When 8-year old Lukas announces that he no longer believes in God, his dad, who happens to be a pastor, is shaken.
It is not so much his son has doubts; everybody has doubts. What is disturbing is that Frank himself is in the middle of a major faith crisis. and his son‘s doubts mirror his own.
Jesus said that He can be found among the weak and the needy, maybe He can be found in a place like Uganda. So instead of trying to convince Lukas, Frank attempts a unique experiment; father and son decide to take a road trip to Africa to ask if anyone has seen God.
Encounters with poverty, sickness and even more, the pure joy of life grounded in unshakeable faith take hold of their hearts and begin to make changes.
Last night they were still determined that there was simply no other way. But early in the morning when Samer is about to leave, his pregnant wife is crying relentlessly and pleads with him to stay.
His promise to get her and the baby as soon as he has found a new home, can’t stop the flow of her tears. But there simply is no way back.
There will be a long way In front of him away from the bombs and the death, in his Syrian homeland, towards a new, hopefully much better life.
The refugee crisis—arguably the greatest geo-political issue of our time—invokes all kind of feelings but can no longer be ignored.
How do you even begin to respond to something so massive and complex?
In „I was a Stranger,“ Frank Bonkowski offers stories. Stories about
… his friends who are fearful, that welcoming new people is potentially dangerous.
… about his own family who immigrated from Canada to his hometown in northern Germany.
And many stories about the adventures of refugees who made the way from Syria, Afghanistan, Iran and many other places to find a new life in Europe.
These are stories that portray the plight of refugees and also the extraordinary opportunity we have to love our neighbors as ourselves.
This is a book that shows very practically how you can start a relationship without sharing a common language.