Last fall amid a struggling economy and political turmoil Max Lucado released a very timely book called Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear. Now a year later, he is releasing his newest book, Outlive Your Life: You Were Made to Make a Difference (Thomas Nelson).

I love all of Max’s books, but I believe this to be his most important one yet. Recently, I had the opportunity to interview him about why he wrote this book and what he hopes to accomplish.

I read a lot of books. But when I try to write a book review, I get all academic. For some reason, I feel like I have to write a treatise. So I thought I would try something new: a video book review.

I shamelessly stole this idea from Chris Brogan, one of my favorite bloggers. He frequently does two-minute book reviews—on video. He simply tells you a little bit about the book and what he thought of it. I thought, Perfect! This will work great for me.

I am still trying to process my experience in Ethiopia. It was so profound that I can barely articulate it. It has been a true shift in my worldview. As I have thought about this, I have realized that “I need Africa more than Africa needs me.” This has been beautifully depicted in this video:

I would be grateful if you would consider sponsoring a child from Ethiopia. For $35.00 (U.S.) a month, you can make a huge difference. You may not be able to change the world, but you could completely change the world for one child. In fact, as we witnessed first-hand, child sponsorship has an impact far beyond the life of one child.

A few weeks ago, Gail and I visited Ethiopia as guests of World Vision. This was our very first trip to Africa. Although we Twittered about the experience in real time, words can barely describe the incredible shift that took place in our thinking. It has profoundly affected us.

I hope to say more in another blog post or two. However, for now I think a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are some pictures that Gail and I took with our little Sony Cyber-shot camera. It will give you a feel for what we experienced.

My wife, Gail, and I are in Ethiopia this week with World Vision, the largest non-government humanitarian organization in the world. They specialize in “sponsoring children” in developing countries.

Their work is truly amazing. We are traveling with Max Lucado and his wife, Denalyn; Rich Stearns, CEO of World Vision and his wife, Renee; Mary Graham, head of Women of Faith; and a few others.