Book Description

In a prison cell, over 330 years ago, John Bunyan wrote The Pilgrim's Progress, an allegory that became the most widely distributed book in the world, second only to the Bible. It is the story of a pilgrim named "Christian," who depicts the lifelong struggle of every believer in the journey we call "the Christian life." Unfortunately, life then was a whole different story than life in the 21st century-especially life in the streets! Kai'Ro: the Journey of an Urban Pilgrim recasts Bunyan's timeless and powerful tale in modern language on an urban stage. You will find yourself both spectator and fellow traveler with Kai'Ro as he faces the blistering sarcasm of The House of Mockers, the haunting pain of his past in the Alley of the Shadow of Death, and the amazing gift of insight at the Interpreter's House. With unflinching honesty and courage, Kai'Ro faces the unrelenting obstacles that entangle modern urban youth, including racism, sex, fatherlessness, violence, and hopelessness. You'll be introduced to characters like Pain, Broken, ChurchBoy, Quitter and Phanatik, whose lives are too real to be ignored. Young or old, urban or suburban, you will find parts of yourself and those you know in Kai'Ro: The Journey of an Urban Pilgrim. (207 words) Judah Ben, 31, has been involved with urban youth for over 15 years. His vision for urban ministry was birthed at Wheaton College while he and friends met weekly with youth incarcerated in the Cook County Juvenile Detention Center in Chicago. Upon graduation he returned home to teach at Restoration Academy, an urban Christian School in Birmingham, Alabama that is nurturing faith and restoring hope in an impoverished community. He is currently anadministrator at the school, and he and his wife and three children make their home in the neighborhood.