Love Anyway

Jeremy Courtney understands the moving truth that hate breeds violence, and he acts on that truth in ceaselessly bold preemptive love for the enemy. I strongly endorse his actual life of peacemaking. We Koreans urgently need a peacemaker like Mr. Courtney - truly shalom incarnate - today. * Dr. Han Wan-sang, former deputy prime minister of South Korea, former president of the Korean Red Cross Society * Love Anyway is raw, honest, wrenching, and beautiful. Jeremy lays it all out there with a story that will rip your heart out, inspire you, and trouble you. He reminds us that love heals the world, but despite our most sincere efforts, it's not always easy to know what love requires. Dostoevsky said, 'Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared to love in dreams.' This book is a call and an invitation to put everything on the line for that harsh and dreadful love, even our very lives. * Shane Claiborne, activist and author of Irresistible Revolution and Beating Guns * Jeremy describes a world where all people can exist, be recognized, and be protected. All are equal, worthy, and important. Through his life in Iraq, he sees the Iraq I come from and believe in. A place that has been through dictatorships and invasions but still exists and is full of people who create. I hope Iraqis read this book to believe in Iraq the way Jeremy and others in the book believe in it, and internationals should read the book to see that Iraq is so much more than the troubling news media outlets portray. * Amir Ashour, executive director of IraQueer, Iraq's leading LGBTQ+ organization * What an extraordinary book, written by an extraordinary person. I've long admired Jeremy and Jessica and their incredible team, and this beautifully written book inspired and challenged me. It reignited my heart and my spiritual imagination in so many ways. This is a must-read. * Shauna Niequist, New York Times bestselling author * This book is heartbreaking and hopeful, but 'love anyway' isn't just a phrase to make us feel good; it's bravery, sacrifice, and joy beyond comprehension. I have never wanted to be a part of something more. * Lauren Holiday, two-time Olympic gold medalist and FIFA Women's World Cup soccer champion * For years I've watched as Jeremy Courtney lives in such a way that models love - to his neighbors, to the others, to his family and friends, to the people who don't know him and don't try to understand. This book puts into words what Jeremy's life has said all along - love anyway. * Annie F. Downs, bestselling author of 100 Days to Brave and host of the That Sounds Fun podcast * In an increasingly divided world, a new insurgence is erupting. It's creating a movement of people who will not accept that darkness is our future. Jeremy Courtney is on the front line of this movement and in this book shows us what it means to not only believe in a better tomorrow but to actually build it. * Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz * In his book Love Anyway, Jeremy tells stories that are often found only in the movies but have happened around him or to him in real life. Stories that have brought me to tears, made me stop what I'm doing to embrace my children, and haunted me at night. Stories that may just cause me to lose hope in humanity, in God, altogether. But instead, as we view the hopeless, terrifying brokenness happening in this world, Jeremy teaches us what it means to love anyway. It is my hope that every human reads and learns from this book. * Heather Avis, bestselling author of The Lucky Few * I was transfixed by Jeremy's writing - a perfect marriage of love and urgency. You will be taken on a journey that leaves you no choice but to respond in kind. This book, this way of life, is a game changer. * Propaganda, hip-hop and spoken word artist * If you don't want to grow or change, if you like the world the way it is, if you want to remain complacent and unchallenged, don't read this book. This book is deeply subversive in the best possible ways, exposing the redemptive genius of Love and the unstoppable potency of Hope. * Wm. Paul Young, author of The Shack * I sat down to skim Love Anyway because I believe in Jeremy and his work. Three hours later, I'd read every single word, perched on the edge of my seat. Inside these pages, you'll find enough narrative tension to keep you turning the pages as fast as you can. You will also find hope and love, humility and courage. This is truly, in every sense, the better way. Strangely, what Jeremy learned in Turkey and Iraq and Fallujah applies to those of us who live in Charlotte and New Jersey and Sacramento. There is indeed a More Beautiful World, and every one of us is invited into it. * Jen Hatmaker, New York Times bestselling author of Of Mess and Moxie! *