This One Thing

Journeying with Desmond Tutu

Acknowledged by Archbishop Tutu himself as “riveting”, This One Thing plunges the reader into the heroic role of the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu as head of the South African Council of Churches in the overthrow of apartheid.  It is essentially Tutu’s story, told by his right-hand man, who relates a gripping, easy-to-read insider’s account of the significant role the South African churches played under Tutu in bringing democracy to South Africa.

In This One Thing, the author, Dan Vaughan recounts incident by incident how, as the SACC with Tutu at the helm, courageously and relentlessly confronted the apartheid government.  Tutu’s courage and implacable resistance to injustice were soon to earn him the Nobel Peace Prize.  The inside story around this is also told in detail.

Vaughan remembers their many encounters on their later travels to Haiti, Colombia, the USA, Northern Ireland, and the Sudan, amongst others, as Tutu crisscrossed the globe in the earlier years of this century with his message of peace.  The writer blends his up-close account of Tutu with his own story of discovery – from indifference to his country’s racism, to seeing his faith dramatically transform as he journeyed the long road with Tutu.