REVOLUTIONARY KINDNESS Hal Donaldson and Convoy of Hope by Laura Neutzling
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LIFE TOOK A TRAGIC TURN in Hal Donaldson’s childhood the night his father was killed by a drunk driver. His mother was seriously injured in the accident. There was no insurance policy to cushion the loss. A police officer relayed the news to twelve-year-old Hal, his three younger siblings, and a crowd of friends and neighbors gathered on the Donaldsons’ front lawn. The officer asked if anyone would take in the siblings for a few days. After what seemed like a lifetime to Hal, a couple of longtime family friends raised their hands and opened the door of their single-wide trailer so the children could stay with their family of six. A few days turned into a full year. “And during that year,” Hal remembers, “they wrapped their arms around me and my brothers and my sister, and they reminded us that Jesus loves us and He has a plan for our lives.” That incredible act of kindness made a deep impression on Hal and would quietly lay dormant as he pursued other areas of work as an adult. Majoring in journalism in college, Hal went on to be an editor at a magazine, teach at the universtiy level, and work on several book projects. One of those book projects took him to Calcutta, India, where he
