Shifting Shadows By Herman Mendoza

Shifting Shadows
by Herman Mendoza
Publisher: Bethany House
ISBN: 9780764236167

Hi! My name is Mimi and I don't read non-fiction. Ok, so I do every once in a while, but it's really got to be a big enough pull for me to consider it. That's where Shifting Shadows comes in. When I saw this available for review, the description of the book piqued my interest.

Summary:

Herman Mendoza built his kingdom in Queens, New York. He made a fortune selling cocaine with his brothers up and down the Eastern Seaboard. He had apartments around the city for his mistresses and a home in the Poconos for his beautiful nuclear family. But when Herman and his brothers were busted in a large-scale crackdown, his kingdom crumbled. Ready to kill himself rather than live behind bars, Herman instead came face-to-face with the all-consuming love of God. He would never be the same.

Today, Herman shares his story at every opportunity, knowing that it may play a part in someone else's journey into a relationship with Jesus. An engaging and fast-paced read, Shifting Shadowsoffers hope to those in despair, and shows all of us the lengths to which God will go to bring a troubled soul home.

My Review:

What an interesting book! For a person who typically trudges through non-fiction, I finished Shifting Shadows easily in one day. The book was well written and easy to read through. Herman Mendoza's life is fascinating to say the least.

His life in crime starts at such a young age it's mind boggling. I think to the "typical" person (whatever that means) we couldn't imagine joining a gang in middle school. In Queens, NY I'm sure it was more than norm than some podunk town in the middle of the countryside. Reading his life unfold was like watching a mafia-type movie.

I appreciated that it wasn't full of fancy words or overly exaggerated. You can tell he's just dropping down what his life was like in the moments he shares. He doesn't unnecessarily dramatize situations he's in, and it gives such credibility to where he'd been to where he's at now. One would probably expect him to embellish on the life he led, but that just wasn't his style with writing this book. It helps that he doesn't glamorize his time when he was doing so many illegal and wretched things with his life.

The path that he took, along with his brother, to redemption was mind blowing. How many people can live such a dangerous, selfish life and then watch it all be redeemed?! Honestly, I'd love to have heard his brother, Emilio's testimony of his transformation because it was such a pivotal point to Herman's life.

What an incredible ministry he and his family have now. It's incredible to see how far God has brought them from his first puff of weed in those very early years to his time in jail and redemption. I'd never even heard of his ministry and I'm so glad I've learned about it. Our previous church has an orphanage in Haiti and knowing that the Mendoza's do outreach to the Dominicans and Haitians is wonderful!

About the Author:

Herman Mendoza (www.hermanmendoza.com) speaks nationally and internationally more than 100 times a year on college campuses, in churches, at Christian conferences, and in prisons--with his ministry spanning four continents. He is an associate pastor at Promise Ministries International and is the director of Powerhouse Kids Ministry in New York City. Mendoza lives on Long Island in New York with his wife, Alexandra. Their three children, Samantha, Adam, and Penelope, share in their ministry.