Mabel Ninan. Far From Home. End Game P, 2022..

Far from Home begins with a note that sets the tone for this book:

I had never lived in a place where I stood out. In my homeland, I was simply another brown, Indian girl. In America, however, I was an anomaly. (173)

Any reader who read my recent “Why 2020 Was a Lot Like 1969” would understand that I could identify with that observation after spending some time in the Detroit ghetto. I still see that experience as a lesson on how African Americans might feel much of the time in a place where they stand out physically as a minority.

For Mabel Ninan it would become something else. She grew up in India as a member of a religious minority, viz. a Christian. That would not make her physically stand out, and for the most part it did not make her stand out culturally. The state where she grew up in India was religiously tolerant, so her religion was not an issue.

Ironically, it became an issue in the United States when she tried to make friends with some other women her age from India. We have read articles about how the caste system has been carried into Asian enclaves in the United States and has even affected hiring in Silicon Valley. That was her experience with some expats from India.

No, what she learned from her experience can be summed up in the following Bible verse:

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. (Hebrews 11:13-15)

That is the theme of this book. The author ties her experiences as an immigrant from South Asia in the United States to the Christian believer living in this world. There will be ways we will not fit in to the world as it is. We are in some ways like strangers or exiles.

When I moved to America, both tangible and intangible markers or threads of my identity were almost all lost, impelling me to replace them with new ones. In short, I had to put together my identity skein from scratch. (526)

I have told people over the years that when I was born again, I felt like I was starting my life all over again. I guess that is what “born again” means. So Ninan applies this idea to the spiritual walk of the Christian. In her case it took a few years after living in the U.S.—she moved from her Indian home in her early thirties—after being annoyed at people and feeling left out that “God was using my identity crisis to refine and strengthen my faith” (625).

She began to recognize that “One of the enemy’s strategies is to use difficult circumstances to cause confusion about our God-given identity. His goal is to make us doubt” (797).

Physically, we are earthlings, with both cradle and coffin grounded in earth. But, spiritually, our new birth and identity in Christ changes our status from a native of this world to a foreigner. We are not only the beloved and chosen children of God and coheirs with Christ, but also members of the kingdom of God with the full rights and privileges of citizenship. (871)

In most instances, it appears that the author learned to overcome annoyances or insults she may have experienced. One that seemed to bother her more was when someone could not understand her because of her accent. English was her first language. English is widely spoken and there are many accents. People who hear English one way may not understand it when spoken differently.

I live about a hundred miles from New York City. Many of my neighbors have an obvious “New Yawk” accent. Just recently a neighbor was telling me of a trip he took to Southern California. People there told him he sounded like a gangster! We have films like Goodfellas and television shows like The Sopranos to thank for that perception. Welcome to the melting pot, Mrs. Ninan.

For what it is worth, that is very much like the Vanity Fair episode in Pilgrim’s Progress. Christian and Faithful were arrested there for three reasons: (1) they did not buy anything at the fair, (2) their clothes were different, and (3) they talked in a strange accent. Of course, in Pilgrim’s Progress, these are symbols, but they do remind us that “earthlings” do not always understand what Christians or the Bible are talking about.

[God’s] Kingdom culture values humility, servant-leadership, and dependence on God while the world treats the humble as weak, believes leaders should be served, and promotes self-reliance and self-sufficiency. We are foreigners on earth because we swim against the tide of the dominant culture. (1299)

Like Bunyan’s pilgrims, “Our love for Jesus will make us stand out since it contradicts a world where people love themselves, wanting to be masters of their own destinies. (1362)

Looking back, Ninan sees a parallel with her own “displacement” from India to mankind’s situation:

The fall was mankind’s moment of displacement. It made us spiritual refugees. Uprooted and exiled, we find ourselves shut out of the perfect home. What made the garden of Eden Adam’s perfect home was not the perfections and beauty of the place itself, nor the delectable fruit and myriad creatures that filled it, nor the love he had for Eve. The garden of Eden was the perfect home because God was there, walking and talking with Adam and Eve. The first couple lacked nothing because they enjoyed God’s friendship. (1755)

If believers do not “belong” in the world, where do they belong? As one of her chapter titles says, we all have a “Craving for Community.” She noted that what made a difference in her and her husband’s move to America was finding churches where they knew they belonged.

Even here, it was not all sweetness and light. In India Ninan mostly worked with children and youth. She especially liked youth ministry. One pastor asked her if she would be interested in helping with the church’s web site. He just assumed that being from India and coming to the U.S., she must be some kind of computer programmer. We all stereotype others to some degree. It took some time, but eventually Ninan sees a greater purpose and a bigger picture that she can share with others.

So, yes, Far from Home does tell Americans and others who encounter immigrants to be sensitive and aware of our own prejudices and expectations. Still it mainly reminds all believers, as the old Bluegrass song says:

         I am a pilgrim and a stranger
         Traveling through this wearisome land,
         And I’ve got a home in that yonder city,
         And it’s not, not made by hand.

N.B.: References are Kindle locations, not page numbers.