Against the Tide, Towards the Kingdom

Against the Tide, Towards the Kingdom is the story of the Urban Vision community in New Zealand. This book recounts the story of a group of young Christian adults who over the last fifteen years have relocated to the colorful ends of their city to share life with those who are struggling, homeless, sick, poor, neglected, or otherwise marginalized. The community has grown over time to seven neighborhoods where on any given day you may find ""Urban Visionites"" growing vegetables amidst the concrete, teaching English to refugees, offering alternative education programs to out of school teenagers, fostering children, doing church with the homeless, offering friendship to the mentally ill, roasting fair trade coffee, running kids clubs, moms groups, tenant meetings or just sharing yet another cup of tea with their neighbors. In fact sharing is a good summary of the whole shape of this exciting movement. They share homes, food, money, vehicles, jobs, prayers, dreams, conversations, fun, tears, pain, hope, healing, transformation . . . they share the whole of life with each other and with their neighbors. They live the gospel, this good news of Jesus. ""As you flip through these pages, you feel your soul start to breathe better. It is a call to break free from all that suffocates us and to live with the recklessness and innocence of the lilies and sparrows. Justin and Jenny not only invite you to reject the counterfeit splendor and empty promises but they point you towards new rhythms and holy habits that move the world a little closer to God's dream for it."" -Shane Claiborne author, activist, recovering sinner ""Honest and deeply reflective, Jenny and Justin Duckworth have granted us a window on the beauty, the mess, the joy, and the pain of missional community. What they have discovered is that we can live fuller, more gracious lives in community, mission, and contemplation than we can by living in our nuclear family fortresses. This journey against the tide of a consumption-oriented culture will require us to put to death our tiresome and lonely lives of delicious self-absorption, but the promise of discovery and adventure in our voyage to a more sustainable and simplified life of shalom is painted for us with such striking honesty and beauty that we are compelled to set out on the waka. This is not a book, it is an invitation. I urge you not just to read it, but to accept it."" -Scott Bessenecker Associate Director of Missions InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA Jenny and Justin Duckworth were founders of Urban Vision movement.