The Rev. Dr. K. Jason Coker is the national director of Together for Hope, the rural development coalition of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. He is also the Field Coordinator for the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Mississippi. After nearly two decades of life and ministry in Connecticut, Coker returned to his home state of Mississippi to work for peace and justice in areas of persistent rural poverty. The lessons of human compassion and equality he learned as a minister guide his work in poverty relief.
What is your hope for how your new book might impact readers?
I hope that my story and the story of our congregation can provide a witness to how we moved through some of the most tragic space in our church’s life. By telling my/our story, I sincerely hope that others can find a light in it that can illuminate their own path through tragedy. My greatest hope, however, is that this book can intervene in someone’s life that is contemplating suicide and prevent them from doing so. I want them to know that they are important to our world and we all need them.