Dean Hackett began his side career as an author rather reluctantly. In fact, he says he was “forced into” writing his first book.
His literary saga began in the 1970s when he began writing a series of Bible studies.
“I taught the course several times a year and people would say to me, ‘You’ve got to make this into book form,’ ” Hackett recalled. Some time passed and Hackett continued to get requests to convert his Bible studies into a book.
“Finally, in 1999 or 2000, I put it all together in a three-ring binder and began passing them out to people,” he said. “It had typos and things, but people wanted it.” The requests for his writings continued and then in 2007, he finally relented and began the formal editing process with plans to officially publish it.
Mission Agape hit the bookshelves in 2008 – in Croatia. Hackett, the pastor at Living Faith Church in Hermiston, did not originally intend for the book to be published first in Croatia, but a turn of events in Europe led to Hackett developing a special relationship with the people of Croatia. He was part of a ministerial association in Eastern Europe before the Berlin Wall came down. When the Croatian war of independence broke out, a Croatian called Hackett and asked for help in getting hospital supplies and equipment.
“They were drained of everything due to the war,” Hackett said.
Working with Northwest Medical Teams, Hackett helped get needed medical equipment to the Croatian hospitals.
“We absolutely fell in love with the Croatian people,” he said. Now, five years later, Mission Agape is about to be published in the United States. It will be available in hard copy and Kindle on amazon.com on Dec. 11.
The book, based on his early Bible studies, examines how, by understanding Jesus’ arrest, crucifixion and resurrection – his self-sacrifice – people can overcome the bonds of addiction, depression, anger, anxiety and insecurity.
“The sacrifice of Jesus Christ overpowers all of these things and can give a person a whole and healthy life,” said Hackett.
Forgiveness, said Hackett, is critical to overcoming the darkness in one’s life. It could be forgiving someone who has perpetrated a terrible crime against you or a love one. It could be forgiving a loved one for making a choice that negatively impacted your life.
“Forgiveness is part of the healing process,” he said. “The key to final and complete victory is giving up final judgement on people.”
Since writing Mission Agape, Hacket has gone from being a reluctant writer to a fairly prolific one. He’s written a three-book series titled The Joy of Walking With Jesus. The volumes include Discovering Jesus; The Joy of Being Like Jesus; and Becoming an Ambassador for Jesus.
Mission Agape is the second in another three-series titled Freedom. The first was Discovering True Identity. The third volume is expected to be published in the spring.
