Across the Street and Around the World: Following Jesus to the Nations in Your Neighborhood…and Beyond

This is an amazing book that delivers on its title. It has much practical info on reaching refugees, immigrants and international students. From there it moves onto short term trips and finally long-term calling. It includes info on how to cultivate Jesus's heart for the world in others. I'm grateful that Jeannie Marie has put all this info in an excellent volume. I would recommend it to every missions pastor and missions committee member who wants to meaningfully engage with those with physical and spiritual needs. As a member of a Christian organization, I plan to order multiple copies.

This is well-written, well-laid out and filled with practical application. I have worked in the Christian non-profit world for most of my life, though I do not know this author. I wish I had this book to read decades ago. I hope to use it to stimulate a love for the least-reached among my friends, church family, and contacts and to equip others.

I have to be honest, I’ve done short term mission trips to other countries so I have often felt like I checked that off of my “spiritual good girl Christian bucket list.” This book was a major heart check and realignment for me. Jeannie reminded me so gently in her words that reaching the nations is not something we “check off a list,” it needs to consume who we are.

If you’re anything like me, you have questions about reaching the nations. Lots of them such as “Do I really have to live in another country? What could I possibly bring to the table? I have nothing in common with refugees? Is it dangerous?” Etc. The wonderful thing about this book is that Jeannie gently answers all of the questions. She offers practical tips and tricks in every single chapter. These tips and tricks help readers in areas such as simply making an international friend, to moving over seas. It’s a step by step guidebook that meets you wherever you are at in your missional journey. Regardless if you are a field worker pro, or someone who is afraid to make a new acquaintance at the grocery store, this book will help you to not only see the need for the nations, but to know how to be a part of the solution as well. If you want to seek the kingdom of God above all else, drop what you’re doing and get into this book now.

I first got this on kindle, devoured half of it on a plane ride, and then forgot about it when I got home because I only use my kindle when traveling. I'm so thankful to have a hard copy now, because the second half is every bit as good as the first! I love that she starts out with God's heart for the nations and how we ought to reflect Him in this, in case any of us are thinking that only select Christians are called to love those of other cultures. ;) She is honest and frank about the fact that Americans who haven't traveled overseas can easily be limited in our view of (and experience with) other cultures, but I never felt like she was condescending in mentioning this- it's just a fact, a weakness, that some of us have to work harder to overcome, and she has great tips on how to overcome our "culture blindness."

I quickly found myself using two different colors to highlight portions of the book: one for points that were especially convicting or insightful that I wanted to reflect more on later and share with others, and another color for action points- and that's one of my favorite things about this book, it is FULL of extremely practical action points. Whether you are a high school student, single parent, homeschooling mom, 20-something thinking of going on the foreign mission field, senior citizen, you will find plenty of practical things from this book you can start putting into practice TODAY. Some chapters are geared towards those who feel called to stay in their home country, and others are geared towards those considering overseas, and nearly every chapter includes action points, habits to develop, and/or prayer points. I read through it on my own, but I think it would be amazing for a small group to go through it together!

Chapter 12, "Getting Healthy and Hearing from God," was one of my favorites. Wow! I was so deeply thankful for the wisdom God gave her in recognizing different spiritual hangups that cripple Christians in ministry or just everyday in life, no matter what their calling is. And once again, this chapter is so PRACTICAL, and I pray God will use this to bring healing and strengthening for many of His children who are preparing for ministry of any kind.

Finally, I'll just say that for anyone who has taken the Perspectives class and now you wish you could get everyone you know to take it- start by giving this book to everyone you know! ;) It really is like an overview of the Perspectives course in many ways.

Ok, now, full disclosure time: I did receive a copy of this book in agreeing to write a review, but I was already recommending it to others before I got the free hard copy! :)

'Across the Street and Around the World' was a gentle and firm nudge, in conjunction with Perspectives, to opening my mind and my heart to God's heart for missions.

This book was fantastic. Jeannie's stories of her cross-cultural encounters and relationships here in the US encouraged me to be more engaging in my own community. I believe this book fills a gap for me as a globally minded Christian. It is an invitation to get started wherever you are and whomever you are. Beyond it being a fun read, I felt that after reading the book I had ideas to run with and jump into what God is doing here in our own neighborhoods and around the world.

I received a copy of this book from a friend, and was delighted to as It was recommended by a missions agency I have done training with in the past.

First of all, there are so many good missions books out there. Many do well at casting God’s vision for the nations, a few have practical applications, and even fewer do well in both of these areas. This book is one of them.

Jeannie manages to draw readers in with faith-inspiring stories of ordinary people taking steps of obedience to the call of Jesus to love thy neighbor and make disciples, leading them seeing God do things through them and in them they never imagined. Using a combination of scripture, helpful discussion, and real world statistics she casts the vision of God’s heart for people from all nations and the urgency of eternity. She moves from here to areas of practical application: how to engage cross culturally in your own neighborhood; how to offer the Jesus of the Bible to these people, untainted by our own American culture, and what first steps to take towards diiscipleship relationships.

Moving beyond our own neighborhoods, She takes time to discuss in depth how to do short term mission trips well, without hurting the local people or yourselves. She unpacks how to be an active, faithful mobilizer of missions even when you stay stateside.

Her final chapters pack quite the punch as she delves into calling, personalities, ways to live and work cross-culturally long term, and issues of the heart that needs to be dealt with in order to thrive in relationship without Christ and others while living in new contexts.

The notes section of her book is fantastic, and can be used as a reference for going deeper into all the areas she discusses in the book.

I have recommended this book to many, whether they are a seasoned disciple maker, or just starting to consider how they can obey The Great Commission. I know it will be a wonderful tool for years to come!

Hey ya'll! Jeanne has done a phenomenal job of giving us practical step-by-step ideas for engaging cross-culturally. I love that the book is an easy and fun read for the whole family and that there is no pretention or shaming in this book. I walked away from the book feeling inspired and empowered to go out and love on people. It's is obvious that the big picture is to invite us all to love and respect those that are from a different culture, share how Jesus has transformed us, and pray that they may come to know of His great love for them!

It's truly a MUST READ and a great gift for friends and family.

Hey ya'll! Jeanne has done a phenomenal job of giving us practical step-by-step ideas for engaging cross-culturally. I love that the book is an easy and fun read for the whole family and that there is no pretention or shaming in this book. I walked away from the book feeling inspired and empowered to go out and love on people. It's is obvious that the big picture is to invite us all to love and respect those that are from a different culture, share how Jesus has transformed us, and pray that they may come to know of His great love for them!

It's truly a MUST READ and a great gift for friends and family.

Hey ya'll! Jeanne has done a phenomenal job of giving us practical step-by-step ideas for engaging cross-culturally. I love that the book is an easy and fun read for the whole family and that there is no pretention or shaming in this book. I walked away from the book feeling inspired and empowered to go out and love on people. It's is obvious that the big picture is to invite us all to love and respect those that are from a different culture, share how Jesus has transformed us, and pray that they may come to know of His great love for them!

It's truly a MUST READ and a great gift for friends and family.

Jeannie Marie's book, Across the Street and Around the World, is filled with engaging stories, practical tips and wonderful insights that we can put into practice today wherever we are!

I especially appreciated the "Try it!" sections and reflection questions. It's a good reminder that we are to do something with what we're learning vs only gain head knowledge. I highly recommend it! -Amy L.