Unless
you’ve been living under a rock and totally without access to any type of news
media (including your social media where people post about what’s going on in
the world, and their opinions about it) for the past few years, you’ve heard
both sides of the arguments about immigration and refugees. Both sides and everything
in between. And the battle gets pretty heated with one extreme suggesting that
anyone who wants to come to our country should be allowed in, and on the other
extreme, the group that would refuse entry to just about everyone. Of course there has to be a center-ground,
since except for the 100% Native American, none of us would be allowed to live
here if the one extreme had their way.
In
the midst of the rancorous and bitter arguments, comes a voice of reason. Kent
Annan, has written a book which confronts fear mongering with facts, and
presents a Biblical point of view on how we are to treat, and receive those who
would like to be a part of the population of the U.S., and those who would
prefer to return to their homes, but are prevented from doing so by war,
famine, drought, or other things which most of us can’t even begin to imagine.
You Welcomed Me: Loving Refugees
and Immigrants Because God First Loved Us (InterVarsisty Press) has a scheduled release date of
Nov 2018. Annan tackles the tough topics like why people are so against welcoming
people from other places. He suggests that in many cases it’s because of fear. They’re
nervous, they’re concerned about safety, and they don’t want people around who
are intent on hurting others. But statistics show that these newcomers of whom
we are so afraid are rarely the ones who commit the crimes.
This
is a very readable book, with narratives of stories that Kent has experienced
with people in or from many different places. And they are stories that should
touch even the hardest hearts. But it goes beyond telling stories. There are
reactions to those stories, there are personal experiences, there are
statistics, and throughout are the reminders that we should be loving others as
God loves us.
And
above all this is a cry for justice. Justice God-style, rather than what often
passes for justice in our 21st century society. Justice which means
that everyone is treated fairly, and given opportunities that are so frequently
denied to those who don’t look like us, talk like us, or share a common
culture.
At
the end of each chapter is a “practice” exercise. These exercises invite us to
learn to listen to the stories of our neighbors, learn to listen, learn to
hear, and use those stories to help us get to know the people with whom we come
in contact.
Although
the practices are especially geared towards immigrants and refugees, for many
of us, in our hundreds-of-friends-on-social-media-but none-in-real-life
society, we could use the exercises to get to know the people in our
neighborhoods who do look and talk like us, and who do share that common
culture.
As
we run our race called life, we can all use the reminder that life on earth is
practice for eternal life in heaven where according to the Apostle John, there
was “ a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe,
people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. (Revelation
7:9. NIV
I received an advanced readers copy
from the publisher.
5/5
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