Bio
Photo by Andrew Rush (click picture for hi-res)
Other Work: Brief attempt (above) to sell sandals
in Port-au-Prince was immediately thwarted by my
lack of head-balancing skill.
Short Bio:
Kent Annan is author of After Shock (2011) and of Following Jesus through the Eye of the Needle (2009) and co-director of Haiti Partners, a nonprofit focused on education in Haiti. He’s a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary. He is married to Shelly, and they have a young daughter (2005) and son (2009).
Extended Play Bio:
Kent Annan is author of After Shock (2011) and of Following Jesus through the Eye of the Needle (2009). He is co-director of Haiti Partners, a nonprofit focused on education in Haiti. He’s worked in Haiti since 2003–first living there and now traveling there regularly from Florida, where he lives with his wife, Shelly, and his daughter (2005) and son (2009).
Kent has spent many years going back and forth between North America and working with people in different, difficult situations around the world. After graduating from university, Kent worked for two years in Western Europe where he helped refugees from the former Yugoslavia, Iran, Sierra Leone, and other countries. He then returned to study theology at Princeton Seminary, during which he spent three months studying in India. On graduation, he moved to Albania and then Kosovo to work for six months with refugees there. Later he moved back to Princeton to work (and for love!)–and a few years later he and his new wife moved to Haiti for two and a half years.
His book After Shock wrestles with faith and doubt, hope and suffering in the aftermath of Haiti’s devastating earthquake–and how these questions relate to all of our lives. His book Following Jesus Through the Eye of the Needle (InterVarsity Press) tells the story of his move to Haiti and weaves together the nitty gritty joys and stumbles of living and ministering in a two-thirds world environment with reflections about faith, doubt, love, and God.
His writing has been published in literary journals including Utne Reader, Subtropics, Geez, Adbusters, The Sun, Natural Bridge, Pilgrimage, Puerto Del Sol, and Orion. One of his essays was cited as a “Notable Essay” in the Best American Essays series. He has been featured on national TV and radio shows including “The Hour,” “100 Huntley Street,” and NPR’s “The Story.”
Kent has a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and a bachelor’s in business from Palm Beach Atlantic University. He teaches adult education at his local church. He speaks to groups around the country.
