Why Not Today: Trafficking, Slavery, the Global Church . . . and You

by Matthew Cork, Matthew Cork, Kenneth Kemp

In a hotel room in Bangalore, a California pastor wrestles with God—and himself . . . “I draw in a long, slow breath of Indian air. The room is dark and still. I have only one thing more to say: ‘Lord, I’m in. I am so in.’” When Matthew Cork, lead pastor of a church in a comfortable corner of Orange County, first encountered the Dalit (untouchable) people of India on a visit to Hyderabad, he was shaken to his core. Children begging at the airport. Elderly women sweeping gutters. Families living in discarded concrete pipes. He learned of the systemic bondage they had been in for thousands of years. As Matthew came face-to-face with this suffering, he knew God was summoning him to help. He knew that the greatest hope for the Dalits lay in educating their children—something long closed to them. So God gave Matthew a vision that would transform him and his church, taking them on a journey from the suburban comfort of the US to the slums and villages of India. Today a new movement is sweeping over the world, a movement to set oppressed people free—free from slavery, sex-trafficking, poverty, and political and social injustice. Why Not Today is an invitation—and a challenge—to join in the efforts to bring freedom and hope to people suffering all over world. Perhaps God has stirred a passion in you to help the poor and overcome injustice. This story shows what God can do when we are willing to respond to that stirring. Why not start today?

Genres: Nonfiction, Social Justice, Justice

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2011

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could give this more than 3 stars. I was expecting a book about the Dalits, human trafficking and the Church in India - what I got was half a book about the Dalits, human trafficking and the Church in India, and half a book about an American pastor and a wealthy church in California.

If you're looking for an introduction to the Indian caste system and how the Church can respond, then this book might be for you. But I found myself skim-reading whole chapters and frequently getting annoyed with the American focus of the story.

Too much attention is given to the Californian church's history and the author's previous troubles as a pastor (way before any thought of going to India had ever entered his head - why do we need to know about this?). I felt that the book was lacking in focus - is this a book for anyone who wants to know about Dalits, or is this a book mainly for those who are interested in Friends Church in Yorba Linda and want to know about its work in India?

The structure is rather jumbled, with chapters alternating between India and California, and skipping back and forth in time. The narrative jumps between past and present tense, which is rather distracting, and sometimes events or issues are mentioned without being properly explained (or they're only explained later on). Overall I felt like the book could have used a good editor.

There is also some disturbing Biblical inaccuracy in the author's retelling of the story of Joshua. A book written by a pastor and published by a Christian publisher shouldn't have let that kind of error get through!

What's good about this book is that it truly does give an introduction to the Dalits and to the work of people like Joseph D'Souza (whose book I'm now going to try to find). It also gives a lot of good resources for further research - a number of books, websites and movies are listed at the back, and several other ministries or "movements" are discussed in the text.

I would recommend this book to someone who wanted an introduction to the injustices of the Indian caste system or to the Church's possible response to human trafficking, but who didn't want anything academic or "dry". Anyone looking for something deeper or more focused, however, would have to look elsewhere.

I do look forward to seeing the movie, Not Today, though.

[Tavia Harthcock · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has such an impactful call to action! I especially liked the little phrase “Live simply so others can simply live”. Although the actual literature aspect of the book was repetitive and a little juvenile in my opinion, the core message shined through enough to make me thoroughly enjoy reading it.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

the #1 movie I want to see this year

So, I've been on this kick about learning as much as I can about global suffering (human trafficking, gender-based violence, etc.) and figuring out a way I can do something from my home here in Rexburgia. I'm watching Half the Sky, learning more about www.Love146.org, and then I ran into THIS MOVIE TRAILER.

It's being promoted by the same group that did Fireproof and Courageous, which I loved. So since this is exactly where I'm at in my life - and I was looking forward to the movie, I requested this book from netgalley in exchange for a review.

I was hoping to find a lot of information and detail about the history of the Dalits in India and the problems of poverty, trafficking, slavery, and perhaps what we can do about it. There was some of that. Maybe a third of the book. I now know that in India they have 3x the population as the US and 1/3 the landmass. And of those 900 million, 300 million (the same population as the US) are Dalits, and live as UNTOUCHABLES. I learned more about the thousands of years of religions oppression suffered because of Hindu beliefs and how conversion is still illegal in most Indian states.

What this book is reads as a memoir of this Pastor of a megachurch in Orange County and his story of how he caught his Vision to change the world and work with the Dalit Freedom Network. I wish my church had more of an outward, service focus and identify with his attempts to make the world a better place instead of just being content with serving those who attend church with you. And I love how they focus on building schools and breaking the bonds of poverty and slavery first, and saving souls second. If you aren't really interested in the story of an Evangelical church and it's pastor and his life, I'd recommend you still watch the movie!!

I get that Americans get a bad reputation for having a White Savior complex that we have all the answers and we show up places and we should just let us fix them because we know best and we are right and they are wrong. I get that is a complaint of a lot that is going on and even comments on this movie trailer on you tube - but this movie is really about the journey one takes from 'first world problems' to 'global consciousness'. There are things we can do to relieve suffering in the world more than just paying our tithing. Yes, things even my church isn't involved in.

Slavery is still rampant with over 27 million slaves worldwide. That's more slaves than anytime in history, including the transatlantic slave trade. The Department of Justice estimates there are over 300,000 slaves here in the United States with nearly 15,000 people trafficked into the U.S. each year. These statistics blew my mind.

If you think you may want to learn more:
1) watch Half the Sky
2) watch Not Today
3) go visit LOVE146.org

And if you know me, in the next year or two you may be hearing from me as I move from active learner to activist.

[Jennifer Clausen-greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

My passion is for children. So much so that I am working on obtaining my MSW so I can work in missions with orphanages through China and Africa. I have read several books about the caste system in other countries but this book brought tears to my eyes. It was wrote as a personal testimony to the way Christ works and moves in your life even when you do not know the hows or the whys.


The book reads like a movie, filled with heart breaking stories of struggle, abuse, and misfortune all while you see the author in the background working to make changes in each of their lives. He went from being a book knowledge Christian to being a walking, living example of Christ. Not just a hearer of the word, but a doer!


Matthew writes with a passion for his ministry. You feel his love for this cause come across the pages of the book and you cannot help but feel inspired and called to action. This is a book every believer should read. If you are struggling on your faith or you know God is calling you to act, but you do not know how, this book will open your eyes and show you how one man touched the lives of many by simply listening to God and acting.

[Fadillah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly, I'm more interested to know about the progression of schools that they built for Dalit Community in India than reading over and over again how the author found God. It was somewhat annoying because when reading this, I'm expecting that I will be burst in tears and grateful that somewhere in the world, people still care. The part where they made this whole journey into the film is interesting. It is one of the effective ways to understand this issue. The caste system has been rooted in India for a long time and it's a battle between religion and progressive people. In Malaysia, my Indian friends told me that they no longer practised it as they get rid of it for a long time when they migrate here. However, they telling me the truth that it's acceptable in India. It is sad and appalling at the same time. I'm hoping to read more about this community but the author fail to even write a brief history and why such cruel system exist in the first place. Due to this, I'm giving this book 3 stars.

[Alyssa Fabik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book but not what I was expecting. It had some life changing thoughts such as "Is your vision worth dying for?" I am looking forward to watching the movie "Not Today"

[Beverly Steinhardt]

Excellent, heart rending story about the plight of the "untouchable" people of India and a vision to rescue children through sharing the Gospel and developing schools.

[Kimber Burgess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loved the start of this book about the untouchables then Cork kept writing about his church in the US. I wish he'd left all that out and focused on India.