LITMIR.BIZ

A dramatic true story of a man refined by fire, a Bruderhof pastor whose spiritual legacy continues to touch thousands. Can our wounds become our greatest gift? Bruderhof pastor J. Heinrich Arnold was a broken man. Yet those who knew him said they never met another like him. Some spoke of his humility and compassion; others of his frankness and earthy humor. In his presence, complete strangers poured out their darkest secrets and left transformed. Others met him with hatred.Writer Henri Nouwen called him a “prophetic voice” and wrote of how his words “touched me as a double-edged sword, calling me to choose between truth and lies, selflessness and selfishness. . . . Here was no pious, sentimental guide; every word came from experience.”Who was this extraordinary yet simple man? In this gripping and richly spiritual book, Peter Mommsen tells the dramatic true story of the grandfather he hardly knew. Read it, and you will never look at your own life the same way again. Gold Medal Winner, 2016 IPPY Book of the Year Award in Biography, Independent Publishers Silver Medal Winner, 2016 Benjamin Franklin Award in Religion, Independent Book Publishers Association

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In the tumultuous aftermath of the First World War, thousands of young Germans defied the social mores of their parents – and the constricting influence of the established churches – in search of freedom, social equality, nature, and community. Hiking clubs were formed and work camps organized, and hundreds of rural folk schools and communes sprang up across the country. In the 1930s, Nazism swallowed this so-called Youth Movement virtually whole. A Joyful Pilgrimage is the engaging story of a remnant that survived: the Bruderhof, a 75-year-old community that began when the author and her husband, a well-known writer and lecturer, abandoned their affluent Berlin suburb to start a new life and “venture of faith." At first glance a memoir, A Joyful Pilgrimage is a radical call to faith and commitment against great odds. It is also a remarkable testimony to the leading of the Spirit, which, as Emmy Arnold writes, can hold together those who believe in the “daily miracle” of community “through thick and thin.”

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What is the purpose of my life? What is friendship? What is faith? These universal questions, which are especially relevant to young adults, form the heart of this compelling story, told through real letters and diary entries. Anni, who grows from her teenage years to adulthood over the course of the book, is passionate about life and unsparing in her search for authenticity. Articulate and probing, her words have a contemporary ring as she plumbs the reality of her doubt and sense of spiritual loneliness. Then she experiences a call from God – and finds a life of purpose, faith, and joy. In Anni’s own words: “It is infinitely reassuring to know that there is an absolute truth, an infinitely great love. It is wonderful to know that one does not have to squander one’s life, one does not need to ask anymore what life is really for, what its purpose is.” Heightening the drama of this coming-of-age memoir is the historical setting in 1920s Germany, as the specter of Nazism looms ever larger over the world of Anni and her friends, giving their questions about life’s meaning a special poignancy.

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In a world torn by hatred, injustice, and war, is there an answer to humanity’s quest for the good? Here is the true story of one man for whom this question was personal. Josef Ben-Eliezer was born in Germany to a Jewish family under the shadow of the Nazis. As a child he witnessed Hitler’s assault on Poland and then was forced into exile in Siberia, barely escaping with his life from starvation and disease as he made his way across southern Asia and finally arrived in the land of Israel. Faced with the horror of the Holocaust, Josef was determined to fight for the independence of his new homeland. But the inhumanity of war continued to pursue him, along with the question: Why can’t men and women live together in peace? This is a fascinating account of survival against all odds, but it is more than that: the story of one man’s search for the answers to the ultimate questions that, one way or another, face us all.

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