內容簡介
信任才是唯一解救苦痛的良藥。
牧師Bruce Deel被分配到亞特蘭大這個小鎮時，預期自己並不會停留多久，因為他負責的這個教區相當惡名昭彰，犯罪率非常高，民不聊生，Deel正是接到命令要來關閉這裡的教堂，而他也準備照辦，直到在街上遇見了這個女子上前對Deel說：「我已經賣淫超過十四年，請幫幫我。」
不久後，Deel成立了一個名為「City Of Refuge」的機構，大多數這類的救助機構，都會對民眾多加檢查，例如提供住宿前會測試是否對藥物上癮，但Deel認為，唯有給這些人信任，才是解救痛苦的良藥。
然而Deel要對抗的，不僅是惡劣的環境，信任被濫用頻繁發生，政府政策也是頑劣的對手，但在重重阻礙中，Deel已救助了成千上萬的民眾，並且在美國其他地區也建立了「City of Refuge」的分會，以期幫助更多民眾。
本書紀錄了許多相關人士的敘述，將會改變讀者原有的認知，Deel會將本書的部分收益捐出給「City of Refuge」。
When Deel took over The Mission Church in 1997, he had orders to shut it down. Its neighborhood has the highest crime rate per capita in Georgia, the highest rate of incarceration, the highest homeless population per capita, a less than 50 percent high school graduation rate, and a 40 percent unemployment rate.
After preaching that Sunday, Bruce was approached by a woman he didn't know. "I've been hooking and stripping for 14 years," she said, "Can you help me?" Soon 17 people, in addition to the Deels, had moved in the old church -- pregnant girls, single mothers and their children, upstairs; and two or three single men in the basement. Bruce began going before judges to speak up for drug addicts and vandals, offering to supervise them as an alternative to jail.
Today, City of Refuge has a 200,000 square foot campus in the same zip code. It is a one-stop-shop for transitional housing, on-site medical and mental health care, childcare, and vocational training, including accredited intensives in auto tech, culinary arts, and coding. While most social services focus on one pain point and leave the burden on the poor to find the crosstown bus that'll serve their other needs, Deel argues that bringing someone out of homelessness requires treating all of their needs simultaneously.
This book shows how to break the cycle of poverty once and for all. It provides a moving window into the lives of the ex-cons, drug addicts, human trafficking survivors, and displaced individuals who've come through the City of Refuge program. Heartfelt, deeply personal, and inspiring, Trust First will break down your assumptions about whether anyone is ever truly a lost cause. Bruce will donate a portion of his proceeds from Trust First to the charitable organization City of Refuge.
