Sharing the stories of those who have been transformed through the Arms of Love ministry, Robert gives readers glimpses into the emotionally tortuous journeys of people living in a broken world.  Love Forward details Robert’s compassion-based strategy of responding to human brokenness that occurs when hope and purpose are crushed. Readers are challenged to embrace this strategy, engaging in new acts of love and kindness that will have a transforming ripple effect. When we take the first step to express love and compassion, we “love forward,” continuing God’s story of binding up the brokenhearted and setting captives free.

 

Dr. Phyllis Kilbourn

Founder and Education Director, Crisis Care Ministries International

Author of numerous books including Healing for Hurting Hearts: A Handbook for Counseling Children and Youth in Crisis, Healing the Children of War, Children in Crisis: A New Commitment, Street Children, Shaping the Future Girls and Our Destiny, and Children Affected by HIV/AIDS.

 

Love Forward weaves such a powerful tapestry of how lives can be touched, changed, and turned around through kindness, generosity and love, that it will make you want to be part of the continuing efforts to lift this organization up and help it soar. Few (if any) readers will have done as much to help as many as has Robert Benson. But in addition to telling us his beautiful story, Robert offers all of us an opportunity to embrace and participate in the wonder, fulfillment, and justness of giving to an organization that helps so many people overcome horrific circumstances to become loving, educated, and contributing members of society.

 

Mark Flagel

Former global co-chair of Latham & Watkins’ Intellectual Property and Technology Practice

Chair of the Advisory Board of the Kayne-ERAS Center and member of the Board of the Exceptional Children’s Foundation

 

A bright light always looks brighter if seen against a dark background. This book describes some appallingly bad behavior that is so evil that it is hard to understand how anyone could stoop so low. But it also describes some wonderfully loving care by the Arms of Love charity that rescues abandoned and abused children and gives them security, education, and fulfilled lives. A good book is one that it is hard to put down until it is finished, and this is surely one of those. The life stories recounted, including that of the author, are full of interest, and recount the steps and difficulties encountered on their journeys to better places.

 

Dr. Robert W.G. Hunt

A world-leading color scientist and former Assistant Director of Research at Kodak

Author of the leading text The Reproduction of Color, recipient of numerous industry awards and the Order of the British Empire.

 

If you struggle with coming from humble means, being abandoned or not thinking you will amount to much, READ THIS BOOK! If you wonder how one person could make a difference in the lives of hundreds of children who live on the streets, who have no parents, who are neglected, abused and thrown away, READ THIS BOOK! The stories of the lives that were changed for the good are remarkable! Love Forward is not simply a title but a mission and a movement of generosity that will call you out of your comfort zone, just one step at a time.

 

Linda Crosby

Author of Laughing in the Midst of Mothering and Laughing in the Midst of Marriage

 

Robert Benson's account of the chain effect of a single act of love (his adoption after having been neglected and abandoned as a child) is a most engaging read. His choice to weave several other personal accounts of unimaginable pain, suffering, and - ultimately - redemption in the lives of abused and abandoned children he knows (who are now young adults) holds the reader's attention in a unique manner. The inspiration in these stories shines brightly against the backdrop of desperation that shape them. Others have and will comment on these gripping examples of lives in which grace has had the last word as well as the love lessons that can be gleaned.  I pray that many others, for many reasons, will find wisdom, grace, hope, purpose, and balance by reading Love Forward and that these stories will inspire countless other examples of lives changed, struggles engaged, and lessons learned.

 

Bill Faris

Pastor and Christian counselor, Masters in Pastoral Counseling

Author of How Healed Do You Want to Be?, Homegrown, and Gracelets: Thoughts, Reflections, and Teaching on Personal and Spiritual Growth.

 

A heartwarming book about Hope and Love. Autobiographical stories from Juan, Myra, Anzelie, Hector, and Yessica, who were abused and abandoned. Simple acts of kindness that gave them a promise for a new life. Mesmerizing, hard to put down. Robert opens up about his own adoption and the perchance crossing of paths with his birth father. A must read, especially for adoptive families who will identify with many events in this book. It never hurts to say “I love you”, but nothing hurts more than never to hear it being said, something Juan, Anzelie, Hector, Myra ,Yessica, and Robert yearned to hear.

 

Dr. Joya Chatterjee

Ph.D. in Education, former principal and Assistant Superintendent of Schools in Santa Clara County, California

 

I picked up the book and couldn’t put it down until I was done. Love Forward is an inspiring book and a story about overcoming challenges, changed perspectives on life, and how an act of love can create an unexpected ripple effect to change the lives of many. The book is in the unique voices of five incredible individuals who faced unimaginable difficulties in their lives. These chapters share their painful stories, their outlook on life, and their amazing stories of love and forgiveness. This includes the stories and perspective of Robert Benson, who shares about the challenges he faced in his life, starting from his early years of abandonment, and how one act of love changed his life—inspiring him to pass the love forward.

 

Daeun Lee

Graduate of UC Berkeley Law School

 

Love Forward is a well-written book that provides an emotional experience for the reader to taste, smell, see, hear and feel the pain of poverty and abuse that calls out for justice and compassion.  It challenges the reader to make change come alive.

 

Dr. Steve Bagley

Founder of Marriage & Family Matters, Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy