Escaping

In the wake of the sixties revolution, the 1970’s was a tumultuous time for many young people. Caught in the seismic transformation of Western culture, many wondered if there was any real escape…

Garry was headed to Morocco with nothing but a surfboard and a deep sense of meaninglessness.

Kevin was studying and doing cancer research at Columbia University, secretly wondering if perhaps joining the Amish would provide the missing purpose for his life.

Bonnie was clandestinely living in a treehouse on Jungle Beach, Martha’s Vineyard, hoping to find “the answer” in nature while squatting on land that belonged to Secretary of Defense Robert MacNamara.

George woke up in the berth of a hospital ship in the South China Sea, his dreams of furthering his family’s military legacy smashed by a helicopter blade in Vietnam.

Mary was trying to climb the ladder to be a fashion designer in New York City, but ended up sequestering herself in her bedroom for days on end, fearing arrest and searching through her childhood Catholic prayer book for answers.

Richie was back to selling and using heroin, the line from a song repeating over and over again in his head: Is that all there is? Is that all there is…?

The sequel to “A Motley Crew,” this book continues the story of a tiny inner-city mission begun by Blair and Regina Adams in 1973 on the infamous Lower East Side of Manhattan. In 1976, this ministry relocated across the Hudson in New Jersey—the first meager step in what became a remarkable cultural exodus that would eventually spread across the country and around the world. Escaping presents further personal accounts of radical transformation, told in the words of those who encountered this ministry in New Jersey throughout the late 1970’s. But beyond just the individual stories, this book also continues the larger story of how these changed lives were being woven together into a community of life, a context where the seeds of new beginnings could take root and flourish—a complete cultural alternative that today thrives in multiple communities across the globe.