The Gift of Disillusionment: Enduring Hope for Leaders After Idealism Fades

by Peter Greer, Chris Horst

Overview

Hope for Leaders Facing Burnout and Discouragement

Around the world, discouragement erodes the vitality of organizations. Visionaries often succumb to cynicism. Zealous advocates give up. Leaders coast as their passion for the cause grows cold.

Grounded in research, this book is an invitation for followers of Jesus to sustain hope in long-term service. It's about moving past the false hope of idealism and the faint hope of disillusionment to discover true Christian hope.

You will gain encouragement through the study of the book of Jeremiah woven throughout as the authors explore how the Lord prophetically met and sustained Jeremiah during his lifetime of faithfulness despite literally nothing going as he'd hoped. Glean further inspiration by reading the stories of Christian leaders from around the globe: Zimbabwe, Haiti, Guatemala, Poland, Palestine, the Philippines, India, Zambia, and Lebanon. For this is a moment when we need the global Church's perspective and influence.

Don't give up and don't check out. These are confounding and perilous days, yet God's sustaining presence can bring joy, hope, and encouragement even amid heartache and disappointment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493435937
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/12/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Peter Greer is the president and CEO of HOPE International, and Chris Horst is HOPE International's chief advancement officer. HOPE is a global, Christ-centered economic development organization serving throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Together, Peter and Chris wrote Mission Drift, a Christianity Today Book of the Year, and Rooting for Rivals.
Peter Greer (www.peterkgreer.com) is the president and CEO of HOPE International, a global Christ-centered economic development organization serving throughout Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Prior to joining HOPE, Peter worked internationally as a microfinance adviser in Cambodia and Zimbabwe and as managing director for Urwego Bank in Rwanda. He received a BS in international business from Messiah University and an MPP in political and economic development from Harvard's Kennedy School. Peter's favorite part of his job is spending time with the entrepreneurs HOPE serves--whether harvesting coffee with farmers in Rwanda, dancing alongside savings groups in Haiti, or visiting the greenhouses of entrepreneurs in Ukraine.

As an advocate for the Church's role in missions and alleviating extreme poverty, Peter has coauthored fourteen books, including Mission Drift (selected as a 2015 Book Award Winner from Christianity Today), Rooting for Rivals (selected as a 2019 Leadership Resource of the Year in Outreach magazine), The Spiritual Danger of Doing Good (selected as one of the Top 40 books on poverty by World magazine), and Created to Flourish (which his mom reviewed with five stars and a smiley face emoji).

More important than his role at HOPE is his role as husband to Laurel and dad to Keith, Liliana, Myles, and London. While his sports loyalties remain in New England, Peter and his family live in Lancaster, PA. Learn more at peterkgreer.com.
Chris Horst (www.chris-horst.com) is the chief advancement officer at HOPE International, where he employs his passion for advancing initiatives at the intersection of faith and work. In addition to his role at HOPE, Chris spends an alarming percentage of his free time tending to his yard with all the loving care normally afforded to newborn children. He and his wife, Alli, have four human children of whom they are even prouder than their lawn--Desmond, Abe, Juni, and Mack. As a dad to four kiddos, Chris has recently undergone a radical transformation from self-proclaimed foodie to a man who prepares far more trays of chicken nuggets than avocado toast. He wouldn't change it.

Chris serves on the board of the Mile High WorkShop; has been published in The Denver Post and Christianity Today; and has coauthored the books Mission Drift, Entrepreneurship for Human Flourishing, and Rooting for Rivals with Peter Greer. Christianity Today, World magazine, and the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association named Mission Drift a Book of the Year in 2015. Chris was a very average student, but he did graduate with both a bachelor's degree from Taylor University and an MBA from Bakke Graduate University.

Table of Contents

1 Invitation to Hope 13

2 False Hope 23

3 Faint Hope 33

4 Forgotten Hope 43

5 Upward 55

6 An Unexpected Guide 61

7 Enduring Hope 69

8 Suffering 79

9 Surrender 89

10 Commitment 98

11 Outward 108

12 Justice 114

13 Sacrifice 127

14 Forgiveness 136

15 Onward 150

16 Discernment 154

17 Obedience 167

18 Perseverance 177

19 Community 187

Conclusion: Finding Hope 197

Acknowledgments 202

About the Authors 205

Recommended Resources for Further Study 208

Notes 210