The House That Love Built: Why I Opened My Door to Immigrants and How We Found Hope Beyond a Broken System

2021 Christian Book Award Finalist

"Jackson's visionary account is a beautiful model of sacrificial love." -- Publishers Weekly Starred Review

The House That Love Built is the quintessential story of one woman's questioning what it means to be an American--and a Christian--in light of a broken immigration system. Through tender stories of opening her heart and home to immigrants, Sarah Jackson shines a holy light on loving our neighbor.

Sarah Jackson once thought immigration justice was administered through higher walls and longer fences. Then she met an immigrant--a deported young father separated from his US-citizen family--and everything changed. As Sarah began to know fractured families ravaged by threats in their homeland and further traumatized in US detention, biblical justice took on a new meaning.

As Sarah opened her heart--and her home--to immigrants, she experienced a surprising transformation and the gift of extraordinary community. The work she began through the ministry of Casa de Paz joined the centuries-old Christian tradition of hospitality, shining a holy light on what it means to love our neighbor.

The dilemma of undocumented people continues to hover over America, and it raises urgent questions for every Christian:

• What is our responsibility to the "stranger" in our midst?
• What does God's kingdom look like in the global-political reality of immigration?
• What difference can one person make?

Sarah engages these questions through profound and tender stories, placing readers in the shoes of individuals on every side of the issue--asylum seekers torn from their families, the guards who oversee them, ordinary people with lapsed visas, the families left to survive on their own, the unheralded advocates for immigrants' rights, and the government officials who decide the fates of others.

Ultimately, Sarah's journey illuminates how hope can be restored through simple yet radical acts of love.

Sarah Jackson is the founder and executive director of Casa de Paz, a hospitality home in Denver, Colorado, serving families separated by immigrant detention. Casa's family of over 2,000 volunteers provides hospitality for immigrants isolated in and leaving detention as well as their loved ones with visits, meals, shelter, and transportation, joining them in hope and emotional support through the arduous process of reunification. Sarah's mission is to help end the isolating experience of immigrant detention one simple act of love at a time, which you can follow at www.casadepazcolorado.org.

Scott Sawyer is a writer and editor whose memoir, Earthly Fathers, was selected for HarperOne's Best Christian Writing Series. He and his wife, Joy, live in Denver, where they are active in the Lighthouse Writers Workshop community. Their editing work together has earned awards from the Associated Church Press and the Catholic Press Association.