There's a significant movement going on throughout the world: young people serving in solidarity with the poorest of the poor. This movement shares values and goals with ancient monastic and missional orders known as friars. But pouring yourself out in humble service looks different in every era. Scott Bessenecker looks at the new friars in the context of the old, inspiring us to look at the world differently: every person, regardless of station, is our brother or sister, and our love for God must translate into love for them.

• Mission and evangelism organizations
• Missionaries
• Urbana 06 attendees
• Young adults

"Scott Bessenecker has taken the risk (or fallen to the temptation!) of putting words to a stirring of the Spirit that is both fresh and ancient. His brilliant work is a celebration of the new things God is doing, while locating these movements humbly throughout church history, as the simple renewals that the Spirit seems to bring over and over on the margins of empires and markets that threaten to infect and colonize the Christian identity. But be careful neither to hail these ragamuffin disciples as celebrities or to dismiss them as saints. Rather, allow their lives to challenge us to rethink what it means to be Christian. After all, the very fact that they seem radical or odd may only be an indictment on the sort of Christianity we have become accustomed to." Shane Claiborne, founding member of The Simple Way, and author of The Irresistible Revolution

• Surveys significant social justice movements throughout the world that share values and goals with ancient monastic and missional orders.
• Shares stories of remarkable missionary efforts.