No Greater Love is a memoir, covering the journey of the Benkert family to remote Ethiopia to save children from the tribal practice of mingi. In the first few chapters, we find that Levi Benkert had been a wildly successful real estate developer living in San Diego with his wife Jessie and three children (one of whom was adopted through the American foster care system). Then the housing market collapsed and Benkert quickly was on the verge of losing everything. At the end of his rope, he had the opportunity to take a short-term missions trip to Jinka, Ethiopia to assist with orphan care. While on this two-week trip, Benkert learned of the horrifying tribal practice of mingi, the ritual killing of children who were considered cursed by tribal leaders. Children were being rescued (in small numbers) by courageous Christian locals and being brought to the orphanage. It was seeing this process in action that led Benkert to believe that God might be calling he and his family to Ethiopia for good. Not a particularly religious man (though he did consider himself a believer and had done humanitarian work in the past), Benkert wondered if God was really speaking to him. Through conversation with his wife and a series of related events, the Benkerts decided that God was indeed bringing them to Ethiopia. They sold everything they owned and moved their family of five overseas, trusting that God would guide their work.
Once I got past Benkert's American life (interesting, but not fascinating), I became enthralled in this book. The story of this family, the children in the orphanage and the triumphs and hardships they all faced were amazing. Dozens of children were rescued. The Benkerts adopted again. More Americans joined the cause. Things broke down in a heartbreaking turn of events. God restored the ministry of the Benkerts. The story of this family and God's work through them kept me reading last night until I had finished 200+ pages in an hour or two. This is a stirring, inspiring read.
The book is not a how-to manual on orphan care, foreign missions or hearing God's voice. Yet, after reading it, I'm more inspired than ever to fight for orphans. This book is not meant to equip, necessarily. It is meant to fuel us to listen for God's voice and to see His heart for the poor and powerless. Benkert's book hits the mark. Check out the Benkerts work at http://bringlove.in
I think, if anything, this book emphasizes what can happen when a person gives their heart over to God. This story is of one man's journey through years back and forth from Ethiopia, full of his own flaws and short-sightedness, only to be able to look back someday and discover how God was so busy shaping his character, giving him vision, and molding him to become more Christ-like, while ministering to the most helpless and hopeless of all, children born into tribes that were killed in a matter of minutes because of superstitions that governed the tribes beliefs. I can't recommend this book enough, it will change the way you perceive the "important" things in life, and challenge you to ask God, "What have you called me to do?"
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