TBC Book Review Page: Guinea Pig for Lunch

GUINEA PIG *FOR LUNCH* a book by Stephen Rand
	Not a recipe collection, nor an expose of cruelty to animals; this fascinating new book takes us to a third world that is more than just a place of poverty.
Stephen Rand is part of the leadership team at Tearfund, a regular speaker at Spring Harvest, and has preached at hundreds of churches around Britain and Ireland. He is married to Susan, with two grown-up daughters. He has been an Elder and Leader at Teddington Baptist Church since 1995.	Stephen Rand has been communicating the heart of Tearfund for nineteen years; the stories and experiences of his overseas travels have been a vital part of that communication. Now he has written a book revealing his own personal journey and a wider view of the world that has light and shade, joy and pain, laughter and tears.
	The style has a serious purpose as well as a marketing edge. "Bill Bryson's travel books are best-sellers, serious treatments of poverty are not," says Stephen. "If I was going to make the effort to write a book, I wanted people to read it! At the same time I wanted to reflect the richness and diversity of life and the reality of faith I have discovered around the world."
GUINEA PIG *FOR LUNCH* is published on 8 October 1998 by Hodder and Stoughton at £5-99. It is available through all good Christian bookshops in the UK. ISBN 0-340-72158-8	So GUINEA PIG *FOR LUNCH* contains humour; some of the first readers have confessed to laughing out loud in public places. But surely the work of Tearfund isn't funny? "Of course not - but it is a significant discovery that the poor really do laugh, it's part of their experience that we can share."
	The miracle of the string in Sri Lanka, the train that wouldn't stand still in Bangladesh, the Argentinean airport tax high speed shuttle, the gift of a sheep in Ghana - there's almost a Gerald Durrell-like quality to the stream of anecdote. Many of the partners and places have featured in videos and Tear Times. The background colour to the visits brings them to life once again.
You can buy copies of GUINEA PIG *FOR LUNCH* by post from Tearfund by phoning 0800 731 6319.	"I tell lots of stories when I preach," says Stephen. "They emphasise people, they are memorable and they can also encourage and inspire. So many are overwhelmed by the suffering of the world, we need stories of hope to release us from paralysis into action."
	The book's sub-title ("the experiences of an intrepid world traveller") leaves Stephen feeling slightly embarrassed. "Others are far more travelled than I - but I know I have been immeasurably enriched by the extraordinary privilege of going to some of the remotest places on the planet and meeting some of the most remarkable people."
	And has he really eaten guinea pig for lunch? Apparently he has, high in the Andes on a particularly memorable day that saw the guinea pig exact suitable revenge. Meals feature in a book that is more than a light snack: more a rich diet, with much food for thought. The text above is from a Tear Times article (published by Tearfund)