Shortlisted for the 2016 Michael Ramsey Prize Smokey Mountain, the vast garbage dump in Manila has served for many years as an emblem of third world squalor - a metaphor for a planet slowly choking on garbage and waste. But for Fr Beltran, who served for three decades as a chaplain to the scavengers who survive off this reeking heap, it is also a metaphor of hope - an emblem of the will to survive, the ability to create joy and find meaning even in the midst of abject poverty. Faith and Struggle on Smokey Mountain describes the spiritual resilience of the scavengers of Smokey Mountain, and how they taught Beltran to read the Gospel with new eyes. The lessons he learned bear a message for all who struggle for a better world.

Brent Waters examines the historical roots and contemporary implications of the virtual disappearance of the family in late liberal and Christian social and political thought. Waters argues that the principal cause of this disappearance is late liberalism's fixation on individual autonomy, which renders familial bonds unintelligible. He traces the history of this emphasis, from its origin in Hobbes and Locke, through Kant, to such contemporary theorists as Rawls and Okin. In response, Waters offers an alternative normative account of the family's role in social and political ordering, drawing upon the work of Althusius, Grotius, Dooyeweerd, and O'Donovan.

On July 2, 2007, the federal government seized everything from me, including my reputation. The systematic process of investigation, prosecution, and incarceration, turned me into a mere memory of my former self. I eventually landed in a prison cell, wearing an orange uniform, and facing LIFE in federal prison without parole. Having absolutely no prior criminal activity in my life, I felt that this was an impossibility for anyone. However, the system sometimes knows no redemption. I cried out to God on a daily basis, but I felt like He had abandoned me. I read about Job and the suffering of Paul, but they did little to appease me. One day, I realized that life in general is not fair, and that we as human beings will be judged by the way we play the hand that we are dealt. I see now, that it took losing everything, to gain what the Bible calls, "the peace that passeth understanding." I told God that I would use this experience to glorify HIM. I began counseling other inmates because solving their problems made me, at least for that instant, forget my own. I found myself enjoying sharing my faith and Biblical Principles with everyone. I applied to a Baptist University and I eventually completed a Masters and Ph.D in Psychology and Christian Counseling. I told the university that I wanted to write a dissertation that would minister to both inmates and their families, and not just a paper that would sit in their library. That case study of counseling prisoners, through various entertaining prison engagements, became the precursor to Suicidal Kings: The Road to Redemption. For the prisoner, it provides hope. For those searching for God, it provides understanding. And for the Christian Counselor, it becomes a prescription against the thinking errors of the carnal mind. Enjoy the ride

This book explores the history and agendas of the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) through its activities in South Asia. Focusing on interactions between American 'Y' workers and the local population, representatives of the British colonial state, and a host of international actors, it assesses their impact on the making of modern India. In turn, it shows how the knowledge and experience acquired by the Y in South Asia had a significant impact on US foreign policy, diplomacy and development programs in the region from the mid-1940s. Exploring the 'secular' projects launched by the YMCA such as new forms of sport, philanthropic efforts and educational endeavours, The YMCA in Late Colonial India addresses broader issues about the persistent role of religion in global modernization processes, the accumulation of American soft power in Asia, and the entanglement of American imperialism with other colonial empires. It provides an unusually rich case study to explore how 'global civil society' emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, how it related to the prevailing imperial world order, and how cultural specificities affected the ways in which it unfolded. Offering fresh perspectives on the historical trajectories of America's 'moral empire', Christian internationalism and the history of international organizations more broadly, this book also gives an insight into the history of South Asia during an age of colonial reformism and decolonization. It shows how international actors contributed to the shaping of South Asia's modernity at this crucial point, and left a lasting legacy in the region.