Former Whanganui City Missioner Shirley-Joy Barrow has a story to tell, and it's all in her book which is due to be launched next month.
What's more, the foreword is written by former Prime Minister Helen Clark.
People had told Shirley-Joy that to help the book do well she needed someone important to write the foreword.
"So I thought, who do I have belief in, who do I look up to?" Helen Clark was the obvious answer, and Shirley-Joy had met her twice, once when she was in her Auckland electorate, and again in 2004 when she was City Missioner.
When Helen Clark was in Whanganui last month, Shirley-Joy met with her again and presented her with a copy of the book.
Mission in the City: Hopes and Dreams, My Story is an in-depth look at the years Shirley-Joy and her husband Tony Bell have spent in Whanganui and their time associated with Christian Social Services, more specifically the City Mission from 2004 to 2011.
"I decided to write the book because when I left the City Mission an awful lot of people didn't know what happened, where I went, why I went, and I often got asked in the street, after 2011, what happened," says Shirley-Joy. "It came to me that probably the best thing to do was to write it down. Because I'd been dismissed under a cloud, I needed to write it for me too. I needed to say why it was such a a challenging and also such a painful episode in my life, so writing it all down was cathartic for me."
"Also because I feel that City Missions operate in a way that they do an awful lot that's never seen. Our City Mission in Whanganui was very much the same while I was there and probably with my predecessors as well, so it seemed really important to say this was a critical place for people to get their needs met and to be able to have hope and dream dreams. Hence the title."
She says she's nervous because the story is from her perspective and there are maybe those who will see it differently.
"It's been important to be able to tell my story, and also the story of some of the very fragile and vulnerable people who came to the Mission that most people didn't see. The people who came early in the morning to have breakfast with me, to take their medication; the people who rang up very late at night, needing someone to talk to; the people who contemplated suicide and rang or texted the Mission because we responded almost immediately and face to face.
"It seemed to be a big story, because it wasn't just the people who came to the Mission to get help, but it was the ones who came to get help, then stayed to help in the Mission ... and the staff who worked horrendous hours all times of the night and day. The book embraces all of those people."
The book's chapters follow a chronological sequence and show how each of the Mission's core services were set up and the rationale behind them. It also included lessons learned from the experiences of running the City Mission.
"It's a big thing to write a difficult first book from a personal perspective, to put myself and, to some degree my family, out there. I've tried to be positive."
Mission in the City is to be launched at a function at the Grand Hotel on Thursday, October 11 from 4pm-8pm.
There will be entertainment by Gypsy Blue, including a song written for the occasion by Shirley-Joy. Drinks and meals can be purchased. The book is published by Garside Publishing Ltd and printed by H&A Print.