Overview

What started as an impossible dream-to build a cafe that employs women recovering from prostitution and addiction-is helping to fuel an astonishing movement to bring freedom and fair wages to women producers worldwide where tea and trafficking are linked by oppression and the opiate wars. Becca Stevens started the Thistle Stop Cafe to empower women survivors. But when she discovered a connection between cafe workers and tea laborers overseas, she embarked on a global mission called ""Shared Trade"" to increase the value of women survivors and producers across the globe. As she recounts the victories and unexpected challenges of building the cafe, Becca also sweeps the reader into the world of tea, where timeless rituals transport to an era of beauty and the challenging truths about tea's darker, more violent history. She offers moving reflections of the meaning of tea in our lives, plus recipes for tea blends that readers can make themselves. In this journey of triumph for impoverished tea laborers, hope for cafe workers, and insight into the history of tea, Becca sets out to defy the odds and prove that love is the most powerful force for transformation on earth.

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9781455519026

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Reviews

[Women served by thistle Farms] would be dead by now if it weren't for a remarkable initiative by the Rev. Becca Stevens..to help women escape trafficking and prostitution. Nicolas Kristov, The New York Times

Some old-timey snake-oil salesmen offered the Gospel and then sold their products. Becca Stevens does it the other way around. This book helps explain why her way works better. Don Schlitz, Grammy Award-winning songwriter

Only Becca Stevens can write a book extolling the virtues of being a snake oil salesman, and have us believe it. After reading this, I'm ready to be anointed! Marshall Chapman, author of They Came to Nashville and Goodbye, Little Rock and Roller Some old-timey snake-oil salesmen offered the Gospel and then sold their products. Becca Stevens does it the other way around. This book helps explain why her way works better. Don Schlitz, Grammy Award-winning songwriter Rich and insightful. Booklist In her new book, Becca Stevens does more than reclaim the term Snake Oil, she tells a personal story of reclaiming life, hope, and grace. A truly inspiring read of painful hardships, enduring faith and seizing hope. Senator Bill Frist, M.D. With her signature poetic simplicity, Becca Stevens leads us bravely through her healing journey and along the path she has forged for so many wounded women-so that we can find our own way as both healed and healer. Reading this book is like being anointed with the very oils she writes about. Nancy Rue, Christy Award-winning author of The Reluctant Prophet trilogy, inspired by Magdalene and Thistle Farms I always think of Becca Stevens as a sort of extraordinary, down-to-earth angel--conscience, guide, inspiration and girlfriend all rolled into one. I will treasure this book. Lee Smith, author of Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger This book is a fascinating life story of a woman who took the evil done to her and used it for the motivation to do good for abused women around the world. She has been God's instrument for healing and hope for countless numbers of broken women across America. Tony Campolo, PhD, Eastern University If you have not already met Becca Stevens of Thistle Farms fame, it's time you had the pleasure, and here's your chance. Just look how she shares tea and happiness-isn't she wonderful? James Norwood Pratt, America's Tea Sage, author of JNP's Tea Dictionary, etc. Becca Stevens is a force of nature-both as a speaker and with her words on the page. Her message always gets right to the heart of the matter. John Prine, songwriter [Women served by thistle Farms] would be dead by now if it weren't for a remarkable initiative by the Rev. Becca Stevens..to help women escape trafficking and prostitution. Nicolas Kristov, The New York Times Accompanied throughout by deliciously unique recipes for homemade tea blends and brews, Stevens' narrative is a softly delivered meditation on the power of faith and love to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most. Kirkus With her characteristic warmth, wisdom, and insight, Becca Stevens opens up the strange and fascinating world of tea, masterfully stitching together stories about mindfulness, justice, healing, and community. Few writers exhibit such a remarkable ability to bring faith to life in the very world we can see, touch, taste, smell and feel. Every word of this delightful, instructive book tastes like sacrament. Rachel Held Evans, author, A Year of Biblical Womanhood [Women served by Thistle Farms] would be dead by now if it weren't for a remarkable initiative by the Rev. Becca Stevens..to help women escape trafficking and prostitution. Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times SNAKE OIL, Becca Stevens' profound and sensual autobiography, carries a weight of joy in every syllable. Stevens' greatest gift--as a writer and as an Episcopal priest--is an ability to make falling in love with God an inevitable, sacred, and necessary reality. Alice Randall, author of The Wind Done Gone and Ada's Rules SNAKE OIL is one of the best reads I have had in a very long time. Stevens is a consummate storyteller...poignant, persuasive, witty, wise and, ultimately, a passionate lover of God. Phyllis Tickle, lecturer on religion in America and author of Emergence Christianity: What it Is, Where it is Going, and Why it Matters PRAISE FOR SNAKE OIL: A simple, comforting reflection on one woman's crusade to make a difference in the world. Kirkus Reviews

Becca Stevens is a force of nature-both as a speaker and with her words on the page. Her message always gets right to the heart of the matter. John Prine, songwriter

[Women served by Thistle Farms] would be dead by now if it weren't for a remarkable initiative by the Rev. Becca Stevens..to help women escape trafficking and prostitution. --Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times With her characteristic warmth, wisdom, and insight, Becca Stevens opens up the strange and fascinating world of tea, masterfully stitching together stories about mindfulness, justice, healing, and community. Few writers exhibit such a remarkable ability to bring faith to life in the very world we can see, touch, taste, smell and feel. Every word of this delightful, instructive book tastes like sacrament. --Rachel Held Evans, author, A Year of Biblical Womanhood Accompanied throughout by deliciously unique recipes for homemade tea blends and brews, Stevens' narrative is a softly delivered meditation on the power of faith and love to make a difference in the lives of those who need it most. --Kirkus Becca Stevens is a force of nature-both as a speaker and with her words on the page. Her message always gets right to the heart of the matter. --John Prine, songwriter If you have not already met Becca Stevens of Thistle Farms fame, it's time you had the pleasure, and here's your chance. Just look how she shares tea and happiness-isn't she wonderful? --James Norwood Pratt, America's Tea Sage, author of JNP's Tea Dictionary, etc.

Author Information

Becca Stevens is an Episcopal priest serving as chaplain at St. Augustine's at Vanderbilt University. She is the founder of Magdalene and Thistle Farms, social enterprises for women recovering from violence, prostitution, and addiction. The White House named her a Champion of Change in 2011. The Small Business Council of America named her the Humanitarian of the Year in 2014. Learn more: BeccaStevens.org

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