Reinhardt and Lillian Vogt decide to leave their Mennonite community in Russia and immigrate to America in order to keep their oldest son, Henrik, from being drafted into the army, but the voyage proves costly when Reinhardt and young Jakob lose their lives, and Lillian looks to God for answers when Reinhardt's adopted brother Eli suggests marriage.

Henry Oades and his family move to New Zealand in the late 1800s, where he has accepted a job, but when his wife Margaret and the children are kidnapped during a Maori uprising and presumed dead, Henry moves back to California where he marries Nancy, a young widow, and the couple is just starting to settle down when Margaret and the children show up, and Henry, Nancy, and Margaret are all charged with bigamy.

Leaving behind his marriage and job in New York, Jonas, the son of Ethiopian immigrants, sets out to retrace his mother and father's trip and weave together a family history that will take him from the war-torn Ethiopia of his parents' youth to his life in the America of today.

In a small Italian neighborhood in 1953 Delaware, Maddalena Grasso and her family struggle to adapt to life in America as they long for their native country, but when Maddalena falls ill, the family must draw on the strength and faith of their neighbors.

Jenny is discouraged when her second grade penpal turns out to be a new student from Saudi Arabia who does not speak English very well, but as she works with her they slowly become friends.

At the end of the 1890's, Victoria Cope's family takes in an orphan girl, Mary Ann, who is sad and quiet. Over time Victoria learns that Mary Ann was separated from her younger brother and tries to help reunite the brother and sister.