Reviews—Praise for They Come Back Singing
Sharing the Graces of Lent
Read reflections from participants of Creighton University’s online Discussion Group of They Come Back Singing and see how their lives were changed!
Visit Creighton’s online discussion.
Interview of Fr. Gary’s experience of living with the refugees
Review by Foreword Magazine
Review by National Catholic Reporter
Article: Jesuit's plain-dealing African journal a portrait of refugee holiness
Gary Smith's deeply moving, always inspiring, and marvelously instructive story of his work with the Sudanese refugees shows why God is close to the poor—because the poor are close to God. Read this remarkable journal for an intimate look at one of the most important humanitarian and religious issues of our time.
—James Martin, SJ, Author of This Our Exile: A Spiritual Journey
with the Refugees of East Africa
A heart and hearts so fully inhabited by God illuminate these pages. Along with Fr. Gary, my soul kneels in wonder as I am introduced to these "radiant lights" amidst the darkness of poverty, war, suffering, and homelessness. They Come Back Singing is a passionate song of Fr. Gary's vocation to find God among the poor, a witness to us of his courageous, grace-filled life, and the continuous unfolding of his capacity to trust, love, and be loved.
—Mary Sue Richen, Chaplain, Macdonald Center, Portland, Oregon
As someone who just spent five weeks in Uganda, much of it in refugee camps, making a documentary film, I can say that every page of Fr. Smith's riveting book rings true. It is one thing to see the multiple tragedies of Uganda—violence, disease, hunger—and it is another thing to feel the pain and suffering, and then put it into words that have the power to enter and transform a reader's heart. They Come Back Singing is a shinning light in the darkness of Uganda.
—Gerard Thomas Straub, Author of The Sun and Moon Over Assisi
The Jesuit Refugee Service is the best work of the Society of Jesus, and Gary Smith is a heroic Jesuit. Not only that, he is one of the world's best spiritual writers. Don't know where to start when thinking of Africa? Read this. Gary takes us with him into Uganda's refugee camps and its births, baptisms, wars, deaths, malaria, lizards, fireflies—and saints, songs, and prayers. Along the way, we too find God in the refugees, discover Christ in Africa, and learn what it means to be alive, all over again.
—John Dear, S.J., Author of Transfiguration
They Come Back Singing: A challenging act of love, a powerful portrait of a shepherd and his flock—destitute refugees tearfully mourning their dead, resolutely trusting God in exuberant dance and irrepressible song.
—Joseph Conwell, SJ
They Come Back Singing opens the reader to the gentle, loving heart of Africa. It is a book for everyone’s heart. Its presentation is reflective, insightful, and logical and it comes to the reader from Gary’s heart. His ideas touch us with an affective reality; his theology is incarnational. Like St. Paul, the Holy Spirit has been poured into his heart.
—Fr. George P. Leach, S.J., Director, Jesuit Center of Spirituality
