John Robinson hade den värsta tänkbara starten i livet. Fyra månader gammal blev han lämnad till barnhemmet. Det mesta av barndomen tillbringade han i fosterhem, där han blev utsatt för övergrepp. Han var barnet som ingen ville ha.
Fjorton år gammal blev han dömd till ungdomsvård för mordbrand. Vägen gick vidare i kriminalitet, fängelse och mentalsjukhus, till ett liv som uteliggare. John var en sårad, nedbruten och bitter ung man.
John Robinson leads the Eden bus ministry, part of The Message in Manchester. He is author of Nobody's Child and is married to Gillian, a vicar in the Church of England.
This is a truly amazing and inspirational story. John's childhood experiences of deep rejection, that framed his early years and led him down a path of trauma fuelled self-destruction, are horrifying to read. This was then compounded when he suffered neglect at the hands of the foster care system – a system that of course should have been protecting and nurturing, but completely failed him. As a foster carer, I found this so hard to read and felt I just wanted to apologise to John. Even though it happened 40 to 50 years ago, and I like to believe that safeguards are in place now to ensure this sort of abuse could not happen, the lack of care is truly astonishing and disgraceful. And sadly it left a trail of trauma that many may not have escaped from in the way that John has. In John's case, by the amazing grace of God, he was rescued. It is an amazing story of salvation, a life back on track, called and dedicated to serving and supporting young people who find themselves in similar circumstances. The culmination of this part of the story was God's hand in leading John to manage the Eden bus ministry at the Message Trust in Manchester. It is worth noting that this book was published 20 years ago and the vision and works of the Message Trust look to be still going very strong – do look them up at https://www.message.org.uk/ I see there is a follow up book to this one, called Somebody’s Child, sharing some of the stories of John's adventures in partnership with God… it’s on my To Be Read list now. Read more reviews of Christian books at https://www.robseabrook.com/category/...
I didn’t finish the book, I got to page 55 and decuded it was not for me. Interesting reading about his horrendous time in care, but personally for me I’m not interested in reading about the church.
Read it in one sitting, couldn't put it down. It is an inspired true story, that no matter what life throw at you, there is always a hope. Thanks to Mr Robinson for sharing his story and also for his work among the youngest. Highly recommend it!