Facing Fear: The Journey to Mature Courage in Risk and Persecution
Ebook
Developing an Anti-Fragile Faith
Violence against Christ-followers is increasing globally. The lived reality for many Christians involves daily threats, risks, and persecution. When evil casts its shadow on us, and we’re tempted to despair, it is vital to develop anti-fragile faith and the guts to endure in hard places.
Facing Fear is a practical guide for believers who long to have bold, mature courage. Cultivating this courage is necessary to endure wisely for Christ’s sake. Anna Hampton integrates exegesis and psychology to explain how humans respond to fear and how the Holy Spirit enables us to make a different choice than our normal. Learning to face our fears, name them, and manage them requires learning specific steps to reduce their impact on us.
This book is a pastoral and practical resource for those working to advance the gospel in the world’s most dangerous places. You’ll gain valuable skills to become “shrewd as a serpent” and stand with unshakable faith in unsafe situations. Risk can be an offering of worship. Jesus is worthy of whatever pain you go through, whatever loss you experience, and whatever fears you have.
Introduction
Part One: The 21st Century Challenge
Chapter 1 - When Your Back Is Against the Wall
Chapter 2 – The Squeeze, the Smash, And the Rhomphaia
Part Two: Biblical Background
Chapter 3 - The Grammar of Fear and Courage
Chapter 4 – Temptations, Idols, and Ancient Heresies
Chapter 5 – Anti-Fragile Faith
Chapter 6 – Put the Candy Jar on the Lower Shelf
Part Three: Essentials of Decision-Making In Risk
Chapter 7 – Shrewd as A Serpent
Chapter 8 – Thinking About Thinking
Chapter 9 – Witness Risk Axioms
Chapter 10 – Becoming Shrewd as a Serpent
Chapter 11 – Information and Death-Threat Analysis
Chapter 12 - Risk Decision-Making
Chapter 13 – Risk Communication and Trust
Chapter 14 - Embracing Grief and Loss
Chapter 15 - Standing in the Tragic Gap
Part Four: Leadership
Chapter 16 – Systems and the Liminal Moment
Chapter 17 – Ten Mistakes Leaders Make
Chapter 18 – It’s Time to Member Care Job’s Wife
Part Five: Contagious Courage
Chapter 19 – Hope Like a Sewer Rat and PTSJ
Chapter 20 – Mature Courage and Spiritual Nobility
Witness Risk Glossary
Appendix A – Greek Terms Thresholds for Departure/Benchmarks for Return
Appendix B – System Risk Audit Questions
Appendix C – Thresholds for Departure/Benchmarks for Return
Appendix D - Choosing to Stay
Appendix E - Risk Assessment and Management Training (RAM Training)
About the Author
Endnotes
Bibliography
After equipping Christ’s followers in Facing Danger with the much-needed concepts and decision-making skills to respond to intense risk in ministry, the author now focuses on the hearts and souls of the faithful as they experience a normal response to danger: fear. In this book, you will find thoroughly researched, biblically profound, and practice-relevant nuggets; a detailed and instructive study of the Hebrew and Greek words used for fear in the Bible; applied neuropsychological concepts of fear and attachment; an exploration of how to move from fear to courage; cross-cultural considerations of risk-related decision-making; and wise counsel about preparing for and managing risk. I recommend this book to all who seek to prepare their hearts and minds to courageously face fear with increasingly mature courage.
Frauke C. Schaefer, MD, Psychiatry
Barnabas International
Christian Counseling and Therapy, Psychiatric Care
Brilliantly written, deeply thought-provoking, and practicable, Anna Hampton has done it again! This sequel to Facing Danger is a must-read for anyone engaged in cross-cultural or intercultural witness work, and for the organizations that send and support those workers. In this guide to facing fear, Anna manages to combine profound spiritual truths, biblical realities, and hard-won personal experience. Page after page, she gives us practical guidance and inspired wisdom on risk, mature courage, Spirit-led discernment, and what it takes to face risk wisely amid persecution, laying out a model for witnessing for Christ from a place of peace, love, and trust. I couldn’t put it down, and I can’t wait to share this book with everyone in my organization.
Sarah Grainger
Executive Director
Family Missions Company
Safety, risk, and fear have dominated global headlines over the past few years. How we think about these topics has huge implications for how we carry out our tasks as Christ’s ambassadors. While persecution is promised in the New Testament, we must see it through spiritual eyes with an understanding of appropriate risk-taking. This book raises the bar of our understanding of the challenges we face as kingdom activists in a dangerous world.
Ted Esler, PhD
President
Missio Nexus
Fear is an emotion that we all deal with at some stage in our lives. I can remember often asking my children, “What are you afraid of?” I suppose we could all ask ourselves the same question. Anna Hampton has captured the essence of this question as she considers the global risks and dangers that we face today as we share the gospel in high-risk environments. By unpacking the biblical truths related to fear and courage, she guides the reader through a practical process of facing fear as we build our framework of trust in the Lord. I’m grateful that Anna takes a section of her book to address those in leadership. Barnabas International has greatly benefited from implementing various practices that Anna has outlined in her earlier book Facing Danger; Facing Fear has once again provided room for growth—it is a must-read for anyone serving in mission leadership.
Perry Bradford
Executive Director
Barnabas International
- Title: Facing Fear: The Journey to Mature Courage in Risk and Persecution
- Author: Anna Hampton
- Publisher: William Carey Publishing
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781645084709, 9781645084686, 164508468X, 1645084701
- Resource ID: LLS:9781645084709
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-09-17T07:39:25Z