Synopsis:
Transformation Through the Different Other is the story of Faustin Ntamushobora's transformation through encounters with people of different races, tribes, worldviews, and experiences, and how God has used these experiences to transform his life into the image of Christ.
The root cause of racial and tribal problems is not really the difference in color, but the human heart. However, differences in race, tribe, and worldview could widen the gap in people's hearts and cause more separation and strife. But the same heart, if transformed by the "Great Other," can shape and sharpen the heart of one's fellow human being.
Ntamushobora acknowledges that community is very important for our transformation. Diversity in community, when developed with a sense of unity, can shape us into vessels that glorify the Lord by pouring into and receiving from those who are different from us.
The book ends with practical ways transformation through the other can become a reality, and an invitation to believers to prepare themselves for the time when every tongue, every tribe, and every race will stand together, singing praises to the Lamb of God who was slain for the redemption of every person from every nation.
Endorsements:
"From the horrors of his story as a survivor of the genocide in Rwanda, Ntamushobora provides an African perspective on issues of injustice, racism, ethnic conflict, and violations of human rights. . . . He leads the reader to think in fresh ways about what it means to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves."
--Sherwood Lingenfelter, Professor and Provost Emeritus, Fuller Theological Seminary
"In this book Faustin shares much of his story and how God has used people, very different from him, to transform his life. God wants to do this for us too. As you read this book I am sure God will use it to open your eyes so you can see and experience the transformational impact others are having on you--for the glory of God."
--W. Matthew Reed Jr., Pastor of Missional and Adult Ministries, Calvary Church
"Faustin Ntamushobora, pastor, scholar, and compelling storyteller, eloquently describes ubuntu theology, centered in restorative justice based upon forgiveness. Sharing heart-wrenching personal stories as a Rwandan genocide survivor, as well as spiritual, intellectual, and cultural eurekas in the discovery of the different other, the author unfolds the only salve for the problem of the human heart: the transformative work of Jesus Christ, healer and hope of the nations."
--June Hetzel, Dean of Education, Biola University
"Today, discourses between Africa and the rest of the world, particularly the West, haven't quite sobered up. Such encounters, fueled by the problem of active exclusion and rubbishing of each other's perspectives, often raise their voices in blame-games and grandstanding. . . . Ntamushobora introduces ubuntu not only as the distinguishing principle that separates Africa from the rest of the world, but he also presents it as the hermeneutic key to the question of race, self-understanding of Africa, and a basis for contemplation of transformation as something that happens through 'the different other.'"
--James Kombo, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs, Daystar University
Author Biography:
Faustin Ntamushobora (PhD, Biola University) is from Rwanda. He is President and CEO of Transformational Leadership in Africa and serves as Adjunct Professor at Biola University and International Leadership University, Nairobi, Kenya. He is the author of From Trials to Triumphs and several articles published in Evangelical Missions Quarterly and Common Ground Journal.
