Through Her Eyes
I read a very good book about two years ago. Some time last year I discovered the blog Telling Secrets and started reading it on and off before realizing that the blog author is the same person as the book author. I guess, this says something about my ability to remember names. Embarrassing. Anyway, here is a little book review.
Smith, Marti (ed.). 2005. Through her eyes : life and ministry of women in the Muslim world. Waynesboro, GA: Authentic Media.
The author is a research project coordinator with Caleb project. She collected the material presented in this book while serving in Central Asia with a church planting team. It is a collection of life experiences from several women serving in a Muslim context, mostly Central and Southern Asia.
These stories are organized under 6 topics:
Adjustment and perseverance: being called, equipped and made effective
Relationships: how God is using women to touch people around them
Life under pressure: staying anchored during storms
How should we live: questions of culture, values and money
Singleness and marriage: living the life God gives you
Parenting: family issues, choices, and models
The women contributing to this book are identified by pseudonyms. Most of them have contributed more than one experience, so you meet them again under different topics. They come from different countries, including UK, USA, Australia. Most of them are married but there are also a few singles among them, and some who started out as singles and got married later. All this makes for an interesting mix of experiences.
I guess more than half of the chapters touched me in some personal way, either as an encouragement, or as a challenge, or as a reminder. Not once did it disturb me that they are all sharing about an Asian context. It was amazing how similar their issues and challenges are to life in Muslim Africa.
I can highly recommend this book. I think it could be used as part of an orientation program for new arrivals, but I believe it can be equally profitable for seasoned cross-cultural workers. Come to think, it might be of interest for anybody living among people of a different religion.
Thanks for the endorsement, Jutta! So glad you enjoyed the book and found it helpful. I had a blast putting it together. Wished I could have managed a bit more diversity. All but two or three of the women were native English speakers, and most worked in Central Asia. But others have told me, when they read the book, that they can relate to the stories it tells.
You’re welcome, Marti. I meant to write this a long time ago.