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Oladimeji, Book Review  59 

Book Review 

 

You Welcomed Me: Loving Refugees and Immigrants 

Because God First Loved Us 

By Kent Annan 

 
Reviewed by Babatunde Oladimeji 

 
 

  
 

Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2018. $13.50 

 

 

In this troubling and challenging book, Kent Annan 

explains that the United States has for many years 

granted legal residency to roughly one million 

immigrants a year, of which 75,000 have typically been 

refugees. Now, however, the number of refugees 

accepted into the US has fallen to only 22,000 a year. 

Meanwhile, small countries like Turkey, Pakistan, 

Lebanon, Iran, Ethiopia, and Jordan, have taken in 

between 650,000 and 2.5 Million refugees (7). Annan 

helps Christians see how important this issue is and how 

we must respond to it in love and charity.  

Beginning with a vivid and yet frequently ignored 

picture of the misery refugees and immigrants often 

face, Annan points out that no one enjoys fleeing their 

homes and leaving their dreams behind. Refugees flee 

their homes only because they face grave danger. In 

light of this reality, Annan argues that we should 

welcome refugees and immigrants. He insists that, as 

children of Abraham by faith, we have joined into the 

story in which, in a sense, we, too, are foreigners. We 

should therefore be sensitive to those who are displaced 

and must seek a new home. If we manage to see 

refugees as children of God who are in need, we must 

necessarily treat them with empathy and love. 

Unfortunately, too often we do not treat refugees 

and immigrants the way God wants us to. Annan 

explains that one key reason at the heart of our 

mistreatment of refugees and immigrants is the 

prejudice that leads us to think of others as less than 

human. Such dehumanization begins when we absorb 

media characterizations that speak unkindly and 

unfairly about foreigners. These views often lead 

people to refer to others with derogatory slurs that go 

uncorrected. We then vote in elections in ways that 

make our vulnerable neighbors even more vulnerable. 

Gradually, we no longer see immigrants and refugees as 

people made in the image of God (19).  

Annan takes the position that Christians must 

counter these pressures and recognize the personhood 

of refugees. Such a stance leads us to take the time to 

empathize with their circumstances, and to follow that 

up by seeking tangible ways to connect with refugees 

and immigrants on a human level. Such connections 

allow us to live into a new understanding of our 

neighbors. Annan points out that people cross national 

borders to come to the United States, and he strongly 

believes that “When we move toward them, we have to 

cross our kinds of borders to genuinely welcome them” 

(28). 

One of Annan’s important accomplishments is his 

discussion of the major concerns people raise when 

confronted with helping refugees and immigrants, like 

fears that they will take our jobs, dangers of higher 

crime and compromised security, undesirable changes 

to our cities and neighborhoods, and many more (30–

45). One after the other, Annan debunks each point. 

He concludes by saying, “Our hope is strong enough to 

overcome the fears and vulnerabilities” (43). In his 

words, “Our challenge is to find the solidarity that we 

need by belonging to tribes in our communities, 

churches, and nations, while also welcoming others who 

have, as immigrants or refugees, been forced to flee 

their own tribes and are now disconnected” (34). 

Knowing our own stories and becoming part of the 

stories of others help us become part of the magnificent 

story of God (60). Annan encourages us to spend time 

with refugees and immigrants to listen to their stories. 



Christian Relief, Development, and Advocacy 1(1),  Summer 2019 

Oladimeji, Book Review  60 

He concludes the book by offering practical suggestions 

on how Christians can become more welcoming to 

refugees and immigrants, noting that, as we get to know 

and care for each other, we become partners with 

people whom once we didn’t trust, but with whom we 

now build trusting relationships. He is thus surely right 

in his assertion that our “philosophy should be to 

partner with people and not for them” (74).  

Annan’s experiences and interactions with many 

churches that welcomed refugees are encouraging. He 

explores different organizations that reach out to 

refugees and immigrants, in the process presenting 

some great examples of welcome. 

You Welcomed Me is not perfect. For example, I 

question some of Annan’s biblical interpretations, and 

he is occasionally guilty of proof texting, like when he 

cites Galatians 3:28 and uses it to conclude that “There 

is no longer American or Syrian, no longer documented 

or undocumented” (17). He also relies on the story of 

Jesus’ flight to Egypt to support a policy of open 

borders, a policy with which some readers who consider 

geo-political contexts of the biblical text may strongly 

disagree. 

Annan argues passionately and appropriately for 

Christians to love diversity, because the kingdom of 

God is diverse with people of every kind (35). Yet he 

fails to address the issue of people who break 

immigration laws by crossing borders illegally or 

overstaying their visas. Many among Annan’s readers 

may actually welcome diversity, but they nevertheless 

worry about an influx of newcomers who may change 

their culture and cities and impact the future of their 

children. Annan needs to address such concerns and 

make an effort to allay people’s fears and point the way 

to a hopeful future. 

I also find myself concerned when Annan says, 

“We aren’t called to first defend our country’s border 

or honor, but to seek the kingdom of God” (39). It is 

not clear to whom he is referring. Is he thinking of “we” 

as Americans or as Christians? Clarity here is 

important, because Annan seems at times to conflate 

the role of government with the role of the church. 

Notwithstanding these shortcomings, the book has 

many strengths. One of its key contributions is the 

practical steps readers are encouraged to take so they 

can move beyond the cognitive/intellectual domain into 

affective and psychomotor domains. This involves 

feelings and actions that could help readers begin to put 

the truths and concepts into practice in their daily lives.  

Annan provides an important, easy-to-read 

Christian defense for welcoming immigrants and 

refugees. His style is free of theological and sociological 

jargon that often accompanies these themes. He 

nevertheless provides an instructive Trinitarian view for 

dealing with strangers. If we see in the immigrant and 

the refugee another person and a fellow human in 

distress, we also realize we could be in the same 

position. Through the mystery of the other, we meet the 

divine (16). 

You Welcomed Me will be an asset to a variety of 

audiences. Within congregations it can be used for 

small group studies and more generally by pastors 

encouraging the faithful to engage in such issues. 

Outside church walls, social workers presently involved 

with refugees and immigrants will find it useful, as will 

anyone working in relief, development, and advocacy.  

The challenge of how to respond to immigrants 

and refugees has become a global conversation, all the 

more because the rate of displacement of people 

continues to grow. You Welcomed Me provides an 

excellent lens through which to examine this challenge 

and envision a Christian paradigm for engaging the 

problem. This is a very good and stimulating read. 

 
 

 

 

 

Babatunde Oladimeji is an Anglican priest from Nigeria 

and presently pastors with the United Methodist 

church in Nebraska. He holds multiple master’s 

degrees from Nigeria as well as a DMin in 

Leadership and a PhD in Intercultural Studies, both 

from Asbury Theological Seminary. He has been 

involved in pastoral leadership and community 

development for over 27 years. 

 

Author email:  tunde.oladimeji@asburyseminary.edu    
 

 

 

mailto:tunde.oladimeji@asburyseminary.edu

