I See You

- 2020 American Express NGen Leadership Award

We don't care about what we don't see.Countless people are invisible to us. We overlook the poor and homeless, partly because we don't share much space with them. More seriously, we often choose not to see the realities around us. We hold misconceptions about who is deserving or not, or make false assumptions about people's poverty being their own fault.Terence Lester calls us to see the invisible people around us. His personal encounters and real-life stories challenge Christians to become more informed about poverty and homelessness, and to see the poor as Jesus does. When we see people through God's eyes and hear their stories, we restore their dignity and help them flourish. And when we recognize our own inner spiritual poverty, we have greater empathy for others, no matter their circumstances.Let love open your eyes. Discover how seeing leads us to act with compassion and justice—as God intends.



Terence Lester is a minister, speaker, community activist, author, and founder of Love Beyond Walls, a not-for-profit organization focused on poverty awareness and community mobilization. His campaigns on behalf of the poor have been featured in USA Today and Black Enterprise and have been viewed by millions of people globally on The Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS News, NBC, Upworthy, and "The Bright Side" with Katie Couric.

Foreword by Dave Gibbons


Introduction: Searching for Home


1. Demystifying Poverty


2. You Don't Have to Fear


3. Making Room in the Margins


4. How Much Is Enough?


5. Ignorance Can Be Hurtful


6. You Are Part of the Solution


7. Different Communities, Different Needs


8. Dignity and How to See People


9. Creating Communities


10. Creating Consistent Rhythms


Conclusion: Each One Matters


Acknowledgments


Questions for Reflection and Discussion


Notes

"I See You is bursting with spirit and challenge. In clear and vulnerable prose, Terence truly shares his heart with us about the urgent call to love those who are impoverished. Privilege has a way of blinding us to the realities faced by those society has made invisible, and in true incarnational fashion, Terence takes us with him on a journey to uncover the true experiences of our most vulnerable neighbors. I pray folks will approach this book with a heart open to the call of Christ to love our neighbors as ourselves and with eyes open to see others for the divine image they inherently bear."



"Terence Lester's I See You is far more than an informative text on people experiencing homelessness. He aims and succeeds at humanizing people's experiences, and the featured narratives amplify a wide variety of human experiences. All the while, Lester encourages the reader to examine their biases and prejudices when it comes to people living in poverty and provides actionable steps and insights to change our way of thinking and support those in need." weniger anzeigen expand_less