Beyond Welcome: Centering Immigrants in Our Christian Response to Immigration

by Karen González

Overview

★ Publishers Weekly starred review

"A top-notch Christian look at immigration, humane and full of heart."—Publishers Weekly

Many American Christians have good intentions, working hard to welcome immigrants with hospitality and solidarity. But how can we do that in a way that empowers our immigrant neighbors rather than pushing them to the fringes of white-dominant culture and keeping them as outsiders? That's exactly the question Karen González explores in Beyond Welcome.

A Guatemalan immigrant, González draws from the Bible and her own experiences to examine why the traditional approach to immigration ministries and activism is at best incomplete and at worst harmful. By advocating for putting immigrants in the center of the conversation, González helps readers grow in discipleship and recognize themselves in their immigrant neighbors.

Accessible to any Christian who is called to serve immigrants, this book equips readers to take action to dismantle white supremacy and xenophobia in the church. They will emerge with new insight into our shared humanity and need for belonging and liberation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781587435607
Publisher:	Baker Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/18/2022
Pages:	176
Sales rank:	211,592
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Karen González is a writer, speaker, and immigrant advocate who emigrated from Guatemala as a child. She attended Fuller Theological Seminary, where she studied theology and missiology, and she has worked in the nonprofit sector for thirteen years. In addition to her first book, The God Who Sees: Immigrants, The Bible, and the Journey to Belong, González has written for Christianity Today, Christian Century, Sojourners, and the Baltimore Sun. She lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Part 1 Words and Myths

1 Strangers in a Strange Land: The Myth of Assimilation 3

2 The Scarlet Cord and the Myth of the Good Immigrant 20

3 Russian for Beginners: Words Matter 37

Part 2 The Bible and Belonging

4 Reading the Bible: Interpretations Have Consequences 55

5 Mi Casa Es Su Casa: The Hospitality of Jesus 70

6 The Land before (Western) Time: A Theology of Belonging 85

Part 3 Dignity and Departures

7 Departures: People on the Move 105

8 Ethical Storytelling: Disrupting the Narrative 122

9 The Kin-dom Where Everyone Belongs 135

Acknowledgments 151

Notes 154

Author Bio 161

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/15/2022

González (The God Who Sees), a Guatemalan-American immigrant advocate, urges Christians to welcome immigrants in this incisive appeal. “Jesus does not ask me or anyone to assimilate but to be fully ourselves,” González contends, encouraging Christians to follow Jesus’s exhortations to “love our neighbors as ourselves.” She unpacks immigrant stories in the Bible, noting that Joseph was a displaced migrant whose assimilation into the Egyptian system of oppression illustrates the moral compromises assimilation often demands of outsiders. Candidly reflecting on how internalized racism shaped her youth in Florida, the author recounts how white beauty standards made her feel inadequate and confesses that she mostly dated white men “because I was raised to prefer and believe in the superiority of whiteness.” González rejects the notion that immigrants should have to act above reproach because no human is perfect, and God’s incarnation in Jesus demonstrates the Christian imperative to “fully and unreservedly embrace our own and each other’s humanity.” The author’s biblical analysis achieves the difficult task of drawing fresh conclusions from familiar stories and finding wisdom in those less discussed, and her keen attention to how language, race, wealth, ability, and sexuality intersect with immigration is compassionate and inclusive. The result is a top-notch Christian look at immigration, humane and full of heart. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

09/01/2022

González (The God Who Sees: Immigrants, The Bible, and the Journey To Belong) emigrated from Guatemala as a child and now advocates for immigrants. Combining her strong storytelling skills with her background, she has written a book that challenges readers to rethink their understanding of immigrants. She mixes personal stories and those of others with an examination of familiar biblical passages viewed from a unique perspective. For instance, she presents Joseph (Genesis 37–50) as one who largely identifies with Egyptians and who administrates over a system that exploits those suffering during a period of famine. Her book is divided into three parts: "Words and Myths," "The Bible and Belonging," and "Dignity and Departures." The first part focuses on challenges related to expectations for assimilation but potential loss of personal identity, the second on scriptural support for the stranger and the immigrant, and the third on issues related to the plight of immigrants in the United States. VERDICT This book will be of interest to general readers but especially those wanting to know more about immigration or biblical and theological reflections on the topic.—John Jaeger

Library Journal