This is an important book. A memoir of Jonathan’s unusual childhood, his parents having been called to serve the drug addicts in Madrid in the 1980’s as Christian missionaries. His home life was soon shared with addicts, exposed to their chaotic lifestyles, criminality and pain, more so when the community was then consumed by the AIDS epidemic. The hope that he and his family brought into a dark world has been immeasurable. But at a cost.
The service that Jonathan’s parents have given to the vision and development of what is now Betel International is truly commendable, and in fact I would love to read their stories too.
Churches have rightly, for generations, sent missionaries to heal a hurting world, always at great cost to the individuals. But there can be a broader impact on the lives around them, which includes the children. They especially may not have chosen the path of a missionary and it is important for supporting churches to remember this. Jonathan and his brothers suffered in not knowing where they fit in. To their ‘home’ country or their ‘host’ country? What is their first language? Culturally?
As a young child, Jonathan had to grow up very fast. Exposed to the lifestyle that surrounds the desperation of drug addiction, he quickly saw past the facade that often challenges our ‘nice’ Christian lifestyles, seeing souls as Jesus saw them, desperate people fighting the demons of addiction. Together they walked through the painful process of coming off drugs, into a place of freedom and restoration, physically and spiritually, that brought them together in deep friendships.
But in the height of the AIDS epidemic, as they begin to pass away, Jonathan was regularly surrounded by tragedy. Many passed with hope, the hope of a better life to follow, but those left behind were grieving, and Jonathan experienced more than a lifetime’s grief through his childhood years. But as if this was not enough, a family tragedy also challenged them to the core, as well as rocking his own faith.
Faith is a personal journey, and the more hard fought it is then the more precious it is. We can’t inherit the faith of our parents. Yes, they can introduce us and nurture us, pointing us in the right direction. But faith needs to be our own. It needs to be discovered, ruminated and digested to create our own taste experience, our own nutrients, a personal sustenance.
Shooting Up is a very well written book. Its brutal honesty makes it. It is no surprise to learn that Jonathan is exceptionally well-read, reflected in his writing style. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are many more words within him, waiting to be let loose on a page. I hope that in writing this, there was something cathartic in the process. A healing that Jonathan could glean from getting it all down on paper.
I think so. He does not look back on the experiences through rose tinted glasses – there is too much pain and grief for that. But it was foundational and formational to who he has become and I hope there are no regrets.
He says that ‘books shaped him”. That they did, but they also gave him an escape. In books he could find comfort, peace and balm for his profound grief. Books enabled him to escape his childhood, to understand it and to become the man he was meant to be, his own man.
A word of warning for more sensitive readers. This book does not hold back, and in my view it would be selling itself short if it did. There are upsetting scenes of loss and grief, drug use and occasional swearing. It is wholly in context and a reflection of the world that the author was immersed in. But some of the language is more explicit than the usual Christian books I review.
Shooting Up, by Jonathan Tepper, is available here.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author, but was under no pressure to provide a favourable review.
