Let Me Tell You My Story: Refugee Stories of Hope, Courage, and Humanity

Today marks the publication of one of the most extraordinary acts of consecration that I have ever seen, the book Let Me Tell You My Story, which contains photographs, poetry, and art of and by refugees. The refugees come Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Iraq, and various nations in Africa. Most of them have found their way to Germany, Italy, or other European nations, often in crowded camps where their futures are far from certain. Their stories matter.The book is a team effort by the Their Story Is Our Story organization, a group of writers, artists, photographs, editors, translators, and other volunteers who have consecrated their time and their considerable talents to the sacred effort of collecting the stories of a small fraction of the world's 22.5 million displaced people.It is a beautiful book on just about every level. The photographs are stunning, the art is beautiful, and the stories are profoundly human. They are, as one might expect, precisely the stories that you or I or just about anyone else would tell if we were displaced by war and brutality and forced to take our families somewhere--anywhere--to protect their lives.I don't want to summarize these stories because it is not the summaries that matter We've all seen the pictures and engaged in the arguments. Since the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the civil war in Syria, refugees have become the world's #1 political problem. Summaries of the collective experiences of these refugees--and even on occasional profile or two--have long been part of the political discussion.The ugent thing that Let Me Tell You My Story does is transform a political problem into a series of human connections. Through the enormous efforts of the volunteers who put this book together--many of whose stories are interspersed among the stories of the refugees--we can see these people as people. We can listen to their voices in our own language.Or we can turn away. We can see the problem as too big and too hard and too far away. Without a book like this, turning away would be the only real option that most of us have. Books like this make it at least possible to mourn with those who are mourning--even when they are 4,000 miles away and speak Pashto.And this is what makes these stories sacred. Nothing is more urgently necessary for people who profess to be religious than to make human connections with people beyond our own communities of people more or less exactly like us. This is kind of the point of most of the things that we call "the scriptures."Let Me Tell You My Story is itself a work of holy writ--holy because it makes it possible for us to start fulfilling one of our most important religious obligations. It helps us answer the question ". . . and who is my neighbor." Once we answer the question, of course, we have to do stuff--we have to start consecrating our own talents and treasures in order to provide relief.Reading a single book--no matter how beautiful it may be--will not give food and shelter to refugees. That will take a lot of coordinated effort by a lot of people willing to consecrate their time and talents to building the Kingdom of God. All a book like this can do is turn our attention towards the human beings that we have been trying desperately hard not to notice.If we can do this, though--and I mean really do it, really look people in the face and allow ourselves to listen to their stories--we just might find ourselves unable to look away until we have built the kind of world that our own faith has always told us we can build.The Kingdom of God is within us. But we have to stop looking where it isn't.

The stories shared in this book are haunting and horrifying in many cases, and yet I find myself coming back to this book again and again. Somehow the simple act of telling their stories makes the refugees' situation real in ways that news stories about the huge scale of the crisis does not. Shakila was shot in both knees for teaching other Afghan women about vaccinations and that they had rights. Momo's entire family was killed in Somalia when he was nine years old. Mohammed fled because the Taliban threatened him because he was a musician. Musa had to leave after he was attacked for helping American military personnel in Afghanistan. Even these short glimpses into their lives speak volumes about strength that each of these people has shown.Each page of this book is a treasure, whether in the experiences, the photos, or the art. Each of the people in it is a treasure, too. I am so grateful to have had the chance to hear their stories.

We read it in bits and pieces and talked in between. The way the stories were presented was absolutely inspired. I couldn't read most without holding my heart like I could stop the pain. I wish everyone could read this so we might all realize refugees are not faceless. They are real people with families and heartbreak and determination.

Nothing is more important than knowing the stories of the people we share this world with, especially when we consider making policies that will affect their lives. This collection of photographs and stories is honest with no political motive, just reality.

Both beautiful and heartbreaking. These stories bring home the strength and determination of refugees to survive, to protect their families. The danger, the limbo they now face, will hopefully spur you to action. Open your heart. Call your congresspeople and urge them to open our country to refugees. We can help. Americans have the biggest hearts and we need to open them to those in desperate need.

I love everything about this book. The stories educate. They evoke compassion and empathy and a sense of togetherness. Powerful photography. Beautiful people. Wonderful voices.

My niece, Lindsay Silsby, is the main photographer in this beautifully presented narrative of the refugee crisis. The stories in concert with the pictures display the humanity of these refugees and hopefully hammer home the fact that we need to do more. There but for the grace of God go I.

This most thoughtful and beautiful record reminds me of the potential of humanity. It is a hopeful book about a difficult subject. Words, pictures, paintings, stories matter- and this collection contains some of the very best.