“This Our Exile: A Spiritual Journey with the Refugees of East Africa” by James Martin, S.J.; Orbis Books; April 2011; 219 pp., $18.

Reviewed by Ann Jonas
For The Visitor

Jesuit Father James Martin is one of the most popular Catholic writers today. He is the culture editor of America magazine and has appeared on numerous national television and radio programs. Father Martin has written a number of books, including “My Life with the Saints” and “The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything.”

In 1999, Father Martin’s first book, “This Our Exile: A Spiritual Journey with the Refugees of East Africa,” was published. The book tells of the two years Father Martin spent in Nairobi, Kenya, working with refugees from East African countries, including Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia and Sudan, as part of Jesuit Refugee Service, a Catholic relief organization.

Before Father Martin joined the Jesuits, he had graduated from business school and worked in the corporate world for six years. He was assigned to Nairobi from 1992 to 1994 as part of his training as a Jesuit.

Father Martin makes it clear in the beginning of the book that he didn’t really see himself as a “missionary” — as one who is sent to bring God to the natives — but he had hopes that he could put his accounting and finance skills to good use while there. He explains in the book’s introduction that his experience in Africa gave him a new understanding of his role as a missionary: “to find God among the people — and to learn who God is for them.”

Walking with refugees

During his first few weeks in Nairobi, Father Martin took Swahili lessons and visited some of the refugee camps. Soon after his arrival, he began his work with Jesuit Refugee Service, providing individuals and groups with grants to start their own businesses.

He states that finding interested refugees was never a problem; at the time there were some three million in Kenya. The grants averaged around $1,000 per person and were used in a variety of ways: sewing machines, small bakeries and chicken farms, to name a few. Father Martin was instrumental in establishing the Mikono Centre, where refugees sell their products to tourists and other visitors.

Father Martin’s 29 narratives in the book are a combination of spiritual writing, inspirational stories, heartbreaking chronicles and also some humorous anecdotes. His superb storytelling ability allows the reader to grasp the almost inconceivable loss and suffering experienced by the refugees. He portrays the refugees as real people who have been displaced from their homeland and are trying to rebuild their lives in another country.

This past April, Orbis Books reissued “This Our Exile,” with a new cover and a new afterword in which Father Martin gives an update on some of the friends he met while living in Nairobi, along with a report on the Mikono Centre. In the afterword, Father Martin states that working at the Mikono Centre was the best job he’s ever had.

“This Our Exile” is a compassionate and descriptive read. Father Martin’s portrayal of the beauty and humanness of the African refugees will leave an impression on all who read this book.

 Ann Jonas is the general book buyer for the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph and St. John’s University in Collegeville.