Review: Something Needs to Change by David Platt

After reading Radical by this same author several months ago, I knew I'd want to read more of his books. This one did not disappoint! It is not an easy read, however. The situations he faced on the journey he is describing within these pages are fierce and difficult. I admit to crying a few times as I pictured the scenes and the people within them. When faced with so much heartbreak and need, what does one do?

That is the ultimate question which Mr. Platt is forced to reckon with, he plops it down before our eyes and there it sits. Having spent several months in Southeast Asia personally, I recognized the uncertainties and fears, feelings with which I didn't know what to do (and still don't, for that matter). When one looks into the eyes of hurting people, whether that be overseas or here at home in America, how does one respond? More than just the immediate need that you can see, how do you respond to the underlying needs that the person may not even be aware is there? How do you truly love people with the depth of love that Jesus requires? There are no easy answers to any of these questions and I appreciated that Mr. Platt is honest about that. Those answers are going to look different for everyone. But the most important thing is to begin to realize that you can and should do something.

So here's why I recommend you read this book. Mr. Platt describes quite vividly a week long journey he took through the Himalayas and all the people he met and the things he experienced. For those not able to physically visit such a place, this book will place you inside the adventure for a bit. In such a place, you will confront severe and intense need. And you won't be able to look away. (Well. I suppose you could put the book down, but I don't think you'll want to.) This will enable you to question and ponder...and that is what I feel the point of this book is. To make all of us sit up and take notice of our own hearts and our own choices and wonder if we're truly living out the purpose God has for us. Mr. Platt doesn't give us answers to everything, he only seems to want to cause us to be willing to have our perspective changed, to challenge our own status quo. We all need a bit of shaking up now and again, right? :)

This may not be a book for everyone, I can admit that. But for those desiring to see life and culture just a tiny bit differently, I think this is a good place to start.

**I received a complimentary copy via Waterbrook & Multnoma. All opinions are my own.

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"It’s easier to stomach poverty as long as you just look at numbers on a page. The poor are easier to ignore if they’re a statistic. But everything changes when you know one of them. Everything changes when you spend time with one and then two days later he’s dead. Not only does he die, but he’s dead because he was poor."