No Longer Strangers

What does evangelism look like at its best?

Evangelism can hurt sometimes. Well-meaning Christians who welcome immigrants and refugees and share the gospel with them will often alienate the very people they are trying to serve through cultural misconceptions or insensitivity to their life experiences. In No Longer Strangers, diverse voices lay out a vision for a healthier evangelism that can honor the most vulnerable—many of whom have lived through trauma, oppression, persecution, and colonialism—while foregrounding gospel claims.

With perspectives from immigrants and refugees, and pastors and theologians (some of whom are immigrants themselves), this book offers guidance for every church, missional institution, and individual Christian in navigating the power dynamics embedded in differences of culture, race, and language. Every contributor wholeheartedly affirms the goodness and importance of evangelism as part of Christian discipleship while guiding the reader away from the kind of evangelism that hurts, toward the kind of evangelism that heals.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Ann Voskamp

Introduction, Rev. Eugene Cho and Rev. Dr. Samira Izadi Page

1. Evangelism and the Way of the Cross, Dr. Andrew Bush

2. Evangelizing the Hurt and Trauma, Dr. Issam Smeir

3. Doing Evangelism as a Church, Pastor Laurie Beshore

4. Beyond Welcoming: Evangelism in Mutuality, Rev. Sandra Maria Van Opstal

5. Public Witness and Advocacy, Jenny Yang

6. Evangelism That Reconciles, Rev. Torli H. Krua

7. The Great Concern + the Great Commandment = the Great Commission, Pastor K. J. Hill

8. Evangelism That Heals, Rev. Dr. Samira Izadi Page