Brave Souls: Experiencing the Audacious Power of Empathy

"This is a time for followers of Jesus to ‘take heart’ in the face of profound challenges, and my friend Belinda has written a book that will help us do just that. Belinda’s commitment to justice is grounded in her love of God and her love for people, and her love is one that will inspire anyone who reads Brave Souls to follow Jesus with courage."

"Belinda does a masterful job of integrating research, experience, and story to help illustrate the transforming power of empathy. This is a book that searches your soul and prepares you to practice the spiritual discipline of empathy. As a pastor, leader, mother, and neighbor it has invited me to new spaces of bravery."

"The power of empathy is the power for God to transform our understanding of how he is working in the world. This book is a reminder that there is indeed a commonality formed and a shared human experience created in hearing, listening, and being shaped by others’ stories and experiences. Belinda has a rich history of being shaken and broken before the Lord and using herself as an empty vessel to carry the stories of the women she meets to the places that need to hear their stories. Throughout this book, she reminds us that our own strength and bravery don’t have to come from ourselves but from others we meet along the way. She helps us find a way forward to not forget those who are easily forgotten. Belinda weaves the stories of so many brave and fearless women, who are our teachers and leaders, into a rich tapestry where God’s grace and power is the redemptive thread. She ultimately points us to the power of building relationships with those who are on the margins of society, where we so often see God redeeming and restoring his beloveds. I’m so grateful for this book and Belinda’s ongoing work of education and advocacy. I believe you’ll find, as I did, that this book will inform and inspire you to action!"

"Belinda Bauman gives us a gift—inviting us away from merely hearing someone to embracing empathy and allowing another person’s story to move us into action. The journey isn’t pretty or easy, but Bauman’s belief in change left me more hopeful than I’ve been in a long time."

"Brave Souls is a mountain we all need to climb, with lessons on listening and conversations on privilege and responsibility to be savored along the way. While Belinda seamlessly blends personal experience and expert voices, her education credentials shine as she creates a curriculum for empathy, providing a road map from what often prohibits empathy to how and why empathy is the essential destination for each for us. Brave Souls is winsome in its storytelling and impactful in its truth. In 2016, I spent almost a week traipsing behind Belinda as we climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, and following her lead again through Brave Souls only cements my view of her as a visionary and a compassionate leader whose goal is to change the world. With this book, she just might."