Welcoming The Stranger

World Relief staffers Matthew Soerens and Jenny Yang move beyond the rhetoric to offer a Christian response to immigration. With careful historical understanding and thoughtful policy analysis, they debunk myths about immigration, show the limits of the current immigration system, and offer concrete ways for you to welcome and minister to your immigrant neighbors.

This book is an astute rethinking of theology and pastoral ministry that overcomes sentimental notions of hospitality.

Successful leaders today don't dictate; they invite. They don't dismiss; they welcome. They don't neglect; they care. Now more than ever we must pay attention to the soft side of leadership if we want hard results. As leaders--from parents to CEOs--we must learn gracious leadership to truly, positively, change our spheres of influence. In this passionate, powerful book, pastor and leadership mentor Terry Smith fleshes out five vital principles you need to become a hospitable leader. He shows that this type of leadership is not superficial niceness or allowing people to do whatever they want. Hospitable leadership is result-oriented because it's motivated by genuine love. It's how you create environments where people and dreams can thrive, where vision turns to action, and where great things happen regularly. Here is everything you need to become the type of leader people want to follow.

The modern turn in political philosophy established the ontological primacy of the ego, reducing the community to a mere assemblage of individuals, and led to the repudiation of natural duties in favor of inherent individual rights. The modern project culminated in the work of Friedrich Nietzsche, whose emphasis on radical individuation left human beings both liberated and exiled. Individuals were free to create (and to recreate) themselves anew, but they were simultaneously uprooted from any larger community. Indeed, the very possibility of shared meaning, let alone shared political life, was called into question. This volume consists of essays addressing the efforts of philosophers, artists, caretakers, and—perhaps most importantly—teachers to reestablish a foundation for political life in postmodernity. The origins of these efforts are diverse, and their modes are varied. Individuals seek communion with the divine, either with or through others; they pursue friendship among strangers; and they search for meaningful relationships in both the classroom and the public square. Reflecting the various means by which individuals seek communion with others and with the transcendent, divine Other, the essays contained in this volume explore the modes through which individuals forge relationships with others in an age of isolation.

A pioneering look at the implications of Christian faith for foreign language education. It has become clear in recent years that reflection on foreign language education involves more than questioning which methods work best. This new volume carries current discussions of the value-laden nature of foreign language teaching into new territory by exploring its spiritual and moral dimensions. David Smith and Barbara Carvill show how the Christian faith sheds light on the history, aims, content, and methods of foreign language education. They also propose a new approach to the field based on the Christian understanding of hospitality.

Designed for both ordained and lay ministers at the diocesan and parish levels, this document challenges us to prepare to receive newcomers with a genuine spirit of welcome.

Has the death of God paved the way for a new kind of religious project, a more responsible way to seek, sound, and love the things we call divine? This book explores this question and argues how by accepting that we know nothing about God, we can rediscover an absent holiness in our lives and reclaim an everyday divinity.

Through stories of real children and families, Dignity and Justice explores the issue of migration to the southern border of the United States and why, including the historical, social, legal and political dynamics. It highlights the almost insurmountable legal hurdles they face if they actually reach their destination and defines and encourages a Catholic response to this heartbreaking situation.

You Shall Love the Stranger as Yourself addresses the complex political, legal, and humanitarian challenges raised by asylum-seekers and refugees from a Biblical perspective. The book explores the themes of humanity and justice through exegesis of relevant passages in the Old and New Testaments, skillfully woven into accounts of contemporary refugee situations. Applying Biblical analysis to one of the most pressing humanitarian concerns of modern times, Houston creates a timely work that will be of interest to students and scholars of theology, religion, and human rights.

Recipient of Christianity Today's Award of Merit in Politics and Public Life, 2016 ------ What will rule our hearts: fear or compassion? We can’t ignore the refugee crisis—arguably the greatest geo-political issue of our time—but how do we even begin to respond to something so massive and complex? In Seeking Refuge, three experts from World Relief, a global organization serving refugees, offer a practical, well-rounded, well-researched guide to the issue. Who are refugees and other displaced peoples? What are the real risks and benefits of receiving them? How do we balance compassion and security? Drawing from history, public policy, psychology, many personal stories, and their own unique Christian worldview, the authors offer a nuanced and compelling portrayal of the plight of refugees and the extraordinary opportunity we have to love our neighbors as ourselves.