'Faces of Compassion' is a Biblical analysis of compassion; what it is and what it is not. Comparing Old Testament and New Testament models of compassion this book draws parallels to the present day from real-life events. Wherever people suffer, our Christian duty to service demands we work with compassion and understanding. I spent more than 18 years in which I lived breathed and went to sleep thinking about services for people with disabilities, and in particular those with vision loss and blindness. I was working at the front line of innovative programmes, long term strategic planning and major NGO collaborations, to drive down the number of people suffering blindness. My last successful campaign was to manage the restoration of sight to one million eyes in a three year period. The events and the experiences of this book are drawn from various times and places, in many countries of Africa and Asia. They did not always happen in this order, or even on the same occasion. A number of issues, events and circumstances have been blended to form a coherent whole. Identities of individual people have been changed to preserve privacy. In my work with suffering people, I was impacted to the core of my soul about the need for compassion. Unfortunately, compassion is not something you can buy in a bottle to immediately solve problems. It is not something that can be ordered from the warehouse of a disaster relief organisation or a social services department. You have to see life, feel it, and by a miracle of humanity find yourself involved intangibly in another person's world. That miracle is a gift of God.
About the Author: Peter has spent almost a lifetime living and working in Asia and Africa, managing development programmes. Working internationally with visually impaired people, and other people with disabilities, has given him a keen insight into social, cultural and religious issues impacting people in all walks of life. Peter uses these experiences to write books that will inspire a generation. Throughout, the motivation has been Christian concern for a world in need. People and their circumstances have been the reason for compassion and service. After an eleven year career in the world of banking he changed the focus of his life, to jobs which specifically help other people. Utilising practical skills in management, administration, accounts, organising and coordination he returned to college, to prepare for a new life alongside the most disadvantaged people as they sought change. Seven years later he returned to study the management of international development, at the same college. Work assignments took him and his wife Sandy and their (then) young family to live initially in Kabul, Afghanistan. Later assignments were based in U.K; Kenya; India; Thailand; UK again, and Malaysia. These jobs entailed frequent travelling throughout East and West Africa, South and South East Asia and China. Peter and Sandy now live in New Zealand. For full information on a broad range of books available, from non-fiction about people and their needs, through to historical fiction, it is all there on his website. Take a look today. www.peterrenewbooks.com