Nothing but a Thief by Danielle Speakman (2003)

Danielle Speakman's Book Published:
Nothing But a Thief
Sovereign World, 2002

In this book, Daniel Speakman Shares her experiences while she worked with street children in Lima, Peru with an organization called Word Made Flesh.  It captures profoundly how the journey of knowing the poor intimately can draw us into a context where compassion can become etched into our souls.

Danielle shows the importance of relationships with the materially poor, for without relationship there is little to motivate people to give to those in need.  Niether is there room to learn to recieve what they have to offer us.  This book communicates Danielle's own journey of relationships with the street children in order to provide a context for people to both understand and to provoke thoughts regarding, their response to the reality of poverty.   This is a great book for discussion groups.

Danielle says, "I write because it would be difficult not to. Lima, Peru, is filled with stories that go untold. I met these stories close up at every moment, and many of them turned themselves into people, who became people I love, and their stories became my own. These people engraved their lives into mine … the children of Lima have graffitied their names in the wet cement of my soul. It is for them that I write this book -- to give them a voice, and in so doing, to bring them the justice and love all humans deserve to receive. This book contains the voices of those dear children who became my wise teachers … gentle little children who grew up too fast -- those who, to the world, are nothing but a thief. Nothing but a thief, and everything but a child …"

The book is called Nothing But a Thief because it seeks to show that street children are not merely thieves or outcasts in society -- indeed, they are children who are precious to God and are central to the vitality of the church today.