"Same Kind of Different as Me" book review

"Same Kind of Different as Me" by Ron Hall and Denver Moore.   It was a very intriguing true story, about a modern day slave, or perhaps a sharecropper, who meets up with an upscale couple, and turns his life around. 

I was very surprised to hear, that even though slavery was abolished all those years ago, that in essence, there were still slaves in our day and age.  Denver was born on a plantation, raised by his grandmother, and worked in the cotton fields, so that he could purchase from the plantation owner's store.  How convenient, huh?  No matter how much cotton Denver would pick, the plantation owner would always say it was the same amount. Even though Denver never went to school, and never learned how to read, there were some heart warming stories of how he got a brand new bike.

Later on, he caught a ride on a train, and headed west.  He then became homeless. 

Enter Ron and Debbie Hall.  Debbie has dreams of a poor man, who was wise, and by his wisdom, he saved the city.  This man is Denver.  Ron is an international art dealer, who has done very well in his trade.  Debbie, his wife, encourages Ron to join her serving at a local mission.  They befriend Denver, and so starts the story.

Each chapter takes turns with Ron and Denver sharing their side of what happened, and it is entertaining.

I enjoyed Denver's bits of wisdom, where, one time, Ron laid his keys on the table, and Denver asks Ron, "Do you own somethin that each one of them keys fits?" Ron said he did.  Denver then says, "Are you sure you own them, or does they own you?"

I also found it thought provoking, that Denver would just be happy that "he woke up" that morning, how each of us should be grateful to God, for another day allowed.

Denver gets to preach in a church, and Ron introduces him.  Ron wanted to tell a bit of Denver's story, and Denver says, "Just tell em I'm a nobody that's tryin to tell everbody 'bout Somebody that can save anybody."  And he later goes on to say that everybody is different, "the same kind of different as me."

At the end of the book, it has questions to get you to think about subjects the book brought out, such as homelessness, prejudice, forgiveness, etc.  It also had a conversation with the authors, on where they are now.  I really enjoyed the pictures, to be able to put a face to the story.

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