I am a third generation U.S. citizen. Both sets of my grandparents worked tirelessly to gain access to this country, fleeing Greece, and Germany during times of war and political unrest. They entered the country through New York, but over time migrated to the Pacific Northwest. My up-bringing was not affluent, and racial diversity was present within my neighborhood. Although not fueled by faith, my parents sought to teach my brother and I that all life has value, and that the color of skin does not define or devalue a person. Even as a child I remember being inspired by those who led the civil rights movement, and moved by their immense bravery to fight for freedom and equality among all people. Reading the book Weep with Me, helped further my understanding of past racial injustices, and open my eyes to the current pain that is underway in my minority friends and family.

With the conversation racial reconciliation being so prevalent in our culture today, I have felt at a loss for what to do and how to respond. Weep with Me helped me pinpoint my own feelings of frustration about racial injustice. It brought me to tears as I read the pain of my minority brothers and sisters, and convicted me as a white mediterranean female in the U.S.

I have often struggled with being angered at feeling culturally accused of racism just because I am white. News outlets and social media do not make it easy for racial harmony to happen whether in the church or not. However, I appreciated Mark Vroegops perspective as he specifically spoke to all believers and offered a gospel-centered perspective through which racial reconciliation can begin. Through my reading, I felt convicted as he identified and offered lament as the first tool we are to use while facing racial injustice as a whole. He called majority believers to repentant of personal, generational, and societal sin by using the outline of lament. Through this lens we can empathize with our minority brothers and sisters, and end our silence that causes deep divide.

As a pastors wife, mom, friend, and family member of minorities, I believe this book to be a helpful agent of change in our society today. It does not speak to the current riots, statistics, or political opinions that can often overtake the racial reconciliation conversation. Rather, it teaches us to pray for the deep seeded injustice in our country, and calls us to leverage our voice for those who are hurting and need the hope of the gospel. Weep with Me offers clear teaching on how to lament, how to weep with those who weep, and how to invoke change in our churches and communities by befriending minority brothers and sisters, and being a voice for justice both in the church and on the streets of our communities. I pray this book gets into the hands of every believer, and that God uses it to convict hearts, renew hope, and invoke change in our unsettled society.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book through the Crossway Book Review Program in exchange for an honest review.

The author Vroegop mentioned the good point that is "Reconciliation starts from tears".

I am looking forward to reading this book. Arrived in perfect condition, packed protectively. Fast shipping.