Pastoral care and its theology get a gentle boost from some of the best in the business of caring for the soul. When a person hurts, they often look to God. Several pathfinders give new light from their specialties, each one speaking powerfully, uniquely, and artfully from decades of experience.

Dr. Amos Yong's article on disability forwards the amazingly helpful term, "temporarily able-bodied." Greek Orthodox Dr. Vasileios Thermos and Roman Catholic Dr. Robert Fastiggi enlighten next to the powerful testaments of Professor Godfrey Harold on South Africa and Dr. Samuel Yonas Deressa on Ethiopia. Each weathered author contributes universal insights into the grace of our great God and challenges pastors throughout the Christian world to kindly consider the heart of the afflicted. These finely hewn stones can be used by anyone in the ministry to sharpen their serve.

Mattis and Maness offer this third collection from Testamentum Imperium with a prayer that these will open new avenues of sensitivity to the hearts and souls of those in travail and aid those who are called by God to serve those in pain.