About Imago Deis & Nights
Imago Deis and Nights: True, Terrifying, Hilarious, and Spiritual Stories of Homelessness Leading into Freedom is now available on Amazon.
"MacDonald … has the ability to extract from these events a clear-eyed perspective on why homelessness is plaguing our cities and corrupting lives, one by one.”
– John Spritz“Imago Deis and Nights doesn’t merely convey the problems, though, but ways to help that can be implemented by anyone who cares enough to try.” – Marty Duren
How does an educated, upper-middle-class internet executive with a family and a bright future react when plunged into a seven-year vortex of homelessness from which he can find no escape? In 11 cities across all three west coast states, this former journalist had the sense to document his terrifying, hilarious, meaningful, and transformative experiences over those years, culminating in running a homeless tent city in one of West Oakland's most dangerous locations.
Christopher MacDonald takes us on a firsthand, riches-to-rags journey that explores our fears and assumptions about homelessness, the systems and machinations that prevent real solutions, and the people on the streets whose lives hang in the balance. MacDonald’s story is one of being re-educated through experience, changed from an insulated, fearful man into one able to use confrontational nonviolence to save lives.
Every moment is true, and every lesson learned helps answer real questions about homelessness from the inside out, avoiding overly simplistic assumptions to get at the heart of addiction and mental illness. MacDonald’s life shows us that there can be hope for the Homeless person, but not without direct involvement from a caring community willing to look past the stigma and into the eyes of a human being made in God’s image.
About the contributors
Christopher MacDonald
Chris is a former internet executive, journalist, and licensed minister. He was nominated for a Webby award for his work for the Mavericks Surf Contest, and directed creative content for savingthebay.org, working with narrator Robert Redford. He also spent several years running a homeless camp under the Nimitz Freeway in West Oakland
Mr. MacDonald lives in the Portrero Hill neighborhood of San Francisco with his wife, Laura Vida, and is a member of Reality SF Church. He earned his master’s degree in divinity from Berkeley School of Theology in 2020. Mr. MacDonald has four adult children - Sean, Thomas, Adam, and Camille.
He is the author of the as-yet-unpublished book, Imago Deis & Nights: A Journey to Freedom through Homelessness.
Dan Kassis
Dan began his career in web content management and development in 1999 when Chris hired him as online editor at Prima Games in Roseville, California. He has worked in religious and secular publishing, for- and non-profit health care, and B2C automotive. He is currently a senior communications specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.
Dan has narrated and produced titles for Audible and voiced projects for Mellanox Technologies, Nokian Tyres, The National World War II Museum, and the Museum of the Armed Forces in Washington DC. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Radio, TV and Film from California State University Northridge, and a master’s degree in Ministry from Temple Baptist Seminary. Dan and his wife, Bev, have three adult children - Trevor, Aidan, and Brenna.
Dan is Chris’s editor on Imago Deis & Nights.
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