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Loving the Stranger: Welcoming Immigrants in the Name of Jesus
Most American Christians think that helping immigrants is a good idea in theory, but few actually get involved in the ministry of welcome because they feel afraid, concerned, or overwhelmed by busyness. Loving the Stranger addresses these fears in an understanding way, answers these concerns in a way that will resonate regardless of people's political convictions, and lays out simple ways to begin welcoming immigrants in the midst of our busy lives by simply welcoming them into our lives.
158 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 30, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 14, 2019
I really appreciated that it gave practical tips on the HOW we can love our neighbors who are immigrants and refugees. One of my favorite parts was the encouragement to "embrace the awkwardness" that will occur when you are dealing with language barriers. Because in my experience, there WILL be times when it is awkward! But with patience and kindness, the relationships formed will bring you some of the greatest joys in your life.
April 20, 2019
Loving the Stranger: Welcoming Immigrants in the Name of Jesus by Jessica A. Udall is an introduction to how Christians can become more welcoming and develop friendships with immigrants who work, play, and live around us. Immigration and immigrants is, and always has been, a huge political topic. I feel that the author does a great job at reminding us that immigrants aren't this scary bogeyman or simple political stance, but are real people facing real struggles. They are often facing these struggles alone since they've left their support network behind.
I think that this is where Udall's book really shines. She presents the struggles of immigrants in the United States in a very easy to understand manner and presents them as people complete with stories from her own cross-cultural interactions. She also presents very practical ways to engage people from other cultures. While there are some things specific to cross-cultural situations, the bulk of her suggestions could be used to help develop relationships in general.
While I found her to be very tight when it came to these practical friendship thoughts. Her religious advice on how to share the Gospel and such I found less useful. I think largely because it seems like she kind of has this view of what a Christian who is active about their faith would look like. One that quotes scripture to people or views saying "I think this..." as opposed to saying "The Bible says..." as being a soft way to express faith and maybe even being a way to show you don't really hold the Bible as authoritative. While this will be true in some cases, it can also be the simple acknowledgement that while the Bible may say this or that, how we interpret what the Bible says can be very different from person to person. I guess it just felt that she lacked the nuance here that she does when talking about the cross-cultural dynamics so it stuck out to me.
Overall, I found Loving the Stranger to be an interesting read. It's a simple, but profound book filled with practical advice on how to be more intentional in developing friendships with immigrants and crossing over cultural barriers. This will be more useful the more diverse your community is, but honestly a good deal of the principles could be applied even to fellow Americans. I felt she lost a bit of her nuance when talking about matters around faith and the Bible, but nothing too bad. Definitely a book I would recommend for those wanting some practical advice to developing cross-cultural relationships.
I think that this is where Udall's book really shines. She presents the struggles of immigrants in the United States in a very easy to understand manner and presents them as people complete with stories from her own cross-cultural interactions. She also presents very practical ways to engage people from other cultures. While there are some things specific to cross-cultural situations, the bulk of her suggestions could be used to help develop relationships in general.
While I found her to be very tight when it came to these practical friendship thoughts. Her religious advice on how to share the Gospel and such I found less useful. I think largely because it seems like she kind of has this view of what a Christian who is active about their faith would look like. One that quotes scripture to people or views saying "I think this..." as opposed to saying "The Bible says..." as being a soft way to express faith and maybe even being a way to show you don't really hold the Bible as authoritative. While this will be true in some cases, it can also be the simple acknowledgement that while the Bible may say this or that, how we interpret what the Bible says can be very different from person to person. I guess it just felt that she lacked the nuance here that she does when talking about the cross-cultural dynamics so it stuck out to me.
Overall, I found Loving the Stranger to be an interesting read. It's a simple, but profound book filled with practical advice on how to be more intentional in developing friendships with immigrants and crossing over cultural barriers. This will be more useful the more diverse your community is, but honestly a good deal of the principles could be applied even to fellow Americans. I felt she lost a bit of her nuance when talking about matters around faith and the Bible, but nothing too bad. Definitely a book I would recommend for those wanting some practical advice to developing cross-cultural relationships.
April 15, 2020
"How can we bridge the divide between cultures? How can we get these dear international people connected to the American community?" (pg. 29)
Ministry "is to be inextricable from our everyday life, because it is our life. We don't make time to do ministry. Our lives are to be ministry - every minute, every breath, every encounter is to be viewed through this lens." (pg. 65)
With Loving the Stranger, Udall offers us a friendly, accessible model for meeting and showing love to the international people and families who live in our communities. This is a quick and easy read, filled with anecdotes and examples. If you have experience in this field, much will be familiar, but Udall's point-of-view is full of compassion and delight.
I enjoyed reading this book, and I feel like I just add a long, meaningful conversation with the author.
Ministry "is to be inextricable from our everyday life, because it is our life. We don't make time to do ministry. Our lives are to be ministry - every minute, every breath, every encounter is to be viewed through this lens." (pg. 65)
With Loving the Stranger, Udall offers us a friendly, accessible model for meeting and showing love to the international people and families who live in our communities. This is a quick and easy read, filled with anecdotes and examples. If you have experience in this field, much will be familiar, but Udall's point-of-view is full of compassion and delight.
I enjoyed reading this book, and I feel like I just add a long, meaningful conversation with the author.
November 26, 2020
This book was succinct and gives a good introduction for Christians (it's tilted towards Americans but the lessons are applicable to people from any culture) in how to interact with immigrants and refugees. I appreciated how Jessica consistently drove her lessons home with personal stories--this made the material far more accessible and gave vivid examples of the lessons applied.
August 30, 2022
This book walks you through ideas of how to look for opportunities to serve and love your immigrant neighbors. Very practical!
July 26, 2016
A warm, practical, guide to loving and ministering to internationals in the US, written by a woman who loves recruiting and inspiring others to this rewarding and neglected ministry. Content is engaging and spot-on.
Unfortunate that the book is self published; a professional touch would really help here. Maybe someone will pick this up and take it to the next level? Meanwhile, my copy has doubled hyphens in place of dashes about half the time, and straight quotes where smart quotes are needed (except in a single instance!). And, though otherwise carefully edited and reasonably well designed, it has some odd footnoting and capitalization.
Unfortunate that the book is self published; a professional touch would really help here. Maybe someone will pick this up and take it to the next level? Meanwhile, my copy has doubled hyphens in place of dashes about half the time, and straight quotes where smart quotes are needed (except in a single instance!). And, though otherwise carefully edited and reasonably well designed, it has some odd footnoting and capitalization.
June 13, 2017
It was very easy to read her style; I imagined sitting with her and a cup of coffee, listening to her wisdom/experience and advice. Her admonition on hospitality as opposed to our concept of entertainment rung close to home... I feel that I have migrated from a concept of "hospitality" toward one of more "entertainment" in recent years, and in so doing, have perhaps neglected opportunities to welcome someone or someones at our dinner table. I hope to resume a habit of inviting folks into conversation and food, thanks to this biblically-based book!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews