REVIEW: Under the Overpass by Mike Yankoski

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION


5th Anniversary - Updated & Expanded Edition
With Foreword by FRANCIS CHAN


Ever Wonder What it Would Be Like to Live Homeless?


Mike Yankoski did more than just wonder. By his own choice, Mike's life went from upper-middle class plush to scum-of-the-earth repulsive overnight. With only a backpack, a sleeping bag and a guitar, Mike and his traveling companion, Sam, set out to experience life on the streets in six different cities—from Washington D.C. to San Diego— and they put themselves to the test.
    For more than five months the pair experienced firsthand the extreme pains of hunger, the constant uncertainty and danger of living on the streets, exhaustion, depression, and social rejection—and all of this by their own choice. They wanted to find out if their faith was real, if they could actually be the Christians they said they were apart from the comforts they’d always known…to discover first hand what it means to be homeless in America.
   Mike and Sam's story is gritty, challenging, and utterly captivating. What you encounter in these pages will radically alter how you see your world—and may even change your life.

This updated and expanded edition contains added stories, an interview with the author, a “five years after” bonus chapter, and a new foreword from Francis Chan.





ABOUT THE AUTHOR



MIKE YANKOSKI and his wife, Danae, are both graduate students in theology at Regent College, Vancouver, Canada. Mike is a board member for World Vision, and a frequent speaker for World Vision, Compassion International, Union Gospel Mission, and colleges across North America. The Yankoskis make their home in a community house on Vancouver’s east side where they seek to live authentically among people in need.







MY REVIEW
If you are not touched or changed, even just a little, then your heart is stone cold!

After reading Under the Overpass in just one night, I had the hardest time throwing food into the garbage the next.  I was convicted as I heated a heating pad to warm my cold feet.  I look for opportunities to give a homeless person in my city food or a warm blanket.

I know that Mike's book is not just about giving the homeless food or clothes; it is about giving the homeless HOPE! Jesus! Love! Compassion!

As a teenage I was a part of the homeless ministry at my church.  I went out monthly to feed the homeless in the inner city.  I spent many Friday nights with the 'older' ladies of the church making crazy quilts and sleep bags for them.  I took my turn in the kitchen making huge pots of chili beans and peeling many potatoes for meals.  I remember shopping trips to buy hundreds of hot buns and helping load, sort and collect clothing, hygiene items to give away.

Mike's story has rekindled a love for the less fortunate in my city.

And I plan to do something about it!



 
 The Legal Stuff: This book was provided by Multnomah's Blogging for Books program.