When author Kent Annan talked with his son about immigrants and refugees, the 8-year-old asked, “Are we for them or against them?” Annan’s response to his question—for them—is the theme of this balanced, biblical call to follow Jesus’ command to offer hospitality and to welcome the stranger among us.
Annan explores how this call is based on an understanding that refugees and immigrants are “fellow children of God, whom we recognize as ourselves and who are in need.”
Refreshingly candid, Annan reflects on the reasons—“fears, complexities, and barriers”—that hinder people from welcoming newcomers. As Christians, he asserts, “love is the lens we see through, then wisdom guides us through the risks.”
You Welcomed Me is written from the perspective of an American citizen who longs to see his country “welcome more generously.” As he relates the powerful, painful stories of refugees who have settled in the United States, Canada, and other countries, he shares “a vision for how life is deeper, better, and more faithful together.”
Each of this short book’s stimulating chapters ends with spiritually probing questions for reflection as well as suggestions for how readers can put what they learned into practice. (IVP)
About the Author
Sonya VanderVeen Feddema is a freelance writer and a member of Covenant CRC in St. Catharines, Ontario.