Tea with Hezbollah, Sitting at the Enemies’ Table, Our Journey Through the Middle East by Ted Dekker and Carl Medearis; 2010; 245 pages; Doubleday Religion, New York, NY; 978-0-307-58827-2; 1/21-1/25; This book provided by the publisher in exchange for a review; Grade-A

Robert Crais, Harlan Coben, Carol O’Connell and Ted Dekker.  These are a few authors whose to do list I would be willing to read, because I think they would be  exciting.

Novelist Ted Dekker and his friend Carl Medearis, who lives in the Middle East, traveled through the Middle East, asking the question, what do you think of Jesus teaching “love your neighbor.”  They traveled through Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Saudi Arabi and Egypt sitting down with leading Jewish, Christian and Islamic clerics.  They also met with leading members of Hezbollah, Hamas and other Freedom Fighters throughout the region.  They asked what made these men cry and laugh, what they thought was the biggest misconceptions Americans had about them, what they thought their people had about Americans, and what they thought about Jesus story of the Good Samaratian.  It is an interesting look at those whom we call enemies, who are really no different than we are.  We need to get to know our global neighbors on a more personal basis.  The trick is how we get my block to know their neighbors in Beirut, Damascus and around the world.  Interspersed throughout the account of their travel, Dekker weaves a story that parallels the story of the Good Samaritan.  Everyone should read this.

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