The Gospel of Father Joe
Three decades ago in a cordoned-off corner of the developing world an angry Catholic priest armed only with pencil, paper, and crayons, declared a revolution. From a shanty school shared with Buddhists and Muslims in Bangkok's squatter slums, Father Joe Maier began his advance on abject poverty. Today, his Human Development Foundation and Mercy Centre charity is responsible for thirty-two preschools that have taught more than seventy thousand children how to read and write. Despite the crippling neglect found in impoverishment, he is raising international scholars and injecting a sense of purpose into shantytowns and squatter camps that used to have neither.
While extremists and jihadists rant, rave, and wrestle over the first rights to God, "Father Joe" quietly exudes God's universal, selfless spirit. The Johnny Appleseed of Bangkok built his preschools in the city's worst slums without permission or legal permits. He then kept planting despite orders from the Thai government and Catholic Church to stop. Whenever police were dispatched to shut construction down, Father Joe would shrug and say go ahead. "But you'll have to explain it to them," he'd growl, pointing to the children, "and to them," pointing to the grandmothers and mothers.
The people and the priest grew a slum oasis this way and, today, the Mercy Centre counts forty-two hundred preschool seats in a three-year program that graduates seven hundred students yearly. It also has Thailand's largest free AIDS hospice, several orphanages, a school for older street kids, youth sports leagues, and more.
During the 2004 birthday celebration for Thailand's Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the country's national heroes were recognized. To Father Joe went the award for the foreigner who has contributed the most over the long term to the protection of women and children.
In The Gospel of Father Joe, journalist Greg Barrett tells the inspiring story of a remarkable and ecumenical holy man in a way that will encourage readers to believe that they too can make a world of difference.
The Gospel of Father Joe
Three decades ago in a cordoned-off corner of the developing world an angry Catholic priest armed only with pencil, paper, and crayons, declared a revolution. From a shanty school shared with Buddhists and Muslims in Bangkok's squatter slums, Father Joe Maier began his advance on abject poverty. Today, his Human Development Foundation and Mercy Centre charity is responsible for thirty-two preschools that have taught more than seventy thousand children how to read and write. Despite the crippling neglect found in impoverishment, he is raising international scholars and injecting a sense of purpose into shantytowns and squatter camps that used to have neither.
While extremists and jihadists rant, rave, and wrestle over the first rights to God, "Father Joe" quietly exudes God's universal, selfless spirit. The Johnny Appleseed of Bangkok built his preschools in the city's worst slums without permission or legal permits. He then kept planting despite orders from the Thai government and Catholic Church to stop. Whenever police were dispatched to shut construction down, Father Joe would shrug and say go ahead. "But you'll have to explain it to them," he'd growl, pointing to the children, "and to them," pointing to the grandmothers and mothers.
The people and the priest grew a slum oasis this way and, today, the Mercy Centre counts forty-two hundred preschool seats in a three-year program that graduates seven hundred students yearly. It also has Thailand's largest free AIDS hospice, several orphanages, a school for older street kids, youth sports leagues, and more.
During the 2004 birthday celebration for Thailand's Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, the country's national heroes were recognized. To Father Joe went the award for the foreigner who has contributed the most over the long term to the protection of women and children.
In The Gospel of Father Joe, journalist Greg Barrett tells the inspiring story of a remarkable and ecumenical holy man in a way that will encourage readers to believe that they too can make a world of difference.
The Gospel of Father Joe: Revolutions and Revelations in the Slums of Bangkok
240
The Gospel of Father Joe: Revolutions and Revelations in the Slums of Bangkok
240
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780470328033 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Wiley |
| Publication date: | 06/20/2008 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 240 |
| File size: | 3 MB |