Shooting Up: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Addiction by Jonathan Tepper, is a remarkable memoir written by the son of an American Presbyterian missionary family who lived in San Blas, a drug ravaged slum in Madrid.

In 1985 Elliott and Mary Tepper, together with their four sons, arrived in Madrid during the midst of one of Europe’s worst heroin epidemics. Jonathan was the second oldest of four boys, and the story is told from his prospective. The Tepper’s early meetings were held in their living room, helping drug addicts, then expanded into an organization called Betel. As time went on, Betel wasn’t in just one place—they worked in shops, farms, even chicken barns. It became an international organization that has helped more than 200,000 addicts. Betel’s international headquarters is still in Madrid.

This story is about Betel’s beginnings and one family’s struggle and ultimate success in bringing hope and love to people ravaged by HIV and AIDS. (While HIV is a virus that may cause an infection, AIDS, which is short for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, is a disease. Contracting HIV can lead to the development of AIDS, or stage 3 HIV, a complex condition with varying symptoms.) Many of Jonathan’s friends were ex-addicts who transformed their lives as a result of the Teppers missionary work. Jonathan was especially close to two of these friends, Raúl and Jambri, charismatic ex-addicts twice his age from whom he learned many of life’s lessons.

Growing up among drug addicts influenced Jonathan, as did his father’s love of literature’s classics. Jonathan and his family experienced many tragic losses, even within their own family, but they rallied and relied on their faith to bring love and encouragement to others.

Shooting Up is an extraordinary memoir of hope and promise. It’s a brutally honest story about an oppressively cruel disease. It’s also about love, love of God and subsequently love of all people, not just those like us, but people who despair, who need help even when they don’t want it, or who can’t see their way clear to ask for it. Jonathan’s story spans from 1985 through the 1990s, from his childhood to his college experience in North Carolina. It’s a memoir of a unique childhood, of the horror of addiction, and of the power of love. Shooting Up is not a particularly religious story, but rather a story borne of love for our fellow man, a precept of Christian beliefs.