What Americans Do Not Know About Refugees
Your body may arrive in a new country in a single day. Sometimes it takes years for the rest of you to arrive.
COMING NOVEMBER 21, 2026
ABOUT THE BOOK
The Moment You Arrive explores a part of the refugee experience that often begins after the journey appears to be over. Arriving in a safe country does not mean that fear, loss, separation, trauma, or questions of identity simply disappear. For many refugees and immigrants, arrival is only the beginning of another journey—learning a new language, understanding an unfamiliar culture, rebuilding education and a career, living far from family, and searching for a place to belong.
Written from Joshua Ehm’s experience of leaving Iran and rebuilding his life in the United States, this book looks beyond the moment of physical arrival. It explores family separation, language, identity, grief, relationships, education, work, belonging, and the difficult process of becoming someone new without forgetting the person you were before.
WHO THIS BOOK IS FOR
This book is for refugees, immigrants, and displaced people who understand what it means to begin again. It is also for Americans who want to better understand the refugees and immigrants who may be their neighbors, coworkers, employees, students, friends, church members, or family members.
WHAT YOU WILL DISCOVER
Through personal stories and reflections, The Moment You Arrive explores what happens after a refugee reaches a new country—the challenges of learning a new language, rebuilding education and a career, living far from family, carrying invisible trauma, navigating relationships, finding belonging, and creating a new identity while remaining connected to the life left behind.
A MESSAGE FROM JOSHUA
“I wrote The Moment You Arrive because arriving in America did not mean that every part of me had arrived. My body crossed a border in a single day, but rebuilding my identity, relationships, education, career, and sense of belonging took years. This book is for those who have made that journey—and for those who want to understand what beginning again truly means.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Joshua Ehm is an author, educator, leader, and former refugee whose life has been shaped by leaving Iran and beginning again in the United States. After learning English and rebuilding his education, Joshua spent nearly a decade working in college education. His writing explores identity, purpose, leadership, resilience, belonging, and the human experience of starting over.
AVAILABLE NOVEMBER 21, 2026