Author Jonathan Tepper shares a childhood unlike any other — raised by missionary parents in Madrid, Spain, in what was once considered one of Europe’s most notorious heroin slums. While most families would have fled, his chose to stay — building community in the midst of addiction, poverty, and loss.
In his powerful memoir, "Shooting Up," Tepper reflects on love, faith, heartbreak, and the complicated humanity of people too often written off or forgotten. It’s a story that challenges assumptions about addiction — and asks what it really means to show up for others when it would be easier to look away.
Jonathan Tepper talks about growing up on the front lines of the heroin epidemic, and how that experience shaped his understanding of compassion.
