by Jean Thomas

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review by Tom Sine

At Home with the Poor by Jean Thomas and Lon Fendall invites us to go on a remarkable adventure to rural Haiti. The book tells the story of Jean and Joy Thomas relocating their family from the United States to Fond-des-Blancs in Haiti in 1982, and shows the creative ways God used their lives in partnership with others to make a difference in all aspects of that community.

In 1977 Thomas, who had been attending Carver Bible College, accepted the invitation of John Perkins to join the Voice of Calvary Ministries in Jackson, Mississippi. Thomas, originally from Haiti, welcomed this opportunity to work alongside John Perkins learning how to help the poor help themselves. In the summer of 1977, I volunteered at Voice of Calvary and met Jean Thomas. He was a young man eager to learn how to empower the poor.

In this delightful book you will follow John and Joy as they get married and act on one of John Perkins' key principles for development—relocation—by moving to rural Haiti.

As you journey with this family, you can't help but be impressed at the way God uses their mustard seeds to make a difference in the good times and the tough times. You will travel with them through a struggling pig replacement project to the creation of the first credit union in Fond-des-Blancs—to help the poor obtain funding to start small businesses. You will find yourself praying with them as six bandits invade their home. By the time you complete this book you will be ready to fly to Haiti and become one of hundreds of American volunteers who work along with Haitians to see something of God's Kingdom come in this small community.

Most importantly, you will learn some valuable insights about ways to work in communities of need anywhere in the world. The story of Jean and Joy Thomas will challenge you to consider taking the risk of putting God's mission purposes first in your own life. A must-read book for anyone who wants to learn about the human side of making a difference.

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