Like so many others of his generation, Jesse Zink was eager to give back, serve others, and “save the world.” As a young adult missionary of the Episcopal Church, he found all that and more when he went to work in a shantytown community built on a garbage dump in South Africa.

Grace at the Garbage Dump takes readers with Jesse through his years in South Africa: struggling with AIDS patients to get life-saving drugs, coaching women through a microcredit program, and teaching preschool students to sing (and dance) to “Johnny B. Goode.” It’s a story that leads us to a deeper understanding of our world and is at once hopeful and uplifting while also being credible and serious.

The headlines are dominated by disaster and despair but young people remain passionate about service to the least among us. Grace at the Garbage Dump is an invigorating call to respond to the diculties of our time with an active and engaged faith. Whether you end up at the local soup kitchen or halfway around the world, you’ll be challenged to seek God’s grace in even the most adverse circumstances.

Brian McLaren calls the book “One part travelogue, one part coming-of-age story, one part spiritual autobiography, and one part reflections on poverty and what it means to help and be helped by those in need, Grace at the Garbage Dump introduces us all to Jesse Zink—talented as a writer, honest as a Christian thinker, and smart as an activist—exactly the kind of voice we need.” See what other people are saying.

A free study guide, suitable for congregations and other reading groups, is also available.

Tell your friends and order at your local bookstore, for your Kindle, or directly from the publisher.

Grace at the Garbage Dump, Cascade Press, 2012, ISBN: 978-1-61097-613-8

Questions? Comments? Contact the author directly.