28/04/2026
It's almost time đŹđ„ł. We will have the first 100 copies of Razors book in our hands next week! It's been almost a year since a friend suggested Razor sat down with Rob Harley and put in print the stories that he shares while he's up a mountain somewhere! And we can't wait to share it with you guys! To pre-order your copy now at an earley bird rate please use the following link, and we will be in touch https://moralcompass.org.nz/war-zone-warrior-2/.
One last post from Rob, just to give you a little more insight about whats instore when you open the book!
The Razor Factor: Part Four â Rob Harley
The story of Razor and Jemma Reynolds and their somewhat underpaid labour of love among kids whoâve gone off the rails, is one of the most inspiring stories itâs been my privilege to write.
The book I have just about finished writing with this couple is going to be called âWar Zone Warrior to Urban Legend,â and itâll be out mid-April. Razor, Jemma and I are buzzing about the chance to tell this story to the world.
What makes Razor Reynolds and his increasingly influential charity- The Moral Compass Trust â so special?
For me I am loving what am getting to write about, because â as youâll have likely detected from past posts â my overriding passion is celebrating people who are on the solution side of gnarly problems.
Those stories I relate which contain a faith and hope component, are mostly built around exploring just HOW faith and hope are at their very best when they work âat street levelâ.
I know my lack of tolerance for âairy-fairyâ faith concepts is not to everyoneâs liking, but my years of film-making â exploring spirituality that actually touches REAL NEEDS and helps imperfect people find grace and acceptance â are a pretty potent engine room in my life.
Which is why, when I meet a Razor-type character, my eyes light up, and I feel a fire in my belly!
In this final taster for what the complete story of Razorâs journey will look like in the book, I need to tick some important boxes.
Like â whatâs the quick summary?
It goes like this: a kid from the mean streets of a poor part of Britain, decides heâs better than the drugs and petty crime mangling the lives of his mates. Instead of going to jail he becomes an elite special forces paratrooper â goes to war in hellholes, sets records for stuff like blowing up stuff like Taliban o***m factories, emigrates with his lovely wife to Aotearoa, and after a spell in the New Zealand armed forces, ventures into business.
It proves to be a very tough haul for Razor and Jemma and their kids, but there comes a point at which Razor gets zapped by an encounter with God. He didnât plan it â but suddenly he found himself with a whole new perspective on his life and destiny.
Razor and Jemma got out of their marquee business and Razor started exploring a quietly growing passion for aiding teenagers in trouble.
Remembering the running street fights of South London, being told at school his dyslexia and misbehaviour would mean heâd never amount to anything, the booze and drug-soaked days, the sense of alienation he felt, Razorâs heart started burning with a desire to get hold of disenchanted young men in Christchurch, and give them back some hope and meaning in their lives.
The results have been brilliant. Kids booted out of school, or sent to the margins of alternative education, or given up on - are changing.
Razorâs found his calling. Through highly relatable one-on-one mentoring, life skills training, meaningful employment opportunities and a healthy dose of exposure of these guys to exhilarating outdoors experiences - sad, listless and lost boys are turning into young men with a spring in their step.
Returning to school to sit exams theyâd been told theyâd never pass, getting meaningful employment and becoming respectful, purpose-driven teenagers, these fellows look at Razor with awe as â like the proverbial energiser bunny, he pours his energy into building life-change into an entire community.
School teachers and local cops are rapt with the results, a Rolleston real estate company has become a key sponsor of Moral Compass, and desperate government agencies battling delinquency and dysfunction - which are now being seriously addressed by Razor, are lifting their eyes heavenwards in gratitude!
Razor and Jemma have a kind of saintly side hustle â turning venison and wild pork into meat packs for distributing to places like womenâs refuges and needy people.
To me, this venture, driven by a 48-year-old Cockney, who once dodged bullets and RPG missiles in the heat and dust of Iraq and Afghanistan, puts me as a writer into my ultimate happy place!
Razorâs both an extremely compassionate yet ruthlessly pragmatic leader and shaper of young men.
He told me: âI expose them to proper physical work. Long days. Levels, concrete, formworkâthe lot. I love watching how one the young guys has been cracking on, and itâs doing him good. You can see it. Structure. Routine. Someone who expects him to show up and doesnât accept excuses.
Razorâs relentless too about building up hope and confidence in older guys too. The one-time, sharp-eyed war zone warrior notices the gaps in menâs lives and sets out to help.
Razor: âThereâs no sugar-coating it -some of these guys I am trying to help have been right on the edge. Self-harm. Proper dark places. Itâs massive in this country. Massive. You wouldnât believe how many blokes are just hanging on.
One bloke cried on me because heâd never caught a fish before!
Not because of the fish.
Because if I teach him to catch a fish, he can take his kid.â
And so, this writer plods on into the night, gagging to finish writing this book, so people can read and marvel at the full story of the guy who found his âtrue northâ in his Moral Compass venture.
Arohanui
Rob
Be early and be amazed!
