{"product_id":"the-gift-of-guests-joel-vestal-9798996142736","title":"The Gift of Guests","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Gift of Guests: Lessons in Hospitality, Faith, and Becoming Human Together\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhat happens when you show up to help someone - and leave realizing they were the one with something to teach you?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOver a decade of walking alongside refugees and immigrants, Joel Vestal expected to be the one offering. What he found instead was a series of encounters that quietly dismantled his assumptions and reshaped his understanding of forgiveness, dignity, faith, and what it means to truly see another person.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Gift of Guests\u003c\/i\u003e is narrative nonfiction rooted in real relationships and real moments - a man who chose forgiveness hours after being attacked and robbed, a family wondering with genuine curiosity if McDonald's was as nice as they had heard, a woman who sewed hope into fabric when words weren't enough, children who led when adults had run out of answers. Chapter by chapter, the assumed roles reverse. The helper becomes the student. The guest becomes the one offering the gift.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is not a policy book. It does not debate immigration law or argue positions. It lives at the level of the human and the particular - asking what changes in us when we slow down long enough to actually see the people around us. Drawing on the ancient concept of \u003ci\u003ephiloxenia\u003c\/i\u003e - love of the stranger - Vestal makes the case that hospitality is not a program or a project. It is a posture. A way of seeing that transforms both host and guest.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor people of faith, for anyone who senses that something essential has been lost in how we live together, and for readers who believe human beings are capable of more than fear - \u003ci\u003eThe Gift of Guests\u003c\/i\u003e is an invitation to become more human together.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Joel Vestal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798996142736\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Zaydaya Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/05\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 132\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.30lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.00w x 0.31d","brand":"Joel Vestal","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":49002006151423,"sku":"9798996142736","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-gift-of-guests-joel-vestal-9798996142736","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}