Nik Ripken

En historia om återfunnen tro...Guds vansinniga uppdrag är en personlig och livslång resa, som ett vanligt par från en landsort i USA gav sig ut på under föreställningen att de bara skulle göra en vanlig missionsresa. De upptäckte snart att resan blev allt annat än vanlig.Efter sex år av hårt biståndsarbete i Somalia upplevde Nik och Ruth Ripken en kris i sin Gudstro. De lämnade Afrika med en fråga i sina hjärtan: ”Fungerar evangeliet verkligen på riktigt svåra platser?” För det hade då inte fungerat i Somalia.Hur överlever tron på Gud, och till och med frodas på platser som Mellanöstern eller Kina? Hur behåller man hoppet när mörker är allt man ser? Hur kan vi säga, ”Han som är i mig är större än den som är i världen”, när det inte stämmer överens med verkligheten på en given plats i en given tid? Kan kristen tro ens fungera utanför västvärldens välklädda och ordnade nationer? Om ja, hur?Guds vansinniga uppdrag berättar en gripande historia om en personlig pilgrimsresa till några av världens tuffaste platser. Sammanvävd med klarsynta och insiktsfulla skildringar av de beundransvärda trosmänniskor som Nik och Ruth har mött, blir boken en lärorik och utmanande lektion för alla som vill veta om Gud verkligen håller.

Nik og Ruth Ripken er misjonærer og har et særlig fokus på muslimske land der kristne forfølges for sin tro. Jevnlig drar de inn i det krigsherjede Somalia. Da tenåringssønnen deres dør tårner spørsmålene seg opp. Hvorfor måtte sønnen dø? Hvorfor må somalierne lide så mye? Hvordan kan Gud være god når livet er så mørkt og vanskelig?Ripken legger ut på en lang reise for å høre historien til drøyt 600 kristne i mange land - kvinner og menn som har lært av Jesus å være forberedt til å følge ham på tross av hard forfølgelse. De vitner: Jesus er verdt det! Kristne fra hele verden forteller om en tro som bærer gjennom forfølgelse og lidelse.

"Wise Sheep Among the Wolves" All Christian disciples have one thing in common: as they carry the gospel across the ocean and across the street, persecution will become the norm for those who choose to follow Jesus. How believers respond in the face of persecution reveals everything about their level of faith and obedience. "The Insanity of Obedience" is a bold challenge to global discipleship. Nik Ripken exposes the danger of safe Christianity and calls readers to something greater. "The Insanity of Obedience" challenges Christians in the same, provocative way that Jesus did. This book dares you--and prepares you--to cross the street and the oceans with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Some of Jesus' instructions sound uncomfortable and are potentially dangerous. We may be initially encouraged by His declaration, "I am sending you out." But how are we to respond when He then tells us that He is sending us out "like sheep among wolves"? In light of the words of Jesus, how can modern day believers rest comfortably in the status quo? How can we embrace casual faith in light of the radical commands of Jesus which are anything but casual? Ripken brings decades of ministry experience in some of the most persecuted areas of the world to bear on our understanding of faith in Jesus. "The Insanity of Obedience" is a call to roll up your sleeves . . . and to follow and partner with Jesus in the toughest places on this planet. "We have the high privilege of answering Jesus' call to go," Ripken says. "But let us be clear about this: we go on His terms, not ours. If we go at all, we go as sheep among wolves." Jesus gives us Himself. And He gives us the tools necessary for those who dare to journey with Him.

This is the personal and lifelong journey of an ordinary couple from rural Kentucky who thought they were going on just your ordinary missionary pilgrimage, but discovered it would be anything but. After spending over six hard years doing relief work in Somalia, and experiencing life where it looked like God had turned away completely and He was clueless about the tragedies of life, the couple had a crisis of faith and left Africa asking God, "Does the gospel work anywhere when it is really a hard place? It sure didn't work in Somalia. Nik recalls that, "God had always been so real to me, to Ruth, and to our boys. But was He enough, for the utter weariness of soul I experienced at that time, in that place, under those circumstances?" It is a question that many have asked and one that, if answered, can lead us to a whole new world of faith. How does faith survive, let alone flourish in a place like the Middle East? How can good truly overcome such evil? How do you maintain hope when all is darkness around you? How can we say "greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world" when it may not be visibly true in that place at that time? How does anyone live an abundant, victorious Christian life in our world's toughest places? Can Christianity even work outside of Western, dressed-up, ordered nations? If so, how? The Insanity of God tells a story -- a remarkable and unique story to be sure, yet at heart a very human story -- of the Ripkens' own spiritual and emotional odyssey. The gripping, narrative account of a personal pilgrimage into some of the toughest places on earth, combined with sobering and insightful stories of the remarkable people of faith Nik and Ruth encountered on their journeys, will serve as a powerful course of revelation, growth, and challenge for anyone who wants to know whether God truly is enough.