The Gift of the Outsider: What Living in the Margins Teaches Us about Faith

Embracing the Spiritual Lessons of Unbelonging

Too often, cultural belonging becomes a battle, and its winners gain the world: access, comfort, safety, community. Yet for those on the margins--set apart from their culture by differences such as ethnicity, class, ability, and faith--God offers something even greater.

The Gift of the Outsider celebrates the blessings found in unbelonging--and calls Christians of all backgrounds to love and listen to their community's outcasts. As a Christian, a Black American, a woman, and an expatriate, author Alicia J. Akins offers heartfelt reflections on her own experiences as an outsider. She illuminates how we can

• cherish the unique gifts that God bestows on those who endure loneliness and adversity
• encourage and humbly receive the invaluable insights outsiders of all kinds have to offer
• delight in how the differences within God's people reflect his majesty--and how Christ's reign unifies all believers

Compassionate and biblically grounded, The Gift of the Outsider enriches today's broader conversations surrounding diversity and inclusion, and is sure to encourage and challenge outsiders and insiders alike.

Author: Alicia J. Akins
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
Published: 09/05/2023
Pages: 224
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.54lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.65w x 0.61d
ISBN13: 9780736984232
ISBN10: 0736984232
BISAC Categories:
- Religion | Christian Living | Spiritual Growth
- Religion | Biblical Studies | Bible Study Guides
- Religion | Inspirational

About the Author
Alicia J. Akins is a writer who finds herself at home both nowhere and anywhere. Her interest in how differences can be our strengths have taken her across the globe and after living and working in Asia for five years, she considers it a second home. She is a Masters student at RTS, Washington. You can find more of her writing at FeetCryMercy.com​ and follow her on Twitter ​@feetcrymercy.