On Mended Wings - Advanced Praise
Praise for On Mended Wings
On Mended Wings captures the heart and soul of this amazing movement of God in Nicaragua. I laughed and I cried at the stories of struggle, hope, and transformation in this book. Never sugarcoating the realities in this often messy process, On Mended Wings illustrates how "regular folks" from Nicaragua and North America have experienced the extraordinary with the eyes, hands, and feet of faith.
--Kim Freidah Brown, PhD, Psychologist, Tucson, Arizona; a Member of the Nehemiah Center Team 2002-2010
It is a risky business to tell the story of transformation in the context of mission. It seems we have an endless capacity to miss the point of how it actually happens. On Mended Wings is a trustworthy guide and lifts up a concrete model for us to consider. The Nehemiah Center is a beautiful example of what it means to serve contextually and be led by the Spirit who is at work transforming both people and places in ways that leave us all humbled, hopeful, and grateful.
--Kris Rocke, Executive Director, Center for Transforming Mission
The compelling stories in On Mended Wings wash over readers like a series of tidal waves, bearing not destruction but transformation, not death but healing. The poor are freed from their bondage to poverty and the rich from their bondage to wealth. This book has the prayer, power, signs and wonders, and energy of Acts 2.
--John De Haan, Retired Executive Director, Association of Evangelical Relief & Development Organizations (now called Accord)
On Mended Wings is a hopeful, inspiring, and instructive account of how entire communities can be transformed… In beautiful, evocative, and often humorous style, On Mended Wings offers penetrating insight into God's transforming work through the extraordinary work of the Nehemiah Center in Nicaragua. May God use this book to inspire many more such centers around the world!
--Scott Allen, President, Disciple Nations Alliance, International Secretariat
God is doing great things in Nicaragua. The stories of transformation in On Mended Wings offer a glimpse of God's new creation. They inspire questions: How might a similar commitment to biblical worldview and collaborative ministry address North American "poverty"? What transformations might God work in the North American world, should we catch this vision? Read it. Be inspired. Dream dreams.
--Ryan Faber, Pastor of Worship and Administration, Faith Christian Reformed Church, Pella, Iowa
Ideas have consequences, and transformation begins with renewing of minds. On Mended Wings offers stories of transformation of individuals and communities renewed through the training in biblical world-and-life view of the Nehemiah Center. Read it. Reflect on it. And be prepared for your own transformation.
--Rev. Luis A. Pellecer, Latin America Regional Director, Christian Reformed World Missions
On Mended Wings offers insightful and often humorous musings as Van Klompenburg journals about her experiences in Nicaragua, discovering the Kingdom of God through the work of the Nehemiah Center and the many Nicaraguan Christians she meets there. Her struggle to make sense of what she experiences helps us to grasp more fully what it means to be transformational workers in that Kingdom and to recognize the mis-taken viewpoints we need to cast off along the way.
--Jo Ann Van Engen, Co-director, Honduras Development Program, Calvin College
On Mended Wings tells not just the story of the Nehemiah Center, but of the people in Nicaragua, in North America, and around the world whose lives are being transformed as a result of this unique, Spirit-led community of people and organizations. For a world with poverty, injustice, and brokenness, it is a compelling story of a compassionate God, restoring wholeness to individuals, marriages, and families; to churches; to schools; and to barrios, villages and communities.
--Bruce Hekman, PhD, Adjunct Professor of Education, Calvin College; Director, International Christian Schooling Initiative, Kuyers Institute.
A must-read for anyone engaging in cross-cultural missions work--whether long-term or short-term… This book helps us see the life-changing experiences that happen as people embark on the ministry of reconciliation in unfamiliar settings where cultural awareness is crucial. On Mended Wings covers not only the successes and disappoint-ments of missions work, but also the overall grace of God in the Nicaraguan context.
--Rev. Esteban Lugo, Director of the Office of Race Relations, Christian Reformed Church in North America
With a refreshing blend of both skepticism and hope… through vivid and some-times heart-rending narratives from members of the Nehemiah Center community as well as pointed personal reflections from co-author Carol Van Klompenburg, the book grapples with some of the ongoing critical issues facing development practitioners: How do we avoid dependency?… How does lasting change happen?… The road toward transformation is long, and the obstacles many, but in these pages the reader also finds reasons for hope.
--Pamela Neumann, Former Food for the Hungry Hunger Corps and Nehemiah Center Communications Coordinator 2006-2009
Through the book, On Mended Wings, we see Nicaraguans and North Americans discover how the love of God changes everything: How we understand the world. How we see ourselves. How we act. What we expect… Through the eyes of a visitor moving from weary skepticism to refreshed hope, this book tells the stories of those discoveries and their consequences in lives and society. It invites us to consider how we and our communities may also be changed.
--Gideon Strauss, Senior Fellow, the Center for Public Justice
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