Скачать или смотреть 2016 Australian Christian Book of the Year

‘Child, Arise! The Courage to Stand: A Spiritual Handbook for Survivors of Sexual Abuse’ is declared the 2016 Australian Christian Book of the Year.

Jane N Dowling

David Lovell Publishing

ISBN 9781863551533

Knowing that God speaks to us when we read the Bible, Jane Dowling prayerfully applies God’s Word to the experience of living with the long-term effects of sexual abuse, including abuse by clergy. Her reflections are gentle, almost tremulous. Jesus shows her the way from ruin and despair to healing and hope. This is a handbook for survivors of sexual abuse and those who seek to understand and support them. But because Dowling engages with the Scriptures in their original context, her book has application for all Christians who are living with painful experiences. This is a courageous and historic book. For a church yearning for healing and wholeness, Jane Dowling has performed a great service.

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Extract from ‘Child, Arise!’

Through the prompting of God’s grace working in my heart, I took the risk to give God another chance in my life so that God could prove to be different. It was very scary for me at the time because, at the back of my mind, I thought that this could backfire and I could come away feeling destroyed again but it could also turn out to be the opposite! If so, I didn’t want to lose the opportunity. So I made my choice: I chose to open the door of my heart to God.

‘Opening the door’ sounds simple, but it took me some time to do it because I had so many issues of trust and fear to overcome. In this process, God’s presence remained constant. I knew from the day God entered my darkness that God’s presence was there and throughout all my struggles God was waiting patiently for me with unconditional love. There was nothing forceful about God: God left me free throughout the process. Eventually, through God’s words in the Bible, I learned to let go of my barriers so that I could gradually open the door of my heart to God’s presence there.

As I listened to God’s Word with an open heart, the most amazing thing began to happen. I began to listen to the narration of my story spoken from God’s heart: a heart full of tender compassion and authentic love.

God added meaning and purpose to my story and made me aware of some essential things I was not aware of during the time of the abuse—God’s constant presence and unconditional love for me; how God felt my pain and suffered immensely with me; and how much God suffered because of the wrong my perpetrators had done to me. God also helped me to see the good and positive things in myself that I had not recognised in the past, and with great sensitivity and delicacy, brought out the best in me: hope, love, courage, resilience, life, perseverance, confidence, faith, and renewed self-esteem.

I am constantly witnessing how God miraculously transforms the tragedy of my past into a well of new life and continually opens my eyes up to see my own life with new possibilities.

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The Australian Christian Book of the Year Award is given annually to a book written by an Australian citizen normally resident in Australia. The award recognises and celebrates excellence in Australian Christian writing. A shortlist is announced in July and the award is presented during August. The award carries a prize of $3,000.

Entries are judged with an eye to the (1) original nature of the work, (2) literary style, including suitability for the target audience, (3) competence and expertise displayed by the author in writing the book and examining the underlying thesis, (4) design, layout, cover, text and illustrations and (5) contribution that the book makes in meeting a need for Christian writing for the Australian situation and in the Australian market.

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