Healing the Wounds of the Displaced - by Francisco Zamora Avila (Paperback)

About the Book

This book invites readers into a new model of ministry on the margins. Zamora brings lived experience and a pastoral heart to bear in this unique window into the stress, trauma -- and gifts -- of undocumented immigrant communities. He integrates theology, psychology, and practical approaches to develop a new ecclesiology for the immigrant church.

Book Synopsis

Drawing on Zamora's lived experience and deep connections to the undocumented immigrant community, this book invites readers into deep reflection regarding the enormous need for a new ecclesial model of ministry on the margins. A voice for a voiceless community, Zamora brings both lived experience and a pastoral heart to bear in this unique window into both the stress and trauma and the gifts of undocumented immigrant communities. Zamora helps us understand that churches must develop informed theologies of immigration, psychological understanding of the distinctive challenges immigrants face, and practical new approaches toward ministry.

Rarely do American ministry leaders hear from those who have actively experienced this trauma and then gone on to study and serve in this community. Zamora's distinctive credentials and passion for ministry with and among immigrants offer a new and important perspective. Zamora is a courageous leader for a courageous community. His model of pastoral care among the displaced offers clear-eyed guidance for Christians committed to more effective ministry among those wounded by their immigration experiences. What does it mean to shepherd congregants who lack documented status? How might trauma manifest among those who have fled violence or experienced great loss? Zamora's thoughtful treatment of these and other questions will help ministry leaders develop vital awareness and understanding, leading readers toward a horizon of new pastoral models for the broader church.

Review Quotes

What would a pastoral approach to immigration, written by an immigrant working among immigrants on the front lines of ministry, look like? Zamora gives us not only a realistic picture of such ministry and its challenges, but a hopeful way to embody an ecclesiology of accompaniment and solidarity with immigrant neighbors today. Weaving together relevant demographics, storytelling, theological reflections, and pastoral experience, Zamora puts a human face on the traumas experienced by immigrant neighbors, their hunger for belonging, and the church's call to attend to their holistic needs and rejoice in their gifts. --Dr. Leopoldo A. Sánchez M., professor of systematic theology, Concordia Seminary, and author of Sculptor Spirit (IVP Academic, 2019) and Immigrant Neighbors among Us, coedited with M. Daniel Carroll R. (Pickwick, 2015)

Amid the multiple controversies surrounding immigration, the voice of an undocumented pastor calling for the church to minister effectively and faithfully to his community is a unique and essential contribution to the conversation. Pastor Zamora Avila's reflections are raw and real. Whether we agree or not, we need to listen. --Rev. Dr. Alexia Salvatierra, academic dean, Centro Latino, Fuller Theological Seminary

Framed within Francisco Zamora's own experience as an undocumented immigrant during most of his life, and based on his journey as an undocumented theological student and pastor for immigrant communities, Healing the Wounds of the Displaced offers us first a fresh account of the historical background and present-day realities of Hispanic/Latino undocumented populations. After summarizing the contributions of key Hispanic theologians to a "biblical theology of migration" and describing the psychological needs of the immigrant community, he invites us to consider what he sees as the new dimensions for doing pastoral ministry with those "in the margins." This invitation cannot be more pertinent for Christian leaders in this country who, independent of their political and theological positions, strongly believe in a God who "protects the strangers who live in our land." --Dr. Fernando Cascante, senior consultant with the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship

Francisco brings to light the plight of the immigrant through his incredible personal journey and vulnerability. This material is a must-read for those in church leadership who desire a compassionate, Christ-honoring way to embrace the immigrant. It's also a must-read for those church leaders who aren't so sure how to respond to the immigrant in Christ. It is both compelling and practical! --James Gann, founder and director of Manna