TOC]