Through Dust and Darkness

A Motorcycle Journey of Fear and Faith in the Middle East

By (author): Jeremy Kroeker
ISBN 9781927330746
Softcover | Publication Date: September 23, 2013
Book Dimensions: 5.5 in x 8.5 in
320 Pages

About the Book

Jeremy Kroeker is a Mennonite with a motorcycle. When his seemingly unflinching faith in a Christian worldview begins to shift, Kroeker hops on his bike to seek answers from another perspective. After shipping his ride to Europe, Kroeker discovers that the machine wobbles back and forth worse than his own opinions about spirituality. Still, he caries on, oscillating through Europe—Germany, Austria, Croatia, Albania—and into the Middle East – Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and, ultimately, Iran.

It is there, in the theocratic nation of Iran, that Kroeker finds himself on a forbidden visit to a holy Muslim Shrine. Once inside, invisible hands reach into his chest and rip from his heart a sincere prayer, his first in many years. And God hears that prayer. For before Kroeker can escape Iran, God steals into his hotel room one night to threaten him with death. At least, that’s one way to look at it.

In the end, Kroeker comes to accept uncertainty. What does he really know anyway? He may always fear a God that he can’t explain. Perhaps if he keeps riding, one of these days God will speak clearly. And that frightens him, too.

About the Author(s)

Jeremy Kroeker is a freelance writer, a speaker, mountaineer and the award-winning author of Motorcycle Therapy – A Canadian Adventure in Central America. With his motorcycle, he has travelled to over 30 countries while managing to do at least one outrageously stupid thing in every one. He has evaded police in Egypt, tasted teargas in Israel, scrambled through minefields in Bosnia and Lebanon and wrangled a venomous snake in Austria. One time he got a sliver in El Salvador. His writing has appeared in newspapers such as the Toronto Star, Winnipeg Free Press and Calgary Herald, and in U.S. magazines such as Alpinist, and Outrider Journal. He was born in Manitoba, grew up in Saskatchewan and currently lives in Canmore, Alberta.