Learning to See

“In Learning to See, Rich Christensen takes us back to a once-common literary form, the memoirs of a Christian missionary, and uses the discoveries he, his new wife, and his ten-year-old stepdaughter made of learning to appreciate a foreign culture and to see freshly how our own experiences as white, educated Americans both support us and trap us in a culture of freedom and affluence. This is a welcome addition to the genre.”


—William R. Wineke, Religion Editor, Wisconsin State Journal, retired





“This lovely memoir is a rare combination of spiritual insight, theological reflection, poignant interpersonal anecdotes, and political passion. It provides a nuanced critique of the implicit colonialism in many missionary movements in southern Africa without minimizing the value of spreading the gospel in word and deed. The chapters exhibit how a Christ-centered faith can generate an emancipatory political engagement with the world without reducing faith to a specific political program.”


—Lee C. Barrett, Lancaster Theological Seminary





Rich Christensen’s memoir . . . is warm and wonderful—‘magical’ is not too strong a word for the story and his telling of it. The church pushes or pulls us in contexts and relationships in which the living Christ becomes real to us in powerful ways. Such was the case for Rich and his family.”


—Anthony B. Robinson, author of Useful Wisdom