It was an unexpected privilege to be invited to the “Nothing to Lose” book launch, in South Africa. My wife and I have an intrinsic interest in community empowerment projects in our country, and our personal beliefs and values are aligned with work held by the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Africa.

However, due to the problems we faced in our daily life, our carefully nurtured solidarity began being overshadowed, but after reading this book we have been renewed.

We were delighted to receive a copy of Edir Macedo’s biography and, together, we “devoured” the book in 48 hours. This book is fascinating.

One of the strongest messages in the book was the story of how the bishop faced so many adversities in his personal life and in the Church. His story extols the important fact that adversities cause a person’s values and faith to mature. It is clear that success does not happen by chance, talent or gift, but through perseverance. Those who rise in times of adversity, through perseverance, will surely overcome. Success is achieved through those misfortunes.

The second message we learned from this book is that during the darkest moments in life, when you are guided by your spiritual values, your purpose is revealed in the midst of these challenging times. This is what happened during my life’s journey and is confirmed by Edir Macedo’s journey, which is documented in “Nothing to Lose”.

The book confirms that we should do for others what we would like to have done to us. If we had to summarize the book in one word, it would be “give.” It is by giving that we receive, and when we are ready to give, without worrying about what we have, we receive in abundance, and it is impossible to have necessities.

The experiences that Edir Macedo commented in the book ratify our life purpose – we will always receive more than what we give to our neighbor, whether it’s emotional, spiritual or physical.

Dr. Rogan Pillay, an ENT surgeon, and his wife are Hindus. He practices medicine at the University Medical Center and the Donald Gordon Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa.