After spending years working with the civil rights movement in the American South and building housing for low-income families in Illinois, Tom Logan and his wife, Jocelyn, founded a nonprofit organization that has gone on to build more than 53,000 sustainable wells in rural African villages. His life's story is an inspiration, and a remarkable illustration of what can be done when we love our neighbor as ourselves.
Logan pens a decisive call-to-action in this inspirational memoir, drawing from his years of experience as a philanthropist both in the United States and abroad to illustrate the biblical principle “love your neighbor as yourself.” He starts with his childhood and moves through his years as an activist during the Civil Rights movement—including memories from attending Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C.—and eventually delves into his nonprofit company, Marion Medical Mission, that, in the past 40 years, has built over 53,000 wells of clean, safe water in African villages.Throughout his writing, Logan endorses the need for compassion combined with hard work. "In Africa there is a proverb: When you pray, move your feet,” he writes, encouraging readers to depend on their faith while also putting in the boots-on-the-ground work that is required to make a difference in the world. Logan’s details of his travels—a year spent in Africa at just 18 years old, meeting his future wife while in college, and his many return trips abroad to construct clean-water wells for impoverished communities—unfold through compelling anecdotes and vivid photographs, each telling the story of his constant pursuit of fair treatment for those being oppressed.
Juxtaposing American life with the daily activities in rural African villages, Logan describes, with vibrant detail and uplifting words, how Marion Medical Mission is meeting needs around the world —and empowering communities by funneling the majority of its work to the people it serves: “All the wells built by MMM are built by Africans. They are the experts, and they are the best of the best. We truly believe in the people” he writes. That spirit of togetherness permeates this inspiring debut, making it a true exhortation to “right the wrongs of the world… [and] make your love your aim.”
Takeaway: Humanitarian lessons from a boots-on-the-ground nonprofit.
Comparable Titles: John E. Fleming's Mission to Malawi, Juliet Cutler's Among the Maasai.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
