Finding Jesus at the Border

From the Back Cover"A beautifully written, well-researched, painfully moving book"Interweaving biblical narratives of border crossing and stories of immigrants journeying to the United States, Finding Jesus at the Border invites Christians to reconsider the plight of their neighbors and respond with compassion to the immigration crisis."Regardless of your religious beliefs, Julia Lambert Fogg has done all of us a service by asking, 'What would Jesus do?' were he confronted with the inhumanity of our current immigration laws."--Reza Aslan, author of Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth"A beautifully written, well-researched, painfully moving book that invites all believers to read Scripture in a new way. Any church community that reads it prayerfully will never be the same again!"--Justo L. González, immigrant, church historian, and theologian"Fogg shows that the scriptural trajectory of refugees' border crossings--out of peril into safety, out of oppression into promise--does not end with Jesus and the Bible but continues into today in the living stories of migrants."--Barbara Rossing, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago"Jesus's story and teachings dovetail with the journeys of so many of our immigrant neighbors, as Fogg explores with such compassion in her expert and moving book. Jesus came from a family of immigrants, after all, and as he famously said, 'I was a stranger, and you welcomed me.'"--Rainn Wilson, actor and writer"This is a moving account of a personal journey into the immigrant world and how it led to a new understanding of Christian faith and Scripture. Fogg creatively interweaves immigrant stories with biblical passages, showing how those experiences can help us read the Bible with fresh eyes."--M. Daniel Carroll R., Wheaton College; author of The Bible and Borders"The issue of immigrant rights, like that of economic justice, requires little translation between the Bible and our time. Fogg's work is an engaging addition to the literature that reads Word and world with attention to the displaced and dispossessed who are forced to cross borders."--Ched Myers, coauthor of Our God Is Undocumented: Biblical Faith and Immigrant JusticeImmigration is an issue of major concern within the Christian community. As Christians, how should we respond to the current crisis?Interweaving biblical narratives of border crossing and recent stories of immigrants at the US-Mexico border, this accessibly written book invites Christians to reconsider the plight of their neighbors and respond with compassion to the present immigration crisis. Julia Lambert Fogg, a pastor and New Testament scholar who is actively serving immigrant families in Southern California, interprets well-known biblical stories in a fresh way and puts a human face on the immigration debate.Fogg argues that Christians must step out of their comfort zones and learn to cross social, ethnic, and religious borders--just as Jesus did--to become the body of Christ in the world. She encourages readers to welcome Christ by embracing DREAMers, the undocumented, asylum seekers, and immigrants, and she inspires Christians to advocate for immigrant justice in their communities.About the AuthorJulia Lambert Fogg (PhD, Emory University) is professor of religion at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks, California, where she has taught for more than fifteen years. She specializes in the New Testament, first-century Christianity, theologies from the margins, and cross-cultural reading practices. She is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), preaches regularly in ELCA churches, and is active among local congregations serving immigrant families in Southern California.