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| The Gospel of Father Joe: Revolutions and Revelations in the Slums of Bangkok | 
 enlarge | Author: Greg Barrett
Creator: Desmond M., Archbishop Emeritus Tutu
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $12.00
You Save: $13.95 (54%)
Buy New/Used from $12.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  (8 reviews)
Sales Rank: 155494
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.1 x 1.2
ISBN: 0470258632
Dewey Decimal Number: 261.832509593
EAN: 9780470258637
ASIN: 0470258632
Publication Date: March 28, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
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 twenty 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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
 outstanding June 12, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
An inspirational story of a man who saw injustice and does what he can to fix it. What makes his story fascinating is just how hard it was to do some good. Not impossible, mind you, but hard enough to keep most people from trying. His philosophy also strikes me as uniquely American. They need a school. Let's build one. Where do we start? Highly recommended.
An Incredible and Uplifting Life Story June 11, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
"The Gospel of Father Joe" was recommended to me by someone who personally knows the subject. After reading the book, I'm amazed at what Father Joe has accomplished in spite of all the institutional and societal opposition he faced.
Father Joe Maier doesn't suffer fools. Neither does he hesitate to offer them-and any others in need- compassion and mercy. This is an incredible story of a bright, passionate man who was driven to help others in dire need. But Father Joe's story isn't a Hollywood riches-to-rags-to riches tale. How this prickly, somewhat eccentric priest has dedicated his life to the people of Bangkok's Klong Toey slum is the heart of the story, of course; but while telling this story the author and Father Joe develop a prescription for ending the cycles of poverty and abuse that have made havens such as Maier's Mercy Centre so desperately needed.
Although these days the liberation theology movement- along with many of its followers- seems to have become mired in politics and bickering, Father Joe provides evidence that the Christian mission to help others in need endures. While he can be moved to tears of anger, Father Joe's response to heartwrenching poverty and neglect is to offer hope rather than admonishments. Through the Mercy Centre he offers those he lives and works with an opportunity each day to move out of poverty, a chance to leave the slums and return with answers. Even those who would seem to have no reason to hope- the abandoned children who populate the Mercy Centre's AIDS hospice- are given a path to make their tragically shortened lives an expression of grace.
As author Greg Barrett plumbs deeper into Mercy Center and Father Joe's "gospel" of hope, he is forced to examine his own spirituality. This unblinking look at his own life and beliefs- and how they contrast and interact with those of the people of Klong Toey- serves to draw the reader into making his own personal examination. But these introspective moments enhance the story rather than diverting it, and the reader becomes aware of how Barrett's experience at Mercy Centre was one of challenge and inspiration.
The book avoids maudlin sentimentality; Barrett dryly details the facts of poverty and the horrors of the Bangkok sex trade, while Father Joe unflinchingly predicts the terminal prognosis for many of the AIDS patients at Mercy Centre. However, moments of beauty help the reader find Father Joe's appreciation of revealed grace: A young girl dying of AIDS seems to float on a balcony, enjoying a gentle cooling rain. An absent, disgraced father begs for- and is granted- compassion and care. Barrett quietly and subtly develops a picture of the lives and families struggling to endure and overcome the reality of the Bangkok slums.
As Barrett relates, Father Joe recognizes that he and the Mercy Centre are "bandaging wounds", not yet actually curing the ills of the slums. But he offers hope, which is part of his prescription. And Father Joe and Mercy Centre offer tools for the people of Klong Toey to use in effecting the cure. "If you don't have anything to eat in the morning...if you don't have any shoes...GO TO SCHOOL!", he constantly exhorts the children and families at Mercy. And with Father Joe's help, they do. Greg Barrett has written a moving and powerful account of how Father Joe has undertaken his mission, and compellingly describes how much remains to be done. "The Gospel of Father Joe" is a book that will motivate the reader to "take a second look" at those around him, and to find ways to help others help themselves. Read this book.
An incredible story....uplifting and motivational. May 25, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
If you think the world is a troubled place, then look here for the answer. What Father Joe has accomplished is truly fantastic. If they made a movie about his life before this book, no one would believe it. The author brings it to you without sugar-coating the horrors of the sex trade industry, and yet, it never feels heavy. Greg Barrett's tone throughout the book is that of hope and not despair using dry humor with deft touch and an insight we otherwise would not have seen. It is an entertaining, inspirational and easy to read effort by the author. I have just finished it and will probably read it again. Thanks to the author and Father Joe!
A truthful and moving description of life in the Bangkok slums April 30, 2008
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
As a Retired Fire Captain, I can be quite skeptical. I spent my life working among men and women who many people would consider "heroes," but I never met anyone who deserves the title of hero more than Father Joe. Four years ago, my wife and I were accepted as volunteers at the Mercy Centre in Bangkok, Thailand. Each year since, we have returned and stayed for months at a time. During those months, we have come to know Father Joe, his staff, and the children at Mercy. The Gospel of Father Joe is an accurate portrayal of the man and the organization. Father Joe is a man who started with nothing and built The Mercy Centre, which now has 30+ preschools, an AIDS hospice, as well as homes for 150+ children. In addition, he and his staff somehow manage to feed and educate thousands of more children in the outlying slums each day. My wife and I are honored to serve there. I highly recommend both the book by Greg Barrett, which tells the story so vividly, and the Mercy Centre~that is hope to so many. Michael
 More fundraising fiction April 30, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
I was so deeply moved by the stories in Father Joe's "Welcome to the Bangkok Slaughterhouse" that I visited the Mercy Centre in Klong Toey. The characters from the stories were not to be found; however, I was introduced to one whom they said was mentioned in a story. When my Thai interpreter asked her questions about her story, she got them all wrong. I understand the concept of face in Asia, but the barrage of lies from staff was repulsive. I waited in the lobby for almost an hour as they coached the little girl. She should have gotten at least one or two of the questions correct, don't you think? And they knew exactly whom I wanted to see. This is a Christian organization? No wonder the Catholic church sent Father Joe packing from the US 30 years with his renegade ideas. Even the Catholic Church wanted to avoid possible embarrassment in the US. Has the writer of this book even visited the centre? Is he taken in by the thought of continuing the fairy tale without investigating what really happens here?
A couple cases in point:
1. Klong Toey might be a slum, but there is money there. The Mercy Centre is not a run down, rag tag edifice. It is modern with air conditioning, lighting, and has a full-service media center with many computers, high speed internet access, and up to date equipment. Coca Cola Foundation donated it.
2. Most Thai I talk to tell me that affluent Thai donate to this organization because they want to "look good." And the center takes all the money. And it's all about the money. The girl I had donated to was supposed to send pictures, drawings, emails. They said it's good for the kids to know they are wanted, but when I went to visit, they said, "She go to her province," "She go out with friends," or "She go to temple." And I made clear the name, the story...everything about her. I even showed a copy of the story from the website. And the representatives spoke fluent English. "Come back tomorrow," the representative told me on several different occasions, but the girl was never around. Did she exist? Was she real? I'll never know.
3. The Mercy Centre will not adopt the children to families outside Thailand--not even the ones who are terminally ill. (They say 400 in all.) I know many, many affluent, good families in the US who would take a child in just to make him/her happy in his/her final days--while hoping God will extend his/her life. My friend lead a campaign in Romania a few years ago that rescued children who were crippled, terminally ill, and hopeful to get out of orphanages where they were seriously mistreated. My allegations regarding the Mercy Centre are not the same--I saw no mistreatment there (though they did coach the girl to lie to me and take my hand as I left the centre.) So why, I ask myself, will the center not allow adoptions? Simple answer: Their funding would dry up. It's not the government--Thai or US getting in the way. The Romanian government was very difficult to deal with. The problem is the money. Yes, money is god in Thailand. And the centre worships baal just like the rest. Who would donate to an empty center? They don't want what's best for the kids? It's all about the money. Disgusting.
And this book is a pretty fiction whose goal is simply to raise money.
Go there...ask questions...look around...if you can avoid the lure of the siren song, your story will be the same as mine.
Here come all the spammers to contradict me.
Addendum: We all know people in our circle of acquaintance who need help and support. Give to them and feel good about yourself.
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