PLOUGH PUBLISHING HOUSE – ANOINTED TO SERVE

“Called To Community : The Life Jesus Wants For His People,” edited by Charles Moore, is the perfect answer to all the loneliness in the world, in an age of hi-tech internet connectivity, when individual lives are sadly even more isolated and fragmented than ever before. The answer lies in the hearts of God’s people who respond wholeheartedly to Christ’s call to share their lives more fully with others, discovering the rich, meaningful life that Jesus gives everyone, restoring the Church to its original calling: to be a united Christian community. The selections in this book are by pioneers in community life, who have nurtured a Christian community through a sustained period of time. I highly recommend this deeply inspiring book to all people who aspire to live meaningful lives, reaching out to others with the life-transforming love of Christ.

“Portraits of Yazidi, Rohingya, and Nigerian Women” by Hannah Rose Thomas is a profound tribute to highlight the persecution of religious and ethnic minorities around the world, whose sufferings remain largely unseen, unknown and unheard of. Hannah showcases their horrifying stories in her poignant artwork for the whole world to see. Her paintings serve to alleviate the soul-scarring trauma of the most vulnerable, marginalised people worldwide by lifting them above their sufferings. In her paintings, Hannah vividly captures the stoic courage, true nobility, serene dignity, remarkable resilience and extraordinary compassion of these women who have suffered so heartbreakingly.

A remarkable painter of exceptional artistic skills, Hannah is a true storyteller extraordinaire. “Tears of Gold” simultaneously testifies to the excruciating sufferings of fellow beings while restoring the sufferer’s humanity and self-esteem. A pervading sense of peace, a quiet, serene strength is seen in Hannah’s portraits. Her golden halos reflects the individual acts of resurrection. The portraits of the survivors represent a new beginning again on an altered scale.

The self-portraits enables victims of atrocities to process traumatic memories to heal and reclaim their own voices and inherent dignity. Hannah taught the women how to paint their self-portraits to share their stories with the world. Some women painted themselves with tears of gold, inspiring the title of this one-of-a-kind, life-transforming book, for here are the self-effacing faces and extremely traumatic stories of extraordinary women of great self-worth, who take the world by storm because of their sacrifices.

Miriam Jacob