Book excerpt: Author Rick Rouse weaves a tapestry of immigrant experiences—successes, hopes, challenges, and dreams that have often unfolded amidst global conflicts and political polarization. These narratives inspire compassion as “these least of these” search for a safe haven and discover how diversity enriches America and our faith. While the American story aspires to be the story of welcome and refuge for all, our history often tells a different story. As wars are raging in Ukraine and the Middle East, creating millions of refugees merely seeking safety, American politics remains so polarized that the government appears deadlocked or unable to act on meaningful solutions to immigration policies. In A Journey Called Hope, author Rick Rouse shares the stories of immigrants from around the world to America — their successes, hopes, challenges, and dreams. He explores how we can share our planet with the understanding that it is a matter of human dignity for all people to have a safe place to call home. In sharing these inspiring stories and hope-filled futures, Rouse assures us the United States is still a nation of promise made richer by its diversity.