102: Craig Greenfield and Good News for the Poor

Craig Greenfield is the founder and director of Alongsiders International and author including The Urban Halo and Subversive Jesus: An Adventure in Justice, Mercy, and Faithfulness in a Broken World (Amazon affiliate link). Craig grew up in a home of generous hospitality which shaped his view of what it means to follow Jesus. Instead of merely inviting the poor into his home, Craig and his wife make their home with the poor.

Today, Craig shares the story of how he became convinced the Gospel is for the poor, moving to one of the world’s highest drug dealing neighborhoods, and the “God questions” that led him back to Cambodia to lead a movement of children mentoring children. Craig inspires me to think about the Kingdom of God in new ways and I know his story will do the same for you.

Please listen and share Craig’s story!

Stories Craig shared:

• The Alongsiders movement that he leads
• Growing up in an affluent neighborhood in New Zealand
• His parent’s radical hospitality and the impression it made on him
• The spiritual warfare experience that led him to choose Jesus
• When the Gospel he shared didn’t sound like good news to the poor
• How the Magnificat speaks the Gospel to all aspects of our lives
• The beggar’s shirt that challenged how he followed Jesus
• His battle with claustrophobia and how Jesus’s time in a cave helped him
• Facing death when he had cancer six years ago
• His book The Urban Halo about his first seven years in the slums of Cambodia
• Subversive Jesus and his time in Vancouver to the Downtown Eastside
• The “God-question” that led him to reevaluate his next five years
• How he worked through ministering to the poor with his wife
• Why North American Christians need to get out of the bubble

Great quotes from Craig:

What the eye has not seen the heart cannot grieve.

When you come face to face with real poverty it rocks your world.

We tend to romanticize those who are far away and marginalize those near us.

People have enough condemnation in life. What we need is more love, more joy, more welcome.

Resources mentioned by Craig:

• The Urban Halo, Craig’s first book
• Subversive Jesus: An Adventure in Justice, Mercy, and Faithfulness in a Broken World
• Alongsiders International
• Craig’s website where you can connect with him
• Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus by Ched Myers
• Chasing the Dragon: One Woman’s Struggle Against the Darkness of Hong Kong’s Drug Dens by Jackie Pullinger

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