They Come Back Singing: Finding God with the Refugees

by Gary N. Smith

For years, Gary Smith, a Jesuit priest, led a familiar life in the Pacific Northwest. Then, one day in 2000, he left that life behind to spend six years among Sudanese refugees struggling to survive in refugee camps in northern Uganda. He traveled to this dangerous, pitiless place to be with these forsaken people out of a conviction that “Jesuits should be going where no one else goes.”
Smith’s journal is a vivid, inspiring account of the deep connections he forged during his life-changing experience with the Sudanese refugees in Uganda. Along the way, he discovered a suffering people who, despite being displaced by a brutal civil war, find the strength to let go of the many and deep sorrows of the past.
Ultimately, They Come Back Singing is a window to the spiritual life and growth of a priest whose generous spirit and genuine love allow him to serve—and be served—in truly extraordinary ways.

Genres: Faith, Nonfiction

248 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2008

Reviews

[Anne Bennett]

Gary Smith is a Jesuit Priest who left his home and to serve refugees in Uganda from Sudan. His writing is easy to read and he makes a strong case for less-is-more and how we can be Christ for people in need. We read this book as a group from church.

(Catching up on old reviews from pre-blogging and pre-Goodreads days. Written on 7/23/21 but the book was read years ago. I'm working off my notes.)

[Sister]

Powerful, thought-provoking description of Fr. Gary Smith’s 6 years with the Jesuit Refugee Service, working with Sudanese refugees in Uganda. His conversion to Catholicism, then his ”yes” in response to the call to the priesthood, all indicate a deep thinker, & that is reflected in the book. He also feels deeply and can articulate that as well.

[Cappy]

Give Fr. Gary Smith credit for this much: he's honest. _They Come Back Singing_ is Fr. Smith's frank accounting of six years working with Sudanese refugees in northern Uganda as a staffer with Jesuit Refugee Services (http://www.jrsusa.org/support_donate.php). Smith doesn't mince words when evaluating African politics, the faith experiences of the refugees in his care, and even his own reservations and discomfort about the job he did there.

Frankly, Fr. Smith spends most of the book sorting through his ambivalence - maybe even too much. But there is power in his willingness to share his warts, his erroneous snap judgments, and his struggles with loneliness along the way. For anyone who has spent any time working overseas, much of Fr. Smith's analysis will ring hauntingly true. Others will be taken by the author's reporting on the breadth and depth of Christian faith-in-action amongst the world's most disadvantaged people.

Gary Smith writes as someone still struggling with the questions - the big ones about faith, and prayer, and justice. In that way he is not unlike the rest of us. But because he is so willing to lay himself bare for us to see, he has become a powerful example for the rest of us. One worth taking seriously.

[Sara]

Overall, a nice memoir from a Jesuit priest who eventually found himself called to minister to the Sudanese refugees in northern Uganda. At times I felt it was a little self-serving, but mostly I was impressed by Fr. Smith's willingness to go outside his comfort zone and accept a vocation to work with the poorest and most destitute of people, in a war torn, disease ravaged, climate challenged location. The simple faith of the refugees was quite staggering in the midst of much suffering.

[Susan]

Smith draws the reader into his world, gives us a close-up look at what life is in the Sudanese refugee camps in Uganda. At least for me, it is impossible to read a book such as this and not be changed.
I had to take the book back to the library before I was done with it...but I look forward to finishing this book one day and reading Gary Smith's other books.

[Emily Reznicek]

This is a fantastic book that I highly recommend to anyone working with refugees, or interested in social justice, africa or poverty. The author did a fantastic job inter-weaving history, politics, social justice, theology and personal stories.

[Dolores]

Wow, it's been almost a year since I've been on this site. Wonderful book about a Jesuit priest in Africa.

[Dan]

The writing feels a little uneven and a bit forced at times, but that doesn't make his stories from Uganda any less powerful.