Onesimus - Transformed

A remarkable true story from two millennia ago is fleshed out in this engaging and enlightening book. A frightened, lonely, thief and runaway slave in a city of a million people meets up with the only people who would care to help him. Observe the remarkable transformation that takes place.

Based on the backstory of a tiny letter in the Bible, this real-life story is fleshed out with creative care.

Onesimus was in grave trouble. He was a worthless piece of street trash as far as anyone thought. He was, after all, only a thief and runaway slave. He was wanted by the law and anyone who helped him risked trouble for themselves. He was one of the one million anonymous faces in the ancient city of Rome.

There was a small but remarkable group of people also in Rome. They hung out at a rented house that was kept under guard by Roman soldiers. Their leader was under house arrest waiting trial as an enemy of the state. A large number of assorted people went in and out of the house day and night. They didn’t come for drugs, didn’t come of booze or sex or gambling. They came to learn the transforming message that these people were freely passing on to all.

There is no way in the world that the one lonely fellow could ever meet up with those remarkable people in that house. Only a Divine Being could arrange such a thing and what Divine Being would ever care about the lonely loser, Onesimus. Wait a minute . . .

Seven men from different walks in life gathered for a week at Goroka, Papua New Guinea, to participate in a writer's workshop. While there, they studied, discussed, planned and wrote this book. The experience was remarkable as each member contributed to the project, It is truly a cooperative effort. Papua New Guineans are very clued in to personal relationships and conflict resolution. The story of Onesimus makes so much sense in this context.