I Was a Stranger: Encouraging the Church to Welcome and Embrace the Foreigner
Ebook
I Was a Stranger will help you build empathy for the strangers and foreigners among you. Through personal experience and through the narratives of people who have moved to a foreign country for a variety of reasons, Jodi Mullen Fondell offers encouragement for churches desiring to be a place of welcome and embrace for those who often find themselves rejected by the broader society. Packed with tips on how to help your church navigate the road toward greater openness, this book offers advice on how to avoid the pitfalls that prevent churches from truly welcoming and embracing the stranger among them. Rev. Fondell gently guides readers in examining their own experiences of alienation in order to understand the profound disorientation that being a stranger in a strange land entails. This identification with the pain of being an outsider, she asserts, can move, motivate, and mobilize the church to live out God's calling to welcome in the stranger. As the body of Christ embraces the members we are tempted to exclude, a new level of joy and a taste of heaven await our congregations. Includes a small-group Bible-study guide for communities ready to grow in ministry and hospitality.
“I Was a Stranger reveals Jodi Fondell’s pastoral heart
and her stirring passion for justice. Drawing on her vast personal
experience in international churches, Jodi is able to say what
needs to be said about the call to Christian people to welcome the
stranger. As Jodi sees it, this call isn’t just a nice, but largely
peripheral, dimension to ministry; this call is at the heart of the
gospel.”
—Douglas Brouwer, author of How to Become a Multicultural
Church
“A gifted colleague in cross-cultural ministry, Jodi Fondell puts
into words what many of us international pastors passionately want
to share with the larger church: God is glorified whenever you
welcome the stranger! And here’s the real surprise: you are blessed
whenever you welcome the stranger! Here is a helpful guide for
congregations who desire to become a more faithful and hospitable
sanctuary for all God’s people.”
—Scott Herr, Senior Pastor, American Church in Paris
“Isolation beyond your control is a very cruel space to exist
within. In this exquisitely written, timely, and poignant wake-up
call for Christians, Jodi challenges us to reexamine our prejudices
when it comes to alienating others—both consciously and
subconsciously. Through resonant personal anecdotes that provide
perspective and comparison, as well as practical tips for chipping
away at bias and tools for integration, she implores us to develop
our compassion and empathy as we live out our faith in these trying
times.”
—Lola Akinmade Åkerström, award-winning author and photographer of
bestselling LAGOM: The Swedish Secret of Living Well
“Jodi Mullen Fondell provides an accessible and timely look at
understanding and practicing the vital biblical mandate to welcome
strangers, foreigners, and all those persons whom others may shun
or even hate. From her years of pastoral ministry within
international communities, Mullen Fondell invites us to embrace
this central individual and communal Christian calling, which
demonstrates the overflowing love of God in Christ that to all who
find themselves as the outsider and outcast.”
—Edwin David Aponte, Executive Director, Louisville Institute
“Jodie Fondell's I Was a Stranger touches anyone who has
ever felt on the outside, yearns to connect in a congregational
setting and seeks to make sense of their identity in the world
today. She shares personal narratives, integrates theology and
Scripture, and applies it to daily life within various
congregational contexts. Wherever we serve, Jodie encourages faith
communities to live out our vocational call as we find new ways to
welcome, include, and love our neighbor.”
—Pastor Emily G. Rova-Hegener, American Lutheran
Congregation, Oslo, Norway
Product Details
- Title : I Was a Stranger: Encouraging the Church to Welcome and Embrace the Foreigner
- Authors:
- Fondell, Jodi Mullen
- Labberton, Mark A.
- Publisher: Resource Publications
- Publication Date: 2019
- ISBN: 9781532679605
Jodi Mullen Fondell is an ordained pastor and has served
churches in Stockholm, London, Paris, and Luxembourg City. This is
her first book.