Telling Our Story: Joan White

The following was an email sent by Joan White, pastor of First Christian and First Presbyterian Churches in Perry, Iowa:

My daughter, Krista, has been working at the disciples mission in Los Fresnos, TX , Southwest Good Samaritan Ministries, for a little over a year. I visited her there and met the man who founded the mission, Feliberto Pereira. I was impressed by the gentleness of his strength and his quiet, focused, hopeful way of assisting refugees... When I heard he was writing a book about his life, I ordered several copies. The book came out this summer and the books are circulating in Perry. I had ordered four books and there has not been a week without someone in the congregation asking to be placed on the waiting list to get one. Some people ordered their own copies and these are also circulating.

It is an easy, pleasant, thought provoking read that has appealed to senior citizens and teenagers and everyone in between. It is spiritual without being “preachy.” We are planning to wait until all of those who still on the waiting list have had the opportunity to read it and then discuss it. Possible topics for discussion that popped into my head immediately were the practice of the spiritual disciplines, evangelism, refugee resettlement, forgiveness, ecumenism, family relations and the allocation of our mission dollars. It would work well for Chi Rho and CYF age groups.

O yes, the book is “I Was a Stranger: Hope for a Hidden World” authored by Feliberto Pereira and Chris Kelly, journalist who helped Feliberto put his story on paper. It is available by going to iwasastranger.com or from Amazon.com.