"I could not put this book down. I read it all night until I finished. I was so tired the next day, but I was so much more enriched."

"This is a fabulous and inspiring book. Everyone should read it."

"I could not put this book down. You are a remarkable writer ..."

"The book makes me thankful to be an American ..."

"It is an easy, pleasant, thought provoking read that has appealed to senior citizens and teenagers and everyone in between (at our church)."

"This book opened a whole new reality for me."

"I ordered 2 more books so that I could send one to Oprah."

(Rio Grande) Valley Morning Star, June 1, 2008

Book Tells Story of Author's Faith, Suffering in Cuba

LOS FRESNOS – For four years, Feliberto Pereira says, Cuba's communist revolution tried to break his soul in its work camps because he refused to forsake his Christian faith. With his freedom, he gave his life to help the poor and shelter political refugees along the U.S.-Mexico border. Now, his new book, "I Was a Stranger – Hope for a Hidden World," hails his faith in God as the force that helped him survive a string of prison camps to found his ministry in Los Fresnos. "I wanted to witness that God exists, that God takes care of people, no matter what situation you're suffering," said Pereira, who co-wrote the book with Chris Kelley, an old friend and a former editor of The Dallas Morning News Web site. "I promised myself to help people who were suffering like I was suffering in Cuba."

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DisciplesWorld Magazine, May issue, 2008

Welcoming the Refugee

I arrived in America in November 1969, a grateful refugee freed as part of the largest airlift of its kind in U.S. history. For the previous four years, I had been confined to the prison camps of Fidel Castro, where I faced oppression, hunger, and persecution. My refusal to renounce my belief in God was my only crime.

Like hundreds of thousands of Cubans who came to the United States aboard "freedom flights," I received political asylum from the U.S. government. After many years, I proudly took the oath of citizenship and became a U.S. citizen.

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By Dr. Doug Skinner
Senior Minister, Northway Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Past President, Greater Dallas Community of Churches

"There is one mediator between God and humanity, Jesus Christ ..."
— I Timothy 2:5

I envy the Catholics their Saints.

Even as a child I was inspired by the stories of faithful men and women who valued Christ above all else and showed it by their lives of heroic devotion – Stephen, Perpetua and Felicity, Polycarp, Thomas More, Damien of Molokai, Teresa of Calcutta. In I Peter we are told that Jesus left us an example that we should follow in His steps (2:21). The word for "example" here in the text is the wonderful Greek word "hupogammos" (from "hupo" meaning "before, and "grapho" meaning "to write"). It referred to a line of letters at the top of a tablet written by a teacher so that students could write under it, fashioning letters just like those of the teacher.

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