Born for Rescue: Finding Purpose by Refusing to Do Nothing

Pat Bradley stared out the back car window at seventy displaced people huddling together under a few trees to escape the blistering African heat. They had fled their village in South Sudan in the middle of the night as it was destroyed amid a bloody civil war that had indiscriminately claimed the lives of young and old family members alike. As these desperate, mourning survivors became smaller in the back window, they grew ever bigger in Pat’s heart. He knew they wouldn’t survive unless someone did something―and quickly. But he was just a normal guy―a formerly divorced recovering alcoholic who worked at an ad agency. What could he possibly do?
 
From that moment forward, Pat Bradley refused to do nothing.
 
Born For Rescue chronicles harrowing stories of tragedy and restoration across multiple continents. From sex slaves liberated in the red-light districts of East Africa to secret meetings with the FBI. From warlords bearing AK-47s to waylaid survivors of tsunamis and earthquakes. From innovative new methods to combat the global hunger crisis to imaginative, courageous young women breaking free from cycles of trafficking and abuse. Born For Rescue reveals how anyone can make a difference in the world right now because the heart of God is to keep showing up and keep shining the light of hope into the darkest of places within each of us―and how each of us can become a part of seeing and serving others with this light.

Pat Bradley is the President of International Crisis Aid, one of the first organizations to show up in “no-go zones” where starvation, disease, and danger are a part of everyday life. A humble beginning turned into life-saving efforts for people living in crisis in eleven different countries. Crisis Aid has provided millions of pounds of food to adults and malnourished children around the world. They have also helped to rescue thousands of young women from sex trafficking, the youngest being four years of age. Crisis Aid is committed to “helping the helpless” with relief efforts locally and globally, equipping those who are beyond the crisis to take responsibility by providing programs that train, inspire, and move them to independent, self-sustaining living. Pat and Susan, his wife of more than forty years, live in St. Louis. They have two adult children and six grandchildren.