Safe House

Drawing on her experiences of giving and receiving radical hospitality in her life, Tori Hope Petersen helps you see how you can use your dinner table, guest bedroom, and backyard to serve God and love others.As a teenager in the foster care system, Tori Hope Petersen believed she was unwanted and unloved. Then her foster mom took her to a church that took the call to care for the vulnerable very seriously. Tori saw church members stock the food bank, pick up strangers from recovery meetings, and invite the fatherless and the addict over for a meal. She thought, If the people at this church love people like me, then maybe God loves me. Their posture of hospitality led her to embrace God as her Father.Through real-life stories, biblical insights, and practical ideas, Tori shares how you can participate in God's work of making strangers into family. Safe House will guide you throughengaging in the ministry of hospitality right where you are,developing a deeper understanding of what holds you back from opening your home and heart to others,establishing healthy boundaries as well as open arms,moving past political assumptions to live out the Bible's call to love our neighbor, andembodying Jesus's divine welcome not only in what you do but in who you are. In opening your door, you open a way for God to transform not only others' lives but your own. As Tori writes, "If we want the church to grow, we must welcome in the stranger. If we want Christ to be known for who He is, we must meet the needs of others. If we want to witness hard hearts turn toward God, we must let people in."