Opportunities are scarce in Norway, so when Rune and Signe Carlson receive a letter from Rune’s uncle, Einar Strand, offering to loan them money for passage to America, Rune accepts. Signe is reluctant to leave her home, especially as she is pregnant with her fourth child, but Einar promises to give them land of their own, something they could never afford in Norway.

“Am I welcome here?”

It’s the most challenging question churches face today. With a history of condemning people for their sexual temptations, desires, or orientations, many churches and Christians in an attempt to right that wrong have simply adopted the world’s more indulgent view.

What if the church could show up in a different way?
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Throughout Scripture, God reveals himself as the Great I AM. He does not define himself with reference to any thing, person, or trait. He is, and that is enough. When women introduce ourselves, we typically describe ourselves in terms of our relationships (the wife, mother, daughter, sister, or friend of someone else) or our accomplishments (our title, position, education, or accolades). When our identity is wrapped up in these external things, we inevitably–and exhaustingly!–strive to prove ourselves worthy of love, attention, or affirmation.

Newly ordained, Michael Spurlock’s first assignment is to pastor All Saints, a struggling church with twenty-five devoted members and a mortgage well beyond its means. The best option may be to close the church rather than watch it wither any further. But when All Saints hesitantly risks welcoming a community of Karen refugees from Burma–former farmers scrambling for a fresh start in America–Michael feels they may be called to an improbable new mission.