Biblical Gender Justice Study

Rightng Her-Story:
Caribbean Women
Encounter the
Bible Story
Edited by
Patricia Sheeratan-Bisnauth
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Rightng Her-Story:
Caribbean Women
Encounter the Bible Story
Edited by
Patricia Sheeratan-Bisnauth
Rightng Her-Story: Caribbean Women Encounter the Bible Story
ISBN 978-2-9700687-0-9
April 2011
World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC)
150 route de Ferney, PO Box 2100
1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Website: www.wcrc.ch
Email: [email protected]
Cover & Illustratons - Arundhat Naik, [email protected]
Layout and Design - Mallika Badrinath, [email protected]
Printed in Switzerland by SRO-KUNDIG
Contents
Preface Rev. Dr. Setri Nyomi
Editorial Rev. Patricia Sheeratan-Bisnauth
Greetng Rev. Dr. Osbert James
Bible study training guide Rev. Patricia Sheeratan-
Bisnauth & Rev. Doreen
Wynter
1
BIBLE STUDIES, STORIES AND POEMS
12
You have to stand on crooked
and cut straight- refectons on
Tamar
Rev. Dr. Marjorie Lewis 13
She pass her place - The
Marjorie Lewis story
Rev. Doreen Wynter 19
Resist and work for change Rev. Paulete Brown 23
My struggle to serve Hon. Joan M. Purcell 32
The greatest love song - a Bible
study on women and sexuality
Dr. Anna Kasaf Perkins 37
Good Love for Anita Dr. Anna Kasaf Perkins 47
Reverent sex Dr. Anna Kasaf Perkins 48
Matriarchs Dr. Rachele Evelyn Vernon 53
Rev. Dr. Adlyn Sessing-White Rev. Dr. Marjorie Lewis 59
Reconfguring the Caribbean
family
Rev. Olive Sampath Mahabir 64
Margaret: A woman of faith and
forttude
Rev. Olive Sampath Mahabir 71
Homeland mountains Mrs. Maureen Weekes-Gumbe 74
Ruth and Naomi making their
story of solidarity our story
Dr. Aruna Gnanadason 75
Their story is our story in our
unity is our power!
Dr. Aruna Gnanadason 86
Rightng Her-Story: Caribbean Women Encounter the Bible Story Rightng Her-Story: Caribbean Women Encounter the Bible Story
The anguish and terror of rape
and incest
Rev. Patricia Sheeratan-
Bisnauth
90
Rape, a lifetme of hurt Jamaica Gleaner 97
Not a mumbling word Rev. Robina Marie Winbush 100
Taking back my yesterdays Rev. Dr. Valerie J. Bridgeman
Davis
114
Womanhood: a Bible study on
Proverbs 31
Rev. Dr. Gillian Wilson 115
Rev. Winifred Rhoden-
Rutherford
Rev. Dr. Marjorie Lewis 120
Women, beauty and personal
empowerment
Ms J. Ayana McCalman &
Ms Simone Singh
124
Caribbean woman! Rev. Doreen Wynter &
Hon. Joan M. Purcell
130
Women, leadership and power in
church and society
Rev. Joy Abdul-Mohan 132
Struggling to be born again Rev. Joy Abdul-Mohan 138
The young, dynamic Joy Evelyn
Abdul Mohan
Mrs. Vera Hajarysingh 139
Resilient women: a Bible study on
Miriam
Bisnauth
143
Lena Christna Ramjatan Rev. Dr. Dale Bisnauth 151
Womens rights actvist Karen de
Souza is a special person
Kaieteur News, Guyana
(Story by Sharmain Cornete)
152
Dorcas: an agent of change and
transformaton
Rev. Doreen Wynter 158
Mama Joy Rev. Doreen Wynter 162
Castng stones Rev. Nicole Ashwood,
Rev. Dr. Gillian Wilson &
Rev. Doreen Wynter
166
When home is a dangerous
place
Rev. Robina Marie Winbush 174
bible study artwork.indd 4 4/14/2011 11:07:46 AM
Contents
Miss Gurts daughter meets the
Samaritan woman
Ms Lillian Burgher 181
Blues of a migrant Mrs. Maureen Weekes-Gumbe 185
Women in the delivery room Rev. Nicole Ashwood 186
For Moses mother Rev. Nicole Ashwood 193
Brawta Moses Rev. Nicole Ashwood 194
Women as channels of grace,
healing and service
Rev. Dr. Margaret Roberts 200
Gods grace in the inner-city -
Doreen Wynters story
Rev. Nicole Ashwood 204
Women critquing culture: the
story of Abigail and a guerrilla
Rev. Anna Joycelyn Shrikisson-
Sharma
209
A grieving mom Rev. Anna Joycelyn Shrikisson-
Sharma
215
Telling my story - a woman of
courage, determinaton and hope
Ms Denise Shrikissoon 216
The gif of a garment Rev. Dr. Marjorie Lewis 219
Take acton to end violence
against women and children
Bisnauth
222
LITURGICAL RESOURCES
225
Introducton to liturgical
resources
A service of healing and
reconciliaton
Mothers day/Womens day Rev. Nicole Ashwood 238
A service for Womens Sunday Rev. Patricia Sheeratan-
Bisnauth
242
A service to celebrate
Emancipaton
Rev. Robina Marie Winbush 246
Glossary 255
References and further resources 260
Preface
Rev. Dr. Setri Nyomi
General Secretary, World Communion of Reformed Churches
Reading the Bible has been a key characteristc of the Reformed way of life
for centuries. Personal and community reading of scriptures in the context
of worship has been an important way of how the Reformed live out our
afrmaton of sola scriptura. Unfortunately how the Word of God has been
read has not always been liberatng. There are too many instances in which
the Bible has been read in a manner that perpetrates violence and exclusion
especially of women.
Rightng Her-Story: Caribbean Women Encounter the Bible Story comes
as a refreshing wind to point in the directon of transformaton inspired by
the rereading of scriptures. While it focuses on one part of the world, the
Caribbean, the insights from this book can be applied to all parts of the world.
Reading the scriptures in a manner that is consistent with the liberatng power
of the Gospel of Jesus Christ will free women and men to build communites
characterized by justce and genuine love. The stories told and the principles
of biblical interpretaton recorded in this book can inspire all towards the
excitng journey of reading and rereading the Bible for new insights for living
in a just and inclusive world.
I am grateful to God for those who partcipated in the workshop in Grenada in
January 2011. We thank all those who contributed artcles. As this book gets
published we take this opportunity to thank God for the life and visionary
leadership of the Rev. Patricia Sheeratan-Bisnauth who for eleven years has
served the Reformed family worldwide inspiring and challenging churches
in the area of gender justce as well as climate and economic justce. She has
been a gif of the Caribbean churches to the worldwide Reformed family, for
which we are grateful to God.
Geneva, March 2011
Editorial
Rev. Patricia Sheeratan-Bisnauth
The Bible plays an infuental role in the Caribbean, together with the scriptures
of other religions, primarily of Islam, Hinduism and the Bahai faith. Reading
the Bible is critcal for the Christan and for the Rastafarian communites.
Many people fnd meaning in biblical texts for their lived realites as they seek
Gods presence in their lives and for discernment regarding what God is saying
to them in these tmes. Rightng Her-Story: Caribbean Women Encounter the
Bible Story is a Bible study book on women, which provides refreshing ways
to read the Bible, enabling women and men to rediscover its richness and
its ability to help them refect theologically on their faith and experience.
It is envisioned as an instrument that will contribute to building the critcal
consciousness of women and men and in fostering womens leadership. The
book includes stories of women who have played signifcant roles in their
churches and communites.
Caribbean women have contributed greatly to the survival of their families
and communites by fnding ways to resist injustces, bringing healing,
providing food, shelter, hospitality, comfort as well as avenues for peace
and reconciliaton. They have acquired survival skills in situatons of poverty,
violence and social decay. There are many examples of how women have
found ways and means to be resilient in the face of harsh economic tmes,
very ofen working beyond the boundary of state mechanisms.
The Caribbean has a high prevalence of violence against women. There
are frequent accounts of rape, maiming and killing of women. Recently
churches have begun to be atentve to this issue in small ways but there is
stll a signifcant silence and lack of initatve. The process of developing this
book took into serious consideraton strategies to empower churches to take
actons to end violence against women. This issue is addressed in several Bible
studies, including four which deal directly with domestc violence, rape and
incest. As part of the project to prepare this book, some practcal steps were
also taken: some churches organised events to raise awareness and to develop
a campaign to end violence against women and children. This includes a group
of young men from the Reformed churches in Guyana.
The Bible study resource, Rightng Her-Story: Caribbean Women Encounter the
Bible Story is writen in a popular style, addressing key issues and concerns of
women. It also promotes ways in which women are resistng and overcoming
injustces, carving out paths towards partnership and wholesome communites.
Editorial
Topics and issues discussed in the book include: the theology of gender justce
and partnership; sexuality; marriage and family; violence against women;
womens resistance; leadership and power; women as channels of grace,
caregivers and nurturers of life; women, beauty and personal empowerment;
culture; healing and building community.
The book contains a Bible Study Training Guide, twenty Bible studies with
accompanying stories and poems. It also has liturgical resources and a
glossary. The Bible studies were writen by lay and ordained women from
Baptst, Congregatonal, Evangelical, Presbyterian, Reformed, Roman Catholic
and United traditons. Writers are mostly from within the Caribbean region,
and include two women from the Caribbean Diaspora in North America, one
Asian woman from India and one African American woman from the United
States.
The Bible study writers have used a variety of popular approaches and
methodologies for contextual Bible study which are helpful in engaging the
readers with the Bible and strengthening their pedagogical skills. Reader
response and community based approaches are used to facilitate a high level
of partcipaton, with a consciousness of social locaton and life experiences.
These approaches will enable a process of refecton and conscientzaton;
serving as tools for transformatve educaton and womens empowerment.
See Bible Study Training Guide (page 1) for more on reading the Bible,
methodology and the fve steps in preparing and facilitatng a contextual Bible
study.
The process of developing the book included a peer review process and a Bible
study workshop, which was held in Grenada in January 2011. The workshop
partcipants were lay and ordained women and men who reviewed a selecton
of Bible studies and made critcal comments and suggestons to make the
Bible studies more engaging, culturally authentc and challenging for church
and society. They discussed ways in which the Bible is read in their contexts
and critcally refected on principles of biblical interpretaton, the changing
interpretatve framework in the Caribbean and key challenges for women
today. They also wrestled with difcult and controversial texts on women, for
example, the issue of submission (Titus 2.5), silence in the church (I Corinthians
14.33-4) and equality of women and men (Gal. 3.28).
I would like to thank all the writers who contributed Bible studies, stories of
women, poems and liturgies and those who were involved in the peer review,
namely: Rev. Nicole Ashwood, Rev. Paulete Brown and Rev. Olive Sampath
Mahabir. I would like to acknowledge the good partnership with Rev. Nicole
Ashwood, Coordinator, Caribbean and North America Council for Mission
(CANACOM) who journeyed with me throughout this project. I express my
deep appreciaton to Nicqi for her good ideas, hard work and for her moral
support and friendship.
I would also like to thank Rev. Dr. Osbert James and the Presbyterian Church
of Grenada for hostng the Bible study workshop. Thanks also to all resource
persons and partcipants, including the Young Womens Christan Associaton
and the UN Women. Your work was important for the development of the
material for this book. I would also like to recognize and appreciate the
partnership with the Swiss Womens World Day of Prayer and the Fondaton
Pour Laide Au Protestantsme Reforme, Switzerland for grantng fnancial
support for the project.
Finally, Id like to express my deepest thanks and appreciaton to my colleague,
Ms Daphne Martn-Gnanadason for her good work, enthusiasm and support.
Daphne assisted with organising the Bible study workshop and managing the
documents, proof-reading and producton. I would also like to thank Dr. Aruna
Gnanadason for doing the fnal proof reading of the whole document and for
all her helpful feedback. Thanks also to Rev. Dr. Setri Nyomi, General Secretary
of the World Communion of Reformed Churches for his encouragement and
support.
Editorial
Greetng
Rev. Dr. Osbert James
Moderator, Grenada Presbyterian Church
In January 2011, under the auspices of the World Communion of Reformed
Churches, the Presbyterian Church in Grenada served as host to a group of
church folk - lay and ordained, old and younger, women and men - as we
sought to refect on the methods of reading the Bible in our Caribbean context.
While we sometmes had a hard tme coming to a common understanding, I
feel that this project helped us to critque some of the ways in which the Bible
has been used as a tool to oppress rather than as a means of proclaiming the
sovereignty of God.
The perspectves from which one understands the Scripture will be largely
favoured by his or her story. Even though the Caribbean society is predominantly
matrifocal, the Caribbean woman has and stll does contend with issues of
male hegemony, male dominance and social and economic inequalites. A
Caribbean womans hermeneutc will necessarily demand that the scriptures
be viewed from a perspectve unique to her; this is inescapable.
These Bible studies writen by Caribbean women refect their understanding
of the biblical text from the cauldron of their experience frst as women
and secondly as women in the Caribbean. They refect their percepton of
a God traditonally conceived of as male as they live out their lives in a male
dominated society. They also refect their experience of God as liberator, co-
conspirator and androgynous.
The Presbyterian Church in Grenada has been in existence since the 1830s.
Over these years women have played a pivotal role in the leadership of the
congregaton. Today, the majority of members are women. We were therefore
extremely excited to host the Caribbean Women Bible Study Workshop and to
be part of this exercise where women and men wrestled with an understanding
of scripture which has been passed down to them from the perspectve of
those who have had both economic and politcal power and the ability to
shape ones world-view and even how one thinks about ones self.
It is therefore my pleasure to commend these studies to you. I trust that as you
read, you will hold in creatve tension that with which you resonate with, as
well as that which causes dissonance. You may fnd that these studies will not
only provide a frame work from which you might understand the scriptures
but also cause a troubling of the waters. May the Holy Spirit be your guide as
you wade through these Bible studies.
Grenada, March 2011
1
BIBLE STUDY TRAINING GUIDE
Rev. Patricia Sheeratan-Bisnauth & Rev. Doreen Wynter
Patricia Sheeratan-Bisnauth and Doreen Wynter studied Theology at the
United Theological College of the West Indies, Jamaica. They were the frst
women in their denominatons to be trained for the ordained ministry:
Patricia, with the Guyana Presbyterian Church (1980) and Doreen with the
Jamaica Baptst Union (1990).
Reading the Bible
The Bible is regarded as a divinely inspired record of the history of Gods dealing
with Gods people, a history that extends to the entre cosmos and which refects
diverse historical, cultural, politcal, economic, social and ecological contexts. It
is also the living word of God that speaks about Gods love, compassion and
liberaton for humanity and creaton. It contains poetry, songs, history, laws,
liturgical resources, leters and stories which need to be read with the insights
and understanding of the writers and the contexts in which the texts were
writen. It also needs to be read with a critcal consciousness of the reality in
which it is being read today.
In reading the Bible we realise that it is an excitng, frustratng, rewarding and
puzzling exercise, because we discover, that who we are, our social locaton and
life realites, signifcantly impacts how we read and interpret the scriptures.
People read with various lenses as they discern how God is speaking to them
in a partcular situaton or context, regarding issues that are critcal to their
communites. We also discover that the Bible should not be regarded as
simply a book of laws, quotatons and pronouncements which are meant to be
taken literally. This can be harmful when used to justfy evil, such as violence,
destructon of the earth, slavery, racism, homophobia, xenophobia and
oppression of women and other marginalized communites.
For example, if we look at the place and role of women in both the Old and New
Testaments, questons are raised and texts are read with suspicion, with a keen
eye for what lies inside and beneath the mind of the writer, his motves and what
agenda he is promotng. If the Old Testament describes patriarchal families as
though they are the norm, and if the New Testament says that women should be
submissive to their husbands (Titus 2.5) and be silent in church (1 Cor 14.33-4)
does that mean that God created women to be subordinate to men? Church
leaders have used passages like these to propagate a power constructon with
male authority and dominaton.
2
How then do we address Titus and 1 Corinthians vis vis the situaton of women
and their own prejudices and propagaton of a male agenda?
How do we read the texts in light of the baptsmal formula in Gal 3.28, There
is neither Jew nor Gentle, slave nor free, male nor female for all are one in
Christ? How do we address the contradictons within the texts and the many
Bible stories of women as prophets, preachers, healers, leaders, mothers,
sisters, and nurturers of life?
The Gospels tell of ground breaking encounters and experiences of women
with Jesus, their brother and friend, who demonstrates his solidarity with
their struggle in a patriarchal society. Jesus was remarkably open to women,
sitng and talking with Mary and Martha and with
the Samaritan woman at the well, surrounding
himself with women and men as disciples, defending
their non-traditonal actons - like the woman who
anointed him with very costly ointment, the woman
with a fow of blood who touched his garment in
search of healing, and the women who were the
frst to receive the good news of his victory over
death and were charged to go and spread the good
news of the resurrecton of Jesus Christ.
So, even as we read the Bible, we encounter some
challenges. How then should we read the Bible?
Approaches to reading the Bible
In seeking to understand the biblical text, diferent methods are used in
the interpretatve process. Questons are asked such as: Who is the author,
when was it writen, what was the intenton of the author, and how did the
author arrive at the fnished product? It is antcipated that responses to these
questons would lead to the authors intentons and eventually to the original
meaning.
This emphasis on the author and the context of the author leads also to the
study of the historical, social, economic, politcal contexts of the period when
the Bible was writen. This historical critcal methodology, as it is called, has
not always focussed adequately on the text itself or the reader of the text.
Invariably the reader is not considered, and importance is not given to the
meaning of the text, for the reader. Instead the emphasis is on what the text
meant in the context of the tme it was writen.

How then do we
address Titus and
1 Corinthians vis
vis the situaton of
women and their
own prejudices and
propagaton of a male
agenda?
3
A shif in methodology occurred with the
text itself becoming the focus. The text was
seen as a fnished product and was analysed
as such, taking into consideraton its place
in the canon, and its positon within its
immediate context. The emphasis was on
the world of the text. This approach was
critqued as being too subjectve and open
to multple readings which may arise from
eisegisis of the text, that is, reading into
the text what is not there.
Yet another shif in methodology emerged
when answers were sought to the queston:
what is the role of the reader in all of this
interpretatve process? This new method was founded on the premise that
no one comes to the text with a blank slate, rather we are informed by our
locaton which is infuenced by the values, ideologies, politcs of our tme,
by who we are, and our perceptons of reality. Therefore, everyone comes
to the text with some preconceived ideas infuenced by their background,
social locaton and life experiences. And the world of the reader became
important.
In this interpretatve process, the reader engages the text and there is interplay
between text and reader. Emerging from this were several ways of reading
the text as each reader responded diferently to the text. Reader response
approaches are used for feminist, womanist and postcolonial reading of
texts.
With each approach there is the mistaken belief that we have now found the
way to read the Bible. Is there a right way to read the Bible? Is there only one
way of reading a biblical text? These are questons which may arise. These
approaches are not mutually exclusive, each has its weaknesses and strengths
and ofen tmes a combinaton of two or all has been used in the interpretng
of the Bible.
Whatever approach is used there is a common thread. It is the focus on the
context, whether it is the context of the writer, of the text itself or the context
of the reader.

In this interpretatve process,
the reader engages the
text and there is interplay
between text and reader.
Emerging from this were
several ways of reading
the text as each reader
responded diferently to
the text. Reader response
approaches are used for
feminist, womanist and
postcolonial reading of texts.
Bible Study Training Guide
4
Reading the Bible in the Caribbean context
Who are we as Caribbean readers?
What is the social locaton of Caribbean readers? We recognise that each reader
has her/his own partcular social locaton, but there is a common factor in the
social context of the Caribbean which informs our reading of the Biblical text.
A brief overview of our Caribbean reality reveals that the Caribbean is a meltng
pot of cultures of Amerindians, Africans, Asians, Europeans and a signifcant
populaton of mixed ethnicites. The dynamics of mult-ethnicity, mult/inter-
cultural realites and inter-religious characteristcs are all important infuences
in this region. The Caribbean has had a bloody history of genocide of its
Indigenous Peoples, Slavery of Africans and Indentureship of Indians, Chinese
and Portuguese. It also has a legacy of resistance, emancipaton and struggle
to build community. The legacy of slavery stll haunts the region as people
struggle for emancipaton of the mind and for a spiritual renewal, as they
have been challenged to do by such as Bob Marley, the Jamaican Rastafarian
prophet and reggae icon.
During the period of colonialism, the peoples of the Caribbean were ruled
by various empires: Spanish, English, French and Portuguese. These colonial
masters subjugated the Indigenous Peoples and the era was characterised by
dominaton and subordinaton, superiority and inferiority, the powerful and the
powerless. This rule by the empire was of course resisted by freedom fghters
and saw the formaton of resistance groups such as the Maroons in Jamaica.
It was in the 1960s that the Caribbean natons began to achieve independence,
ushering in a postcolonial period. However, the queston has been raised as
to whether with the rise of neocolonialism things have really changed in the
Caribbean or is it that the empires have only changed faces?
The Bible was introduced as a tool to civilize enslaved Africans, indentured
Asians, Portuguese and Amerindians and to maintain the status quo of
the Plantaton and its system. Christanity was
transmited as a foreign religion, with a God who
favoured the planters. The hierarchical segregaton
of race, economic and social classes was seen as
the accepted order. Individualistc salvaton was
propagated as key to live out the Christan calling.
Christanity was preached as a pie in the sky
religion with a separaton of peoples lived realites
from the spiritual. They were taught that this

As Caribbean readers
of the biblical text,
whether we reside
within the Caribbean
or in the Diaspora,
how do we read and
interpret the Bible?
5
world is not their home and that God awaits with open arms in heaven to
receive them, heal all their wounds and to set them free. Such a theology
was used as a way to make the people compliant and complacent, acceptng
the hierarchical structure and systemic injustce as the given order. However,
the same Bible was also read by slaves to promote the cause of their own
liberaton - to claim their dignity and God-given worth and to resist and revolt
against the oppressors.
As Caribbean readers of the biblical text,
whether we reside within the Caribbean
or in the Diaspora, how do we read and
interpret the Bible?
In the 1970s the methodology of biblical
resistant reading was developed as a
strategy for emancipaton, transformaton
and renewal. This methodology enabled
a process of uncovering the ideological
agenda of the oppressors - engaging
a paradigm shif from a Euro-centric
imperialistc Christanity to an indigenized theology, which was relevant to the
Caribbean. This methodology seeks authentcity in culture, history, peoples
struggles, sense of self and life experiences. It critques Christanity as a white
Western and patriarchal religion.
The biblical resistant reading strategy addresses the disconnecton between
reality, faith and spirituality, and also between people, creaton and God. It
seeks to deal with the real issue at hand - about whether there will be life
afer birth rather than the fxaton on life afer death.
Reading the Bible in the Caribbean context has ofen focused more on the
meaning of texts for lived realites. It is based in the interplay of reader and
text. The interpretatve framework in the postcolonial context, using the
reader response approach, is grounded in the context of peoples struggles,
hopes, celebraton of life and dreams. It engages critcally with gender, racial,
economic and ecological injustces and takes into account the socio-cultural,
economic and politcal reality as well as the historicity of the people.
A historical approach is seen as an important tool of analysis with a critcal
consciousness of who we are, our social locaton and the paradigm of power
which contnues to oppress and impoverish the majority of people, and which
fuels division and brokenness. It also seeks to draw out alternatves for a life-
giving civilizaton, acts of transformaton and building community.

The biblical resistant reading
strategy addresses the
disconnecton between
reality, faith and spirituality,
and also between people,
creaton and God. It seeks
to deal with the real issue at
hand - about whether there
will be life afer birth rather
than the fxaton on life afer
death.
6
Such a reading uses the tools of remembering and imaginaton. It is
remembering which embraces the historical context of the Caribbean reader as
it considers the narratves of courageous women and men who led revolutons
for freedom from slavery; visionary leaders who have led communites,
churches and natons; marginalized groups, especially women who struggle
for recogniton, rights and justce; and persons whose prophetc voices and
actons are signifcant for justce, for right relatons and for beterment of
communites and families.
Remembering is important in grounding people and their communites in
their history, identty, culture, family, community and their connectvity. It not
only addresses the past, but it moves beyond it to become an interpretatve
lens through which to understand current social dynamics. It also has good
possibilites to bring healing and to mend broken relatonships. It provides
space for difcult conversatons, outpourings and steps for persons to hear
each other and feel each others pain and joy.
Whereas remembering takes into account the context of the reader,
imaginaton addresses the text. Imaginaton moves the reader to explore
beyond the parameters of the text itself - to hear the voices of those who have
either been silenced or lef out by the text and its historical interpretatons.
Imaginaton enables the reader to uncover the hidden details, characters and
infuences of the story, which are missing in the text. For example, see the
Bible study Miss Gurts Daughter Meets the Samaritan Woman by Lillian
Burgher, where she invites readers to imagine the untold details about the
Samaritan women. What about the husbands? Did she have children?
The reader also enters into the world of the text and persons are invited to
partcipate in the story by connectng their stories with those in the text. This
creatve process enables the readers to draw out
key messages of the text that speak to them and
their community. It draws parallels between the
experience of the reader and that of the characters
in the text.
Methodology
The methodology used in this Bible study book
includes stories of women in the Bible, which are
read alongside stories of women in our communites
and churches. This form of contextual Bible study is
helpful in creatng space for new insights into the

Imaginaton moves
the reader to
explore beyond the
parameters of the
text itself - to hear
the voices of those
who have either
been silenced or
lef out by the text
and its historical
interpretatons.
7
meaning of Scripture which the Holy Spirit ofers us today. It helps is discern
Gods word and fnd meaning in our lives as God speaks to us through the Bible,
through each other and through creaton, strengthening our faith and giving us
guidance, wisdom and courage.
Contextual Bible study moves us beyond acquiring knowledge and insights to
experience the sacredness of all life and all experiences. In this process each
persons experience is important and adds to the collectve experience of the
group. It engages the group critcally at the levels of the head and the heart.
Through sharing of personal stories partcipants establish a relatonship with
the text as well as with one another and as a community.
The Bible study writers have used various principles of biblical interpretaton
and methodologies. The Bible studies are contextual, writen from the
Caribbean reality within the Caribbean region and in the Diaspora and also
from India and the United States. Each Bible study has its own approach,
rhythm and writng style. But what they all have in common is womens diverse
ways of reading the Bible and connectng with the texts and messages.
Helpful steps for rereading the Bible
The following steps are helpful in reading the text and preparing contextual
Bible studies. It is important to recognise the guidance of the Holy Spirit in each
of the steps outlined below, knowing that the Bible is living and not statc, and
that over the centuries the Spirit has brought us new understandings of the
message of the Bible. God speaks today with relevance for people and their life
experiences.
1. Ground work
Who are the partcipants and what is their reality, including critcal
issues they face?
Read prayerfully the Bible texts provided. Use a concordance to fnd
out what other passages in the Bible say about the topic and issues.
Research resources such as commentaries, stories, art, songs, news
items or artcles that can help to understand the meaning of the
text.
Design a space for an interactve Bible study, using methodology that
would be most engaging and partcipatory.
2. Exegesis- exploring the text and realites of its context:
Read the text several tmes using diferent versions of the Bible. As you
read, enter into the story and jot down any questons which may arise.
8
What is the story in this text? Is there a central idea? And are there
sub themes?
Who are the people? Identfy the diferent characters. What was the
power constructon?
Analyse the power relatonships. Who benefted and who were
marginalized, who are the outsiders?
What was the era? (I.e. the social, politcal
and economic context in which the text
was writen.) What were the signs of
those tmes?
What do these say about the situaton,
people and God and about their
relatonships with each other?
What are the missing pieces, persons and
voices?
Note the repetton of phrases, dialogue, ideas.
Research unfamiliar words cross reference the use of sayings and
phrases. How were some words used in another context? Is it the
same in this passage?
What thoughts, words, phrases or concepts make it difcult to
understand the meaning of the text? What questons and suspicions
do they raise?
Read the text in its context, look at the passages preceding the
partcular text and the passage immediately following.
3. Interpretaton - Understanding the meaning of the text:
You need to recognise that several factors infuence interpretaton and
meaning, such as age, gender, culture, socio-economic and politcal
situaton, church and other traditons. By using the points/notes from the
exegesis, the reader will be able to move beyond what the text meant to
what God is saying to us for these tmes.
Draw out key points, contradictons and points of connecton.
Wrestle with this for a while. Are these consistent with the principles
outlined in other biblical texts?

Read the text several
tmes using diferent
versions of the Bible.
As you read, enter
into the story and jot
down any questons
which may arise.
9
Who is the writer and what is his story? How did the writer convey
this message? What are his intentons and agenda?
What is the text saying about the people of that tme? Is a command
being given or principles outlined?
How is God portrayed by what is writen or omited? What questons
do you have about this image of God?
4. The Bible study session
Facilitate a re-reading of the text using the tool of imaginaton, locatng
it within the context of the partcipants. You may arrange for a biblio-
dramatc reading of the text or you may tell the story in your own words,
using songs, choruses, poems, drumming, etc. to bring life to the story
and to engage the group. Make sure you involve the partcipants in the
reading.
Ask partcipants to identfy the diferent voices, characters - those
that speak and act, those that do not. Ask them to share briefy what
they have heard both explicitly and implicitly.
What is the intenton of the writer? Ask partcipants to examine the
power relatons and consequences for people. Identfy where these
are questoned and resisted.
Ask the group for their insights. What grabbed their atenton? What
emotons did the text elicit? Are there any parallels in their own
context, situatons?
Then ask them to identfy themes and issues.
Ask the group to interact with the text, characters and situaton,
discussing the relevance for their situaton. This may be best done in
small group conversatons.
What does the text tell them about God, Jesus and the work of the
Spirit for their lives and in their community and church?
Read the text in conversaton with a story of the local context, e.g.
reading the story of Dorcas in conversaton with Mama Joy.
5. Implicatons for witness and mission
Have a minute of silence for personal refecton.
Ask partcipants to share very briefy one new insight gained from
10
the Bible study. Ask them what is most critcal for him/her and their
community and church? How are they called to act? (For example,
doing a Bible study on violence against women and children may
inspire a campaign against such violence.)
Summarize briefy and keep notes on implicatons for witness and
mission.
End in song and prayer.
11
12
Z,^t^
8l8LL S1uulLS
S1C8lLS Anu
CLMS
13
YOU HAVE TO STAND ON
CROOKED AND CUT STRAIGHT
- REFLECTIONS ON TAMAR
A BIBLE STUDY ON GENESIS 38
Rev. Dr. Marjorie Lewis
Marjorie Lewis is the frst woman to be appointed as president of the
United Theological College of the West Indies. She is a former general
secretary of the Jamaica Council of Churches and has served in ecumenical
contexts with the Caribbean Conference of Churches. She also served as a
missionary to the United Reformed Church in Britain, as the Mult-Racial,
Mult-Cultural Development Worker. While in Britain she received an award
in an event sponsored by the Voice newspaper in Britain, in recogniton of
her outstanding contributon to the Black community in Britain.
The Bible can be read and interpreted through diferent perspectves or
lenses. Approaching specifc passages in the Bible from diferent angles can
help to deepen our understanding of who God is, how God is working in the
world and what we are called upon to do as
people who seek to be faithful to Gods call on
our lives.
First moment
We can approach the Bible by contemplaton,
in a devotonal way, using our imaginaton and
intuiton as a means of communicaton. God
can communicate to us through our emotons,
helping us to understand what God is calling us
to do and who God is calling us to be. To read
a passage such as Genesis 38, and stories in
the life of Jesus in this devotonal way involves
assuming the role of one of the characters in
the story, notcing the sights, smells, sounds,
what you see others doing and how they are

The Bible can be
read and interpreted
through diferent
perspectves or lenses.
Approaching specifc
passages in the Bible
from diferent angles
can help to deepen
our understanding of
who God is, how God is
working in the world and
what we are called upon
to do as people who seek
to be faithful to Gods call
on our lives.
14
relatng to you in order to gain new
insights from experiencing the story.
Second moment
We can also read the passage on
multple levels focusing more on
analysing the text and applying the text
to our daily lives and to contemporary
society. There is a Jamaican saying
you have to stand on crooked and
cut straight, which means that you
have to respond with the appropriate
ethics even when the odds are against
you. This saying seems to describe the
plight of Tamar who we read about in
Genesis 38. How can we read this text?
I ofer fve lenses through which we can read it: a Caribbean postcolonial lens,
a gender lens, a social class lens, a HIV/AIDS lens and a family systems lens.
1. A Caribbean postcolonial reading
The Caribbean experienced colonizaton by Europeans startng in the 15th
century. The colonizing European powers in their quest for wealth and power
afected genocide on the Indigenous populaton in many countries, enslaved
Africans to work for Europeans in the Caribbean and with the aboliton of
slavery in the nineteenth century, brought in Indentured labour from Asia
who worked under harsh conditons. The Caribbean in the 21
st
century stll
carries the legacy of colonialism. While chatel slavery does not exist now,
power and control over the choices made in the Caribbean countries is heavily
infuenced by the natons and insttutons that wield global economic power
while the Caribbean and other countries in the global South have very litle
infuence on the decision making. The dynamics of resistance, collaboraton,
internalizaton of colonial values also remain.
We need to ask: Does Genesis 38 ofer an understanding of God that is for or
against the systems of dominaton of its tme? Does the text involve a search
for justce, a life-giving way to live in the midst of natons and powerful groups
and leaders who dominate and enslave others? From whose perspectve do
we read the text from the perspectve of the dominant groups/persons or
from the point of view of the subjugated people?

We need to ask: Does Genesis 38
ofer an understanding of God
that is for or against the systems
of dominaton of its tme? Does
the text involve a search for
justce, a life-giving way to live in
the midst of natons and powerful
groups and leaders who dominate
and enslave others? From whose
perspectve do we read the
text from the perspectve of
the dominant groups/persons
or from the point of view of the
subjugated people?
15
You have to stand on crooked and cut straight - refectons on Tamar
Questons to ponder:
Jacob had setled in the land of Canaan (Gen 37.1). How are the inhabitants
of the land treated, even when the incoming folk marry the indigenous
populatons?
In the Caribbean what have been the paterns in the relatonships
between the indigenous populaton and incoming colonizers?
What are the ethical consideratons that ought to govern relatonships
between diferent ethnic groups, as well as relatons with the incorporaton
of migrants, refugees and colonizers into an existng society?
2. Gender
Gender relates to the roles that society gives to men and women. These roles
are diferent in various societes and can be changed. Unlike ones sex (male
or female) which cannot be changed, a persons gender (what women or
men should do and how they should behave) can be changed. For example,
in some societes, only women cook, but in others men do cook. In some
societes women are not allowed to lead in politcs or in the Church while in
other societes women perform these functons.
In Genesis 38 it is worth notng that:
Shuas daughter who married Judah is not named. Telling a persons
name is an important way of saying that someone is a person of worth
and importance.
This was a patriarchal society, so women had relatvely less rights than
men. Respectable women were either virgin daughters in their fathers
household, wives who bore sons and were under the authority of the
patriarch of the husbands family or under the authority and protecton
of their sons in their old age.
1
Women on the margins of society included
prosttutes, and widows like Tamar who were sent back to their fathers
house without the rights of the Levirate provision (Deut 25.5-10) in
which the brother-in-law would perpetuate his deceased brothers name
by having sexual intercourse with the widow so that the brother would
thereby have sons to inherit and perpetuate the brothers name.
Tamar is tacitly blamed and suspected by Judah of having supernatural
powers leading to the death of her husband and brother-in-law (Gen
38.11) when the text clearly states that Er sinned and God punished Er
by death (v.7) and subsequently Onan sinned and was also punished by
death (v.10).
1 NEWSOM, Carol A., & RINGE, Sharon, H., (Eds.), Womens Bible Commentary Expanded Editon
with Apocrypha (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1998), pp. 24-26.
16
The exceptonally harsh punishment of death prescribed by Judah on
hearing that Tamar was pregnant as a result of whoredom, (v 24) is
noteworthy. The usual penalty for adultery to be applied both to the
man and the woman involved was stoning to death (Deut 22.23-24).
Judah pronounced an extremely harsh punishment burning to death,
which was only usually applied in the exceptonal case when a priests
daughter profanes herself through prosttuton (Lev 21.9).
2
Judah also
made no menton of the man when he pronounced his frst verdict.
A woman in the society of Tamars tme had limited optons. Decision
making and economic power for the most part were the prerogatve of
men, especially the patriarch who was head of the household or clan. His
decisions determined the fate of those under his rule.
3. Social class
In many societes people are generally divided into at least two classes or
groups: those who have more status and power and those who have litle or
no status and power. These groups have sometmes been referred to as the
Haves and the Have Nots. Ofen this division is determined by the wealth
and rank diferent people have in the society.
Power is also expressed in the failure of the justce system of the State to
deliver equal access to rights for the poor. How can the poor cope? In Jamaica,
notably from the late 20th century to the early 21st century, a common form
of protest has been demonstratons by poor people who block roadways,
bearing placards with slogans protestng the latest perceived unjust act. Me
want justce! is ofen the cry and a common slogan on placards. Very ofen
these demonstratons take place when citzens are of the view that the police
acted illegally in shootng or detaining a citzen.
Adrian McFarlane, a Jamaican writer is of the view that oppressed people in
Jamaica in most cases assume a stance of either Anancy or Quashie. The
Anancy mentality, so named for the folk tales originatng in West Africa, is that
of the trickster who outwits the system by use of quick thinking and cunning.
Sometmes the strategies of Anancy are of questonable ethics and morality.
In some ways the Jamaican saying, You have to stand on crooked and cut
straight, speaks to this use of intelligence in surviving when you are among
the powerless and the odds are stacked against you.
The other opton McFarlane describes as Quashie which in the Jamaican
context signifes people who are too simple to understand when that they
2 COONAN, Michael D., (Ed.), The New Oxford Annotated Bible New Revised Standard Version
with the Apocrypha Third Editon (Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 2007),
pp. 64-65.
17
were being exploited and therefore unwitngly comply with their oppressors.
These people are not self confdent or courageous enough to control their
own future.
3
Contrasted with Anansy and Quashie, in McFarlanes view is the Rastafari
concept of the I-an-I which denotes someone taking control of themselves
thinking for themselves and actng to control their own destny.
How does Tamar respond to injustce? Note the following regarding Genesis
38:
Those in power use power and knowledge of the law to reap the benefts of
the law while escaping the obligatons of the law, for example, Onan who
benefted from the privileges of the law but shirked the responsibility.
Judah used his power and knowledge of the law to avoid implementng
the legal provisions for Tamar who was relatvely poor and powerless.
Judah seemed to avoid being just with impunity, getng away with it, or
at least not facing the full consequences of his decisions and actons.
Tamar gives birth to twin boys, which marks her out as among the very
special female characters in the Hebrew Bible. Her younger son Perez
becomes the one from whom Boaz, David and then Jesus all descend.
This is recorded in Mat 1.3f and Tamar is recorded as one of a small
number of women named in a genealogy in the Bible.
4. HIV and AIDS lens
The Caribbean has the second highest incidence of HIV and AIDS in the
world, second only to sub-Saharan Africa. A troubling trend in Jamaica is that
infecton rates are increasing among young women in the 15 to 25 years age
group. Persons and organisatons working to end stgma and discriminaton
and promote safe sexual actvity, have noted that in many cases, young
women are having unprotected sex in exchange for fnancial support from
men. This is referred to as Transactonal Sex. There are those who work
among commercial sex workers to help them prevent HIV infecton.
Atenton has also been given to married women, some of them in church, who
are faithful to their husbands but become infected because of the infdelity
of their husbands. Sometmes because of cultural practces married women
hesitate to demand that their husbands use condoms.
3 McFARLANE, Adrian Anthony, The Epistemological Signifcance of I-an-I as a Response to
Quashie and Anancyism in Jamaican Culture, in MURRELL, Nathaniel Samuel, SPENCER,
William David and McFarlane, Adrian Anthony (Eds.), Chantng Down Babylon: The Rastafari
Reader (Kingston: Ian Randle Publishers, 1998), pp. 107-121.
18
Very ofen, there are groups of people who are oppressed on many levels for
example by social class, gender and ethnicity at the same tme. When this
happens, issues such as the ability to control ones own sexuality in a way
that is life-giving becomes a difcult goal to achieve. In the modern world we
ofen see that:
Women are in relatvely powerless positons and sometmes engage in
transactonal sex which puts their
life at risk not of stoning or burning
but through infecton with HIV/AIDS
and being afected by stgma and
discriminaton.
Men and women sometmes have
casual sex, but there is a double
standard, where the sanctons against
this tend to be harsher for women than
it is for men in some cases, the men
are even praised for their prowess.
There is need to identfy the factors
in Caribbean society that lead to
increased vulnerability to HIV infecton,
and to ask: What is the role of the church?
5. Family systems lens
The Family Systems Theory
4
in psychology notes that paterns learned in ones
family of origin tend to be perpetuated in succeeding generatons and are
played out in new relatonships with friends and romantc partners, in church,
at the work place, etc. We can see that certain paterns of relatonships are
repeated in the families that we read about in Genesis chapter 38. You may
want to refect on the following:
Go back three generatons in Judahs family. What paterns do you see
repeated in the way family members relate to each other? What are the
similarites and diferences in the ways men and women responded to
family and societal challenges? Who are the persons with power, and
how do they use their power? Who are the tricksters?
Many writers point out that people who are oppressed ofen internalize
the oppression and believe what the oppressors say about them. What
ideas from colonialism, Slavery and Indentureship can you identfy in the
4 RICHARDSON, Ronald R., Creatng a Healthier Church: Family Systems Theory, Leadership and
Congregatonal Life (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996).

Atenton has also been given
to married women, some
of them in church, who are
faithful to their husbands
but become infected
because of the infdelity of
their husbands. Sometmes
because of cultural practces
married women hesitate to
demand that their husbands
use condoms.
19
destructve behaviour of some Caribbean people in the family, the Church
and the wider society?
What do you think is the signifcance of Tamar being identfed in Jesus
genealogy (Mat 1.3)?
What sense of hope is there for Caribbean families at the level of kinship,
household, ethnicity, mult-ethnic and mult-faith expressions?
Questons to ponder:
How did you feel and what did you learn by experiencing the story using
your imaginaton?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of reading the Bible from
diferent lenses?
Prayer
Lord, grant me grace to follow Jesus: to allow the Spirit of the Lord to anoint
me to take good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captves, recovery
of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the
Lords favour. Lord, I am available to you. Amen. (Luke 4.18-19 adapted.)
SHE PASS HER PLACE: THE
MARJORIE LEWIS STORY
Rev. Doreen Wynter
The story of the Syrophoenician woman is remembered as that of the woman
who pass her place, she who dared to challenge Jesus, the master; the one
who stood her ground and would not let go in spite of the negatve comments
and open hostlity.
That Biblical story fnds its counterpart in the story of the Rev. Dr. Marjorie
Lewis, frst female president of the United Theological College of the West
Indies (UTCWI). Marjorie, Madgie, Rev. Dr. Lewis all refer to this woman who
has tackled and is tackling the empire of patriarchy from both outside and
within the system.
Marjorie considers herself a realist for she knows that there is no one way to
address the issue of power in the religious sphere. This can be done standing
20
on the periphery, on the outside when one removes ones self from the
system or by staying within and working for its incremental dismantling. This
has been Marjories story.
She was a candidate for the pastoral ministry, while a student in the upper
six form at St. Andrew High School for girls. It was not easy for Marjorie, as
a high school student, to make this life changing decision especially as her
personal desire was to become a lawyer. She struggled with the call and
received guidance from her pastor, and mentor, Rev. Dr. Derek Davidson. Upon
graduaton, this teenage girl went immediately to UTCWI. For the next four
years the theological seminary became the place not only for her spiritual
formaton but where she transitoned from teenager to young adult. To quote
her it was a great place to grow up.
This young, energetc woman who was always actvely involved in her
church, and was already serving at the regional level as part of the Caribbean
Conference of Churches (CCC) involved in ecumenical youth work, was not
intmidated by her older peers, nor would she become overawed and take a
back seat. Instead, she was involved in every area of the colleges cultural life
touching the choir, drama, and sports, in partcular volleyball.
Her ordinaton service in 1980, (afer graduaton in 1979) previewed the kind
of ministry to be ofered by this the second female pastor of the Disciples of
Christ. The four ordinands, two females and two males wore non-traditonal
garb: black botom and African tops. The sermon Many are called few are
chosen was preached by Rev. William Waty, a Methodist minister. And afer
their vows, the ordinands danced barefoot to one of the contemporary hymns
of Catholic Father HoLungs. It was ecumenical, creatve and radical - elicitng
mixed reactons. The teenager now pastor, pass her place.
Afer her ordinaton, Rev. Marjorie served in the Castleton, St Mary Charge and
then Bull Bay, St. Thomas. The Disciples of Christ had accepted Marjorie as a
pastoral candidate, but this did not mean that there would be no challenges
with the leadership. In 1983 she became dissatsfed with the leadership of the
denominaton, resigned and accepted the post of regional programme ofcer
of the Caribbean Conference of Churches (CCC), and later joined Oxfam, UK
as project ofcer. She stayed with the CCC for fve years, and God blessed her
during that tme with her daughter, Kismet.
While working outside the system was a fertle tme for Marjorie. She was
engaged in counselling with NGOs, ofering pastoral counselling for persons
who were also disillusioned with the insttutonal church, while constantly
reassessing her call to pastoral ministry. Ministry on the periphery was
21
productve but God had other things in mind for this woman. The reluctant
captve yielded.
In the early 1990s Marjorie applied for re-instatement in the Disciples of
Christ. But things had changed. By this tme the Disciples of Christ was in
dialogue with the United Church in Jamaica and Grand Cayman for the two to
merge. Therefore, her applicaton was to the United Church. The ecclesiastcal
empire, sought to strike back at this uppity woman.
A persistent call was being echoed for her to be re-ordained. This did not
materialize, and instead she was asked to re-afrm her vows. And so in about
1994 under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Adlyn White, Moderator of the new
United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, Marjorie became a part of
the system once again.
Would she remain silent? The voice of Rev. Dr. Marjorie Lewis was appointed
as the general secretary of the Jamaica Council of Churches from 1994
to 1997, afer which she again served as a missionary in the UK with the
United Reformed Church (1997-2000), dealing with racism and working for
inclusiveness.
For Rev. Verna Casells, she was the litle sister who mothers me.
She served as Vice President, responsible for training, with the Jamaica
Womens Politcal Caucus, and is member of the Public Theology Forum
(ecumenical group of theologians).
Her call to the presidency of UTCWI was infuenced by the late Rev. Dr. Lewin
Williams, former President, Rev. Dr. Lesley Anderson, and supported by the
members of faculty.
In a male-dominated, traditonally male-headed insttuton this radical move
was not without oppositon. However, Marjorie holds on to the moto of
her alma mater of the need to live life to its fullest, and to strive for self-
actualizaton despite the odds. She tries to remain focused on what God
has called her to do, understanding the core of ministry as working for the
Reigndom of God.
With all the challenges she has encountered, the queston was asked do you
have any regrets? Regrets? No! I have tried to live every day. There have
been sorrows, frustratons, disappointments, but I have come to experience
Gods grace in surprising ways.
She pass her place: The Marjorie Lewis Story
22
Z,^t^
23
Resist and work for change
RESIST AND WORK FOR
CHANGE
1 Peter 2.18-3.7
Rev. Paulete Brown
Paulete Brown was born, raised and schooled in Jamaica. Paulete is
an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church in Canada (PCC). She is
executve director of Flemingdon Gateway Mission. Mother of 3 children,
grandmother of 4, Paulete and her husband Luther reside in Toronto. She
is now completng her PhD studies in postcolonial feminist hermeneutcs at
Knox College. She is interested in reading from a (Canadian) African diasporic
perspectve. Her thesis proposal is Canaanite-ism and its functon in
Mt 15.21-28: a Door of No return perspectve.
Introducton to Bible Study
Prayer: Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Creator
God, be with us as we read and interpret this Bible passage, we pray. Open
our hearts and minds to new ways of reading the Bible. May we be inspired
with courage and hope as we seek to fnd your transforming word for us from
this biblical text.
The Bible is our book of faith and we read
it for the purpose of fnding inspiraton to
enable us to work for changes in our lives
and in our communites. In reading the
Bible we cannot leave out the nity-grity
of our daily experiences, for Bible reading
is always about What is God saying to
us through the texts, and how are we
motvated to act in our specifc locatons
and circumstances?
One of the challenges we face in reading
the Bible is the nature of the biblical texts
themselves. While they contain the word
of God for us, this word is embedded in
the dominant patriarchal cultural values of the ancient world from which the
biblical texts emerge. We must fnd ways to strip away the cultural trappings

Prayer: Your word is a lamp
unto my feet and a light
unto my path. Creator God,
be with us as we read and
interpret this Bible passage,
we pray. Open our hearts
and minds to new ways of
reading the Bible. May we
be inspired with courage and
hope as we seek to fnd your
transforming word for us
from this biblical text.
24
(values and assumptons) that biblical stories are ofen embedded in and ask
questons of the text that will help us discover what the word of God is for us,
in our tmes.
The word of God can be a word of afrmaton, but not always. It can also
be a word of challenge and disturbance, calling us to re-think some of the
understandings that we have taken for granted.
In the book of Genesis we learn that women and men are created by God
in Gods own image to live in partnership with one another and with Gods
creaton. That women and men bear the image of God implies that any form
of violence that is perpetrated on our bodies, minds and spirits must be seen
as violence efected against Gods own image. From this perspectve, violence
against women is a faith problem.
The aim of the Bible study on 1 Pet 2.18-3.7
This Bible study has two aims. The frst is to help us see how 1 Pet 2.18-3.7 has
the efect of encouraging violence against women in men-women relatonships.
The second is to share one way of reading that can help us raise new questons
about ourselves, our contexts and the text itself. Together these two aims
help us to read critcally and discern how
the text can be a transforming word of God
for Caribbean women and men.
Methodology
We can always ask - who wrote 1 Peter, for
whom was it writen, what did the writer
have in mind, or what was the problem in
the church that the writer was addressing?
Even if we are able to answer all these
questons correctly, without any speculaton (which is highly unlikely) we
stll have the challenge of its relevance and meaningfulness to women. How
can the text be meaningful to countless Caribbean girls and women who are
living in the contexts of male violence in girlfriend-boyfriend, common law
and marital relatonships?
This Bible study uses an approach that focuses on the readers lived
experiences, the nature of the biblical text, the discourses that are embedded
in readers contexts and the discourses operatng in the biblical text. This
approach requires that we always ask the following critcal questons: How
does my interpretaton of the text ft the understanding of a God who creates

The word of God can be a
word of afrmaton, but not
always. It can also be a word
of challenge and disturbance,
calling us to re-think some of
the understandings that we
have taken for granted.
25
women and men in Gods own image
and requires just relatonships between
women and men? What are the discourses
that are functoning in the text? What are
the discourses functoning in the readers
context and does the interpretaton
promote just and transforming values for
women and men?
Discourse is used in this context to refer
to cultural statements and understandings
that a text makes, (implicitly and explicitly),
the hidden assumptons that the statements
contain and the understandings that the statements exclude.
An example of discourse functoning in a Jamaican text:
The following Jamaican folk song that children sing at school concerts and
comedians perform on stage is a good illustraton of how discourse functons
in texts.
Woman have heavy load
When Satday mawning come
When de money no nuf
She call yu duty bway,
But when de money nuf
She call yu sweete pie, honey bunch
1
Focusing only on the individual words in the song, will cause us to miss the
dominant discourse in the song that is the statements it makes about women
in intmate relatonships, and the truths that are declared about women
and men. We will also miss out on the understandings that the statements
leave out.
For example, the discourse in the song constructs women as manipulatve and
even abusive. Women manipulate men for money. Women cuss them out
and sweet them up, based on how the money fows. These understandings
about women are not limited to that partcular song, but they appear in many
folk songs, local songs, jokes and everyday Jamaican talk. What the discourse
does not tell us is why Saturdays are burdensome for women, or why the
idea of money no nuf is signifcant to women. It does not say whether
1 Meaning, Women have heavy loads when Saturday mornings come. When the money is
not enough, she calls you dirty boy When the money is enough she calls you sweete pie,
honey bunch

Discourse is used in
this context to refer to
cultural statements and
understandings that a
text makes, (implicitly
and explicitly), the hidden
assumptons that the
statements contain and the
understandings that the
statements exclude.
26
the money no nuf situaton results from rum shops getng frst claim on
the money. The discourse leaves out important parts such as, who has the
responsibility for stretching the dollar in families. It does not say to whom the
shopkeeper looks to receive payments on Saturdays, or who has to face the
landlord about rents on Saturdays. It does not say whether afer putng in her
share of work and money, the mans share is missing. These details are lef out
of the discourse, yet they are important to get a fuller meaning from the song.
When we pay atenton to the assumptons, claims and the one-sidedness of
the discourse that is functoning in the song, we gain greater awareness of the
various meanings that are communicated by the song. It puts us in a positon
to raise critcal questons about the transformatve value of the song.
Using this methodology in a Bible study group
Reading steps
Pray for guidance.
Read the text through making a list of what it prescribes for slaves, slave
masters, wives and husbands.
Mount the list in a prominent place.
Name and refect on known instances of violence against women in your
Caribbean context.
Display newspaper clippings of actual situatons of violence against
women in a visible area.
Recall and refect on examples of violence against women that you have
witnessed or heard about. Add to the list.
Recall songs, or statements, or folk stories that make fun of mens violence
against women.
Go back to the biblical text.
- Identfy one dominant discourse about women and men in the
text
- What are some of the values that the discourse regards as proper
in husband-wife relatons?
- How does power functon in the dominant discourse for
example, is there a window for collaboratve decision-making,
how and where do we fnd the womans voice? Is authority
shared? How does power operate in a context of submission?
- How can an uncritcal living out of these values and power
27
relatons help to create and set in moton the conditons for
mens violence against women in marriages, common law or
boyfriend-girlfriend relatonships?
Ask, What is the word of God to us from this text? How does this text
challenge us to act for change?
Remember that the Word of God might be a confrmaton, a call to re-
think some of the understandings we take for granted or it can be a call
to work for change.
Reading the Bible is a politcal act because it does not stop at reading. It
demands actons for change.
An example of how to read the text using this approach: the context for
reading is Jamaica. Identfy and refect on violence against women in the
Jamaican context.
My home church in a small village
Sister Williams is absent from prayer meetng again. Its nothing new. When
Sister Williams gets beatng from her husband, she hides from the public and
from the church untl the swellings go down. Everybody from the village and
the church knows this routne. Children going to the post ofce peek through
the thick hibiscus fence to see the excitement.
Men playing dominoes at the shop next to
the house of Sister and Mr. Williams slam the
dominoes louder as if to compete with the
sound of the strap on Sister Williams body.
The strange thing is that there is no sound from
Sister Williams. We children think she is dead
now! From the domino table, one man says
Dem ya woman can tek licks sah!
2
Villagers go about doing their business as usual. My grandmother and the
other women and men at church say nothing about it. But then comes the
prayer meetng night! One hell of a bawling and praying! Women beg God to
give Sister Williams strength to persevere and to wrap her in his everlastng
arms. They pray for the day when Sister Williams faith would bring him to
the Lord. When the circuit minister comes, he visits Sister Williams and her
husband as usual. He prays with them and encourages Mr. Williams to give his
life and his heart to the Lord. The minister is well received and entertained.
The issue of violence is not touched. In my home church, Sister Williams is
2 Meaning, These women can certainly take beatngs

Reading the Bible is a
politcal act because it
does not stop at reading.
It demands actons for
change.
28
promoted to a model of faithfulness for Christan
women who marry un-Christan men, for in her
trials she imitates Christ. But when Sister Rose in
the church, marries a Christan man, the same thing
repeats itself! Both women bond together: praying,
fastng, and hoping for a breakthrough.
My home town, litle princess in trouble!
Up the road, a few yards from the church, is another site of violence. Princess,
the teen-age girl, who runs away from home to live with her boyfriend and his
family, tries to run again. She doesnt get far. Her boyfriend catches her and
gives her a beatng with a cutlass and takes her back to his home. The women
nurse the wounds. Nothing is said about the violence. The village people
shake their heads, Dis likkle gal no hav no ambiton!
3
Her family members
are angry with her because she leaves high school to be with this young man
and according to them, sweet nanny goat must run im belly
4
. Moreover
most people are afraid of the cutlass-wielder and the power of his cutlass.
How do women like Sister Williams and Litle Princess, who live in conditons
of violence, read this text to fnd meanings for their lives? How might women
and men who are concerned about male violence against women in Caribbean
societes read this text to fnd meanings?
Identfy discourses that are operatng in the biblical text.
Biblical texts consist of more than words and sentences.
The biblical text itself consists of discourses.
5
A prominent discourse in
this text is the discourse on submission. What is important to note is that
submission is presented as the duty of wives and slaves, but not of husbands
and slave masters (2.18, 3.1). As well, it is presented as the mark of a holy
life with respect to slaves and women, but not with respect to men and slave
masters (2.19-21, 3.1). We must ask questons such as, from where might this
understanding come? To what extent might biblical writers be depending on
3 Meaning, This litle girl has no ambiton
4 A proverbial way of saying that appearances are deceptve - what looks nice and entcing will
bring you much pain.
5 By discourses, we mean statements, or ways of speaking or writng that communicate
understandings that are regarded as truth. This truth is hardly ever questoned because it
is presented in a convincing way and it tends to ft certain dominant understandings. Because
of these characteristcs, what is key is to pay atenton to the discourses in the text, what they
say, what they leave out and what assumptons they make. This understanding of discourse
represents a combinaton of Edward Saids view of Othering and Michel Foucaults view of
how language functons

Biblical texts consist
of more than words
and sentences.
29
the prevailing patriarchal cultural values to provide them with understandings
to explain the proper behaviour of Christan women?
One strategy is to pay atenton to how the
discourse makes the redemptve sufering
and death of Christ the model that slaves
and women must adopt (2.21-25). What is
also important to note is that the discourse
does not menton other understandings of
Jesus sufering and death. For example, it
excludes the prominent understanding of
Jesus as co-suferer with us for the sake of
strengthening our resolve to resist unjust
sufering.
6
The way in which the discourse endorses passive submission and excludes
any understanding of God in-solidarity with us working for changes, alerts
us to ask more questons about the values and understandings that the
discourse is endorsing. Not only do we ask about the endorsement, but we
also ask about the kinds of understandings it excludes and the implicatons
of all these. In other words, what are the implicatons of this endorsement or
the exclusion?
Consider, for example, how an endorsement of unqualifed submission makes
it easier for Christan women who are victms of violence to spiritualize
violence, rather than consider how it fractures the image of God in them.
Consider also how difcult it is for Christan women to even think about
resistng violence in their marriages when they believe that their faith requires
that they submit unconditonally to their husbands. The case of Sisters Wynter
and Rose clearly demonstrates the spiritualizaton of male violence against
them. Very ofen it is an uncritcal reading of the instructons in this text that
infuences Christan women to stay in violent and abusive relatonships. Many
lose their lives while holding on to this texts teaching on womens submission
to men.
The discourse on submission presents a disturbing picture of the ideal wife.
Her fnest atribute is her gentle and quiet spirit. Her mentor is Sarah who
obeyed Abraham and called him master (3.5-6). The discourse on submission
here, presents Sarah only from the perspectve of an obedient and subservient
wife. But according to the Genesis texts, Sarah is much more complex and her
6 This is an important piece in womanist reading of scriptures as well as feminist and diferent
strands of liberatonist readings.

Consider, for example,
how an endorsement of
unqualifed submission makes
it easier for Christan women
who are victms of violence to
spiritualize violence, rather
than consider how it fractures
the image of God in them.
30
struggles are much more complicated than
the discourse admits. Sarah struggles in
Genesis as a woman in a patriarchal culture
that treats her as an object of disgrace
because she couldnt have children. While
the discourse on submission is trying to
make her into a subservient and obedient
wife, the Genesis story shows her as making
decisions and negotatng her way out of
the Abraham-Hagar-Sarah situaton. We
must ask how it serves the discourse on submission to construct Sarah as the
ancestral mother of obedience and subservience. How is this understanding of
Sarah expected to shape womens lives? Marriages? Does it mater that there
is a close relatonship between womens submission and subservience to men,
and mens acts of violence against women? Can a subservient and obedient
Sarah be a positve role model for transformatve marriage relatonships? Do
these instructons ft our understandings of Gods concern for the well-being
of women and men? How might these instructons refect the understandings
of leaders in a patriarchal culture, thinking within the box of patriarchy, and as
such failing to present to the community a satsfactory understanding of what
God requires for our relatonships?
Caribbean women readers, who are aware of how Christan teachings of
submission were used to keep the systems of Slavery and Indentureship in
place, have ready-made lenses to read this text critcally. As women of faith
we do not cast out the text. Instead we sharpen our lens and try to distnguish
the diferences between the voice of God calling us to just relatonships in
families, churches and communites and the voice of the dominant discourse
that is reproducing the unhealthy values of past communites.
Discerning the diference between the voice of God calling us to just
relatonships and the voice of discourse calling us to reproduce the unhealthy
values of past communites.
When we pay atenton to how the discourse leaves out the dominant
Christan claim that male and female are created equally in the image of God,
it causes us to become suspicious of what is going on in the text. In one breath
the discourse on submission suppresses all understandings of being made
as equal partners and bearing the image of God and promotes hierarchal
relatons that maintain subservience of women and slaves to husbands and
slave masters!
Overall we reject the claims of this discourse on submission for several

Discerning the diference
between the voice of God
calling us to just relatonships
and the voice of discourse
calling us to reproduce the
unhealthy values of past
communites
31
reasons. It fails to consider men-women relatons
in just ways, and in so doing it paves the way
for mens abusive use of power and exercise of
violence against women in these relatonships.
More importantly, it functons to efectvely
degrade the image of God in both women and
men. On the surface it might appear that men
are beneftng, but in reality, the image of God
is fractured in Mrs. Williams, her husband, Litle
Pat and her boyfriend.
With violence against women, the image of God
is fractured in women, men and children
What is the word of God to us from this text?
1 Pet 2.18-3.7 can be seen as a text that presents
a dominant discourse on submission that distorts
the biblical understanding of women and men
being created in the image of God as partners in
Gods plan for a new creaton. It afrms hierarchy
and submission as correct values for family,
church and society. This text has the efect of
creatng and normalizing mens violence against women and sanctoning the
dominaton by the powerful. Rather than presentng good news, this text
presents troubling and disturbing news for women and men. How do we
respond to this text?
Resist and work for change: (1) resist all interpretatons of this text that tend
to make womens submission appear normal; (2) hold every interpretaton
under the scrutny of God who desires just relatons between women and
men; and (3) work for change.
Actons for change
Following up on the Bible study:
Seek out places and groups in your locaton where God is already using
other people to help in resistng violence against women. Invite a speaker
from these places to your Bible study group.
Have a special session on forgoten sisters women with disabilites.
Invite someone from a local organisaton that works with women with
disabilites to talk to the group about the way violence impacts this
special group of women.

With violence against
women, the image
of God is fractured
in women, men and
children

Resist and work for
change: (1) resist all
interpretatons of this
text that tend to make
womens submission
appear normal; (2) hold
every interpretaton
under the scrutny of
God who desires just
relatons between
women and men; and
(3) work for change.
32
Contact organisatons such as YWCA, Womens Resource and Outreach
Centre and other womens organisatons to learn about resources and
ways of partnering for the sake of struggling to end violence against
women.
Dedicate a Lenten season to focus on the issue of violence against
women.
MY STRUGGLE TO SERVE
Mt 5.13-14, Gen 16.8-9
Hon. Joan M. Purcell
Joan Purcell is President of the Senate in the Parliament of Grenada (2008- )
She has been involved in politcs for the past twenty years and has served
as an elected member of Parliament for the period 1990-1999. Joan
Purcell is an Evangelical Christan, a faith-based advocate and educator in
transformatonal politcs and development.
The small number of women who have reached the top in their professions
and are in powerful positons, and the steadily increasing number who are
moving up into important managerial and administratve positons have been
able to do so through hard work and determinaton, ofen against tremendous
odds.
1
I have certainly lived this reality. Ive walked
every difcult step in my own journey into
leadership.
My experience as a woman executve in
the NGO community (prior to public ofce)
was one of hard-work, yes, determinaton,
undoubtedly
As I have refected however on my
leadership/management style, I realized
that something was missing. It was not untl
several years later as I entered electoral
politcs that I identfed the missing factor
and for the frst tme confronted the issue of
power what it was, what it meant to me
1 ELLIS, Patricia (Ed.), Women of the Caribbean, (Zed Books Ltd., 1986), p.6.

The small number
of women who have
reached the top in their
professions and are in
powerful positons, and the
steadily increasing number
who are moving up into
important managerial and
administratve positons
have been able to do so
through hard work and
determinaton, ofen against
tremendous odds
33
and my ways of dealing with it. It was a terrifying experience!
2
As women we are afraid of power and unwitngly enter corridors of power,
especially politcal power, believing that we would be permited to make
meaningful contributons through the exercise of creatve power within our
spheres of infuence and in keeping with our vision of change. We realize all
too late that there is litle space for fresh ideas and new ideals.
It is my submission that despite the fact that more and more of us women
are now being involved in the politcal process and have taken our places
in parliament not much has changed. Our impact remains limited, our best
eforts dogged with difcultes and misunderstandings and our loyaltes frmly
ted to the status quo.
Caribbean feminist, Dr. Peggy Antrobus underscores the above fact: Many call
for womens leadership, but we all have experience of women in leadership
positons who act no diferently from their male colleagues. Indeed, many
women in formal positons of leadership are constrained in their ability to act
in the interests of the majority of people, and specifcally in the interest of
women. Most of the women in politcal leadership owe their positon to their
conformity with male models of leadership and their acceptance of the status
quo. They can be trusted to play the game according to the rules, trusted not
to rock the boat.
3
Added to that public challenge faced by female politcians, is the three-
pronged personal challenge of family, fear and fnance. These contnue to
haunt every aspiring female politcian.
In an informal survey done in 1994, of attudes to politcs among fourteen
highly eligible women professionals and community leaders, nine feared
the ugliness and corrupton of present day politcs, eight felt constrained
by commitment to and lack of support from family (husband and children),
and eleven indicated that they could not aford politcs as they had no
independent means. Having faced all three challenges, I can endorse the
tensions of my sisters.
My call to public ofce began at a tme of tragic politcal turmoil in my beloved
country the demise of the Grenada Revoluton 1979-1983, with the executon
of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and several of his Cabinet colleagues and
the death of dozens of Grenadians. This led to what is described by some
as an interventon and others an invasion between a United States and
2 Ibid., p.6.
3 ANTROBUS, Peggy, The Global Womens Movement: Origins, Issues and Strategies (Zed Books
Ltd., 2004), p.200.
My struggle to serve
34
East Caribbean fghtng force and the army of the
Revolutonary Military Council of Grenada.
It was a moment of shock for me when invited
by the then Governor General to be a member
of an Advisory Council - considered necessary for
the swif return of the country to Consttutonal rule. I was unable to speak,
overcome with awe. Me? To be quite honest my deepest inital reacton
was No way!
Panic-stricken, I sought counsel from two Christan friends. In their wisdom,
they assessed the situaton carefully and counselled wisely pointng out that
they saw it as a call of God on my life to serve at a tme when Grenada needed
people of faith and courage.
I responded to the call trustng God to see me through!
On November 15, 1983, I was sworn in as the lone female member of the
Advisory Council of the State of Grenada, in the company of eight others. My
tme of service one year - as a member of the Natonal Advisory Council
was one of preparaton - the Lord was preparing me for a much longer and
broader assignment!
Four and a half years later, I became involved for the frst tme in partsan,
electoral politcs. It was a dramatc and life-changing decision, being moved
by Jesus challenge to be salt and light (Mathew 5.13-14).
Afer much prayer and soul-searching, I responded to what I felt was a strong
call of God to be salt and light in my countrys politcs. In so doing, I lost
the respect of many in the evangelical community who thought Christans
should not be involved in politcs, and an already fragile marriage came to an
abrupt end afer twenty one years.
The decision made, I threw myself into planning a campaign strategy with help
from friends both home and abroad. The strength of my campaign was based
on my long years of dedicated community service and honest leadership.
I informed the electorate that I would be bringing to public ofce over eleven
years of experience and competence in development work, leadership and
management skills, a track record of integrity and sincerity, compassion and
trustworthiness in my work among the rural poor and deprived of our naton
state, bolstered by good interpersonal skills.

I responded to the call
trustng God to see me
through!
35
I also took the tme to underscore that I
had no money and that my campaign
would not be based on the traditonal
rum and corn-beef politcs. That such
politcs was demeaning both to the public
and to the politcian and I was commited
to a new way of doing politcs.
I was successful in electoral politcs in
March 1990 and June 1995 and took my
place as a Member of Parliament (MP) for
the town of St. George and member of the
Cabinet of the Government of Grenada
(1990-1995) and MP for Carriacou and
Pette Martnique in Oppositon (1995-
1999). For the next eight years I was
actvely involved in the politcal process of
my country.
As a member of Cabinet, I operated in several ministerial positons, including
the envied positon of Minister of Communicaton, Works and Public Utlites
a traditonal male domain.
My new way of doing politcs was not without considerable risks and pain.
I found myself once again being the lone woman in Cabinet and in the top
leadership of my Party. It was an agonizing task dealing with the manipulaton
and machinaton, jealous rivalry and lack of integrity of partsan, patriarchal,
politcs. I grew tred and disillusioned, batered and bruised.
I sought on several occasions to run away and like Hagar convicton came
when asked, Where have you come from and where are you going? And
the exhortaton, Return and submit to authority? (Gen 16. 8-9). My work
was unfnished!
Id like to conclude this very brief and condensed version of my politcal
journey with one of my poems which refects my feelings and experience of
this signifcant season of my life.
The CALL came to me loud and clear,
It was a call to serve. to be a patriot, a servant leader
My frst response, like Moses, was, NO WAY, fnd another
Looked for excuses, there was none for a start,
The tme had come, I must do my part

My new way of doing
politcs was not without
considerable risks and pain.
I found myself once again
being the lone woman
in Cabinet and in the top
leadership of my Party. It was
an agonizing task dealing
with the manipulaton
and machinaton, jealous
rivalry and lack of integrity
of partsan, patriarchal,
politcs. I grew tred and
disillusioned, batered and
bruised.
My struggle to serve
36
The tme had come, I must do my part
CONVICTION came slowly, but steadily and surely,
From deep within the Voice spoke clearly,
I was compelled to move forward.
To be a fghter and a faithful gatekeeper!
My inital reluctance gave way thereafer,
Was ready for service, full of fervour and verve
My tme was here, Id found the nerve
Yes COURAGE it took, moment by moment, day afer day
From inside and outside the forces of politcs held sway.
I was challenged and chastened, cheapened and chided,
My skin grew tougher, my sinews stronger
Gave as good as I got, alas words lef deep scars,
The batle turned ugly, ofen lef me in tears
DOUBT set in silently, swifly and tellingly,
From morning to night I pondered reality
I questoned assumptons, I queried outcomes,
Are my values being compromised, is my faith undermined?
Was this servant leadership, or just politcal one-up-man-ship?
DISILLUSIONMENT followed doubt and grew stronger and stronger
From beginning to end, should have heeded the danger, I chided my naivety,
I mocked my idealism
Atempts to put new wine into old wineskins, what cataclysm!
Was I presumptuous or just plain simple-minded
The issues were clear. Id just failed to be guided
Now to DISENGAGEMENT, sofer and gentler,
From un-peace to quiet rest, a movement much higher
I refect on my contributons, examine my failures,
My response is, now, what Lord are Your marching orders?
Cant run from my destny,
Gods purpose never falters,
The struggle contnues, Im stronger and wiser!
4
4 PURCELL, Joan M., Memoirs of a Woman in Politcs: Spiritual Struggle, (USA: Authorhouse,
2009).
37
THE GREATEST LOVE SONG
A BIBLE STUDY ON WOMEN AND SEXUALITY
Dr. Anna Kasaf Perkins
Anna Kasaf Perkins is a Roman Catholic theologian and former dean of
studies of St Michaels Theological College, Jamaica. Currently she is the
senior programme ofcer responsible for Quality Assurance at the Mona
Campus, University of the West Indies, Jamaica. She is part-tme faculty and
editor of the St Michaels Theological College journal, Groundings.
A whole book extolling the beauty of human sexual love! How could Scripture
more forcefully proclaim that human sexuality is not cheap, ugly, and evil, but
beautful, wholesome, and praiseworthy!
1
Introducton
This Bible study focuses on the Song of Songs
(SOS) or Cantcles of Cantcles, a unique
book in the Bible. The ttle for the book is
found in the frst verse of the frst chapter
and is the Hebrew idiom for the superlatve,
the greatest song. It calls to mind the very
popular song in the 1980s, The greatest
love of all. Or The Best Reggae Album in
the World Ever! It assumes the possibility
of being able to describe the greatest song
ever, the greatest love song ever.
Indeed, the Song of Songs is about love - great passionate love between a man
and a woman. Nowhere else in the scriptures do we fnd such an unabashed
celebraton of sexual intercourse and erotc love. In drawing together a
collecton of love poems or songs, the book openly extols the beauty of sex
and sexuality.
In our popular songs, love and the desire for sexual fulflment is ofen a focus
- I Want to Know What Good Love Feels Like (Anita Baker), Sexual Healing
(Marvin Gaye), Is this Love? (Bob Marley), The Way You Love Me (Timeka
1 DAVIDSON, Richard M., Theology Of Sexuality In The Song Of Songs: Return To Eden (Andrews
University Seminary Studies, Spring 1989, Vol. 27, No. 1, 1-19, Andrews University Press),
p. 5.

A whole book extolling the
beauty of human sexual
love! How could Scripture
more forcefully proclaim
that human sexuality is not
cheap, ugly, and evil, but
beautful, wholesome, and
praiseworthy!
The greatest love song
38
Marshall), This is Love (Tanya Stephens and Wyclef Jean), Lovers Choice
(Buju Banton) - just to name a few. Clearly, the human longing for love and the
experience of love is constant so the fow of love songs will remain constant,
even across centuries.
Background
In SOS, the various songs are also drawn into a unity by ascribing them to
a single author - Solomon; this is perhaps because his name is mentoned
in 3.7f and 8.11f.It may also be because Solomon was a reputed lover of
women (he had 700 wives and 300 concubines) and was in turn deeply loved
by women, like the Queen of Sheba, hence the other name for the book: Songs
of Solomon. SOS has therefore been atributed to him, although he clearly
could not have writen it. There are no compelling arguments, therefore,
to accept a Solomonic datng. Although many scholars agree on a postexilic
date for the book, many of the poems would have been composed at a much
earlier date.
Throughout the history of Christanity, the literal sense of SOS was not only
downplayed, but rejected altogether; intermitent atempts have been made to
remove it from the Bible or circumscribe the audience to read it. This indicates
the infuence on the development of Christanity of Greek philosophies like
Platonic dualism, and Stoicism, which accepted a dichotomy between things
of the fesh and things of the spirit. Perhaps the Church Father with the
most infuence on Christanitys ambivalence and outright hostlity towards
sexuality was Augustne, Bishop of Hippo (354-430 CE). He believed that, as
a result of the Fall in Genesis 3, human beings were ruled by carnal desires.
Indeed, purity was associated with sexual renunciaton, and all expressions of
bodily pleasure - including sexual expression - were considered evil. So, more
ofen than not, all erotc imagery [in SOS] was allegorized as the yearning of
the soul for union with God, or an expression of Christs love for his church
2
.
A key example of this allegorizaton of SOS is found in Origen of Alexandria
(ca. 185-254), who wrote a ten volume commentary on it. Origen warned that
the SOS is safe reading only for mature persons no longer troubled by sexual
desires: I advise and counsel everyone who is not yet rid of the vexatons of
fesh and blood and has not ceased to feel the passion of his bodily nature,
to refrain completely from reading this litle book and the things that will be
said about it.
3
2 Ibid., p.2
3 Ibid., p.2
39
Questons to ponder:
What does it mean for you as a woman that one whole book in the Bible
is dedicated to erotc love?
What ideas present in our Christan
faith make an appreciaton for the Song
of Songs difcult?
Interestngly, God is nowhere mentoned in
the text (the closest reference is the love of
the two being referred to as Yahwehs fame
(8.6). Human love is a fame lit from the fre
of Yahwehs love. Clearly, in the discussion
on love, one plus one does not equal two;
as is ofen touted at weddings, the Divine
is the third party in every marriage/love
relatonship. Certainly, God is not absent
from the equaton as God created human
beings and made them sexual beings. Gods
love and concern for creaton is therefore very present in the celebraton of
the joys of sex and sexual union.
Read Song of Songs
The frst song
The frst song, chapter 1, which runs for seventeen verses, is the opening
dialogue between the woman and her partner; it is the key text for this
refecton. This opening chapter appeals to me, an African-descended
Caribbean woman, especially verses 5 and 6. In these verses, the woman sings
to her lover:
I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of
Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. Look not upon me, because I am
black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mothers children
were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but
mine own vineyard have I not kept... (1.6).
The word translated black in the King James Version is translated tanned,
swarthy, dark, even brown in other versions of the Bible. However, this
term does not indicate African heritage, but rather the burning which comes
from exposure to the sun, as verse 6 atests. Nonetheless, the Catholic Youth

I am black, but comely,
O ye daughters of Jerusalem,
as the tents of Kedar, as
the curtains of Solomon.
Look not upon me, because
I am black, because the
sun hath looked upon
me: my mothers children
were angry with me; they
made me the keeper of the
vineyards; but mine own
vineyard have I not kept...
(1.6).
40
Bible
4
includes a brief special feature on verse 5, enttled African American
and Beautful. This beautfully designed and referenced study Bible is aimed
at young people in the diverse American context. This partcular feature asks
who is speaking out and proclaiming herself to be black and beautful. It then
goes on to say that many of the people in the Old Testament world were
black Africans or of Afro-Asiatc (Asians of black African heritage). These Afro-
Asiatcs are described as having various skin tones ranging from dark to ruddy.
The further claim is that the woman in the verse describes herself as black
while later describing her love as ruddy (5.10). The writers then conclude that
African descended people come in all shades that need to be respected.
The Rastafarians in Jamaica believe that they are the Israelites spoken of
in the Bible, and that the Bible is writen by and for Black people.
5
Rastas
conclude from the above mentoned verses (and others like Lam 5.10; Joel 2.8;
Hab 2.10; Job 30.30; Ps 119.83) that Solomon is black. Dvorin highlights the
problem with the Rasta interpretaton of the scriptures as they take individual
verses out of context; in fact, they ignore the explanaton in the succeeding
verse. Also, in reading the KJV English translaton of the Bible, they do not
take account of the fact that it is the female who is actually speaking in these
verses and not her lover. Yet, the gender of the speakers is clearly indicated
in the Hebrew text.
Ignoring the gender of the speaker simply
serves to confrm the Rastas prior belief
that Solomon is Black, as is the ancestor of
the Emperors of Ethiopia, born of Solomons
seducton of the Queen of Sheba. The Bible,
however, is silent about the relatonship
between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba
and like so many other scriptural silences
this begs for further readings. The Kebra
Nagast, the foremost creaton of Ethiopian
literature (1270 CE), tells the story from a
diferent perspectve: the Queen is seduced
by Solomon and bears him a son. In the
Kebra, Solomon is shown acknowledging the racial heritage of Sheba and
another of his wives, a daughter of the pharaoh, when he tells her that she
and the Queen of Ethiopia are black and thus the descendants of Ham,
referring to Genesis 9.18-27, a story which has ofen been used to justfy the
enslavement of African peoples).
4 The Catholic Youth Bible, (Saint Mary's Press; Revised editon, 2005).
5 DVORIN, Dani, Parallelisms and Diferences: Rastafarianism and Judaism. (The Dread Library.
April 20, 1998), htp://debate.uvm.edu/dreadlibrary/dvorin.html.

The Rastafarian approach,
much like the African
American, while not being
historically or literally
correct, serves a key
ideological functon of
valuing a group that has
been too much denigrated
or belitled, ofen on the
basis of the scriptures.
41
The Rastafarian approach, much like the African American, while not being
historically or literally correct, serves a key ideological functon of valuing a
group that has been too much denigrated or belitled, ofen on the basis of
the scriptures.
Questons to ponder:
What is the value of the Rastafarian approach to interpretng Song of
Songs (SOS)?
How is the woman portrayed in the SOS?
How might that descripton be applied to you?
Caribbean women and sexuality
The Songs of Solomon (SOS) celebrates the ideal of commited erotc love,
which allows both partners to fnd fulflment
and joy. Yet it may prove challenging to read
SOS in the Caribbean because of the imagery
it contains. We women do not relate easily
to being described as the steeds of the
pharaohs chariot or of having breasts
like twin fawns, the young of a gazelle that
browse among the lilies.
We have our own terms of endearment
douxdoux/chunkalunks/boobalups (Trinidad
and Tobago), spigoo/chululups (Jamaica),
sweets/sugah (Guyana), sugarcane/apple pie (Barbados).
Our ways of describing the feeling of love for another are also fairly idiosyncratc:
Jamaican DJ Tony Rebel, for example, tells a woman that he loves her like a
fresh vegetable. This probably speaks to the wholesomeness of the beloved
(and also perhaps to her untouched, untainted state). Jamaicas Miss Lou is
famous for saying, I checks for you like how fy check fah sugah. Clearly the
atracton between them is magnetc. Guyanese singer Tamika laments that
her heart was sitng on a shelf, but her new lover made her biter sweet.
Bajan PJ invites a woman to be his sweet potato pie and the water in his
coconut with jelly. The beloved/love is sweet, sweet, irresistble, and even
thirst-quenching. There is ofen the sense that without love or the love of a
partcular person death is inevitable - I cant live if living is without you.
Yet even among the sweetness, all is not sweet. There is much that we
can learn from SOS on the divine intentons for human sexuality which is
not currently fully refected in the relatons between men and women in

We have our own terms of
endearmentdouxdoux/
chunkalunks/boobalups
(Trinidad and Tobago),
spigoo/chululups (Jamaica),
sweets/sugah (Guyana),
sugarcane/apple pie
(Barbados).
42
our region. Neilson Waithe, a Bajan pastoral
counsellor, explores the sexuality of Caribbean
men and women in Caribbean Sexuality. He fnds
that generally speaking, sex is viewed as being
natural and so abstnence is thought to bring about
mental illness and various other perversions. Sadly,
the acceptance of the naturalness of sex is belied
by an accepted compulsiveness that undercuts a
vision of sex that truly allows for choice, including
the choice for celibacy. This is compounded by the
contradictory messages given to men and women
about their involvement in sexual actvity.
Most Caribbean women are brought up in a very strict atmosphere, with lots
of discipline and supervision; they are ofen given confictng messages about
the nature of sex and sexualitymen are bad and will get you pregnant and
leave you! Dont have sex too early (playing woman/force ripe), women
need to give men sex in order to get things, a baby can hold a man!
A woman who loves sex is loose. (Male socializaton is the exact opposite
of this!). The womans genitalia and bodily secretons are ofen viewed as
unclean and destructve, as in the case of menstrual blood. At the same tme,
fertlity and resultng pregnancy is prized, and every woman must have out
her lot.
It is no wonder that many Caribbean women display ambivalent attudes
towards sex and sexuality and are unable to see their sexual organs as being
good, clean and God-given.
Tied in with the contradictory messages conveyed is the dearth of
informaton about sex provided to young people, which ofen leads to sexual
experimentaton in adolescence, early pregnancy and, in many instances,
blighted futures. In some pregnancies, women experience a lack of emotonal
support from the male partner, and sometmes even outright denial of paternity.
(The breakdown in the frst relatonship ofen signals the experiences many
women have at the hands of Caribbean men; they are mistreated, exploited,
while seemingly idolized and adored in their maternal role.) When early
pregnancy occurs, the girls relatonship with her ofen single-parent mother
tends to deteriorate; beatngs and expulsion are not uncommon. Rev. Waithe
argues that women develop an attude of accommodaton in terms of their
responses to sexuality when they are not allowed to appreciate themselves
as sexual persons who have a right to be sexual.
6
Later on in life, unlike the
6 WAITHE, Neilson, Caribbean Sexuality, A Pastoral Counsellor Looks at Family Paterns and
the Infuences of Culture on Caribbean People, (Moravian Church of America, 1993).

It is no wonder that
many Caribbean
women display
ambivalent attudes
towards sex and
sexuality and are
unable to see their
sexual organs as being
good, clean and God-
given.
43
female lover in SOS and Sheba in the Kebra Negast, many Caribbean women
come to reject their sexuality. (This will be explored further in the sectons
below enttled Caribbean Mother and Reverent Sex.)
Questons to ponder:
What are some reasons for the ambivalent messages that are sent to
Caribbean girls as they are socialised?
In what ways do women exhibit rejecton of their sexuality?
How can this rejecton be addressed?
At the same tme, this attude of accommodaton or rejecton is being
challenged by a wave of assertve, in-your-face female DJs like Lady Saw, Tanya
Stephens and Spice, who are forthright in demanding sexual satsfacton, are
explicit about sexual desire, giving and receiving sexual pleasure and making
choices about sexual partners based on
material possessions and/or sexual prowess.
Demands are made for stab[bing] out mi
meat (Lady Saw) and invitatons are issued
to kill mi wid di cocky (Spice). These DJs
highlight the transactonal nature of sex
within the region generally and certainly
among some lower income groups for whom
the womans body is ofentmes the only
tradable commodity. The centrality of the
transactonal process is captured in Macka
Diamonds Money O and Tek xxxxx, gal
by Vybz Kartel, a popular male DJ. In Boom
Wuk, Tanya Stephens sings of being willing
to engage sexually with a man who has no
money simply because he is a skilled lover (have mi a let of even doah yuh
bruk; love di long ding dong).
Undoubtedly, such popular music while, on the one hand, exposing the reality
of our attudes towards sexuality and appearing to empower women around
maters of sex and sexuality, may actually reinforce negatve attudes towards
women, men and relatonships.
Questons to ponder:
How do the popular singers in your country portray female sexuality?
What is unhelpful/helpful in that portrayal?

Undoubtedly, such popular
music while, on the one
hand, exposing the reality
of our attudes towards
sexuality and appearing
to empower women
around maters of sex and
sexuality, may actually
reinforce negatve attudes
towards women, men and
relatonships.
44
How should the church teach about the portrayals of sex and sexuality in
Caribbean popular music?
How can the church use popular musics resources to teach about sex and
sexuality?
Caribbean mother
The Caribbean mother is a key fgure in the socialisaton of daughters;
ofentmes she is a contradictory fgure. Many Caribbean mothers try to
protect daughters from the negatve experiences they can have with male
partners, yet, while being independent and hardworking. Women are usually
very fnancially and emotonally dependent on one male afer another. Many
Caribbean women engage in a transactonal exchange that ofen involves sex
and material and emotonal resources. Guyanese Grace Nichols captures this
graphically in her epic poem, When they ask you about Black Women...
where Nichols emphasizes the willingness of Black/Caribbean women to do
anything to ensure the survival of their ofspring:
And yes we cut bush
To clear paths
For our children
And yes,
We throw sprat
To catch a whale
And yes,
If need be well trade
A piece-a-xxxxx
Than see the pickney dem
In de grip-a-hungry-belly.
The importance of sacrifce for ofspring is certainly the key among Caribbean
women, but it perhaps loses its value when only women engage in this
process, ofentmes owing to the lack of support from men. No doubt the
sacrifce of the body and the exchange of sex serve to further alienate women
from their body-selves; reduces the mutuality that is ideally to be embodied
in sexual interactons. (Indeed, the value of a mothers self sacrifce seems
questonable when the daughter becomes pregnant and does not fulfl her
potental).
Over tme many women tend to develop a sense of accommodaton in sexual
relatonships since they have not been able to develop an appreciaton of
themselves as sexual persons.

Over tme many
women tend to
develop a sense of
accommodaton in
sexual relatonships
since they have not
been able to develop
an appreciaton of
themselves as sexual
persons.
45
No doubt the churchs percepton of sexuality is also at play in forming these
attudes. Some Caribbean women who reach middle age make claims of
being done wid di worl and this is ofen manifested in a deeper religiosity
which involves rejectng sex outright. Diane Austn-Broos
7
sees this attude
expressed over and over again by Pentecostal women when they say, Jesus is
my only man. It seems that having been exploited and partcipants in unequal
sexual encounters with men during their younger years, these women are lef
with a negatve attude towards sex. Of course, this is not the case for all
Caribbean women but a signifcant number in all ethnic, racial, income and
religious groups.
Questons to ponder:
How can the Caribbean mother be empowered into real love of bodyself
in spite of the call to self sacrifce?
How is the transactonal nature of sex demonstrated in your country?
What can be done to counteract such perceptons?
Returning to paradise
There needs to be a process of engaging Caribbean women (and men) around
their sexuality that enables the relatonships in which they partcipate to
be more fulflling, mutual and life giving. This is where the beauty of SOS
is clear. SOS helps us realise that through love human beings develop and
realise their full potental as human beings. Landy
8
deepens our appreciaton
of SOS through a comparison with the Garden of Eden in Genesis. He argues
that in SOS human beings try to recreate Paradise, unlike what happens afer
the Fall in Genesis and in some parts of the Caribbean today, the lovers in
SOS celebrate nakedness; there is no shame in the body. Using metaphors
and double entendres the lovers celebrate, reveal and conceal the beauty of
sexual intercourse. In the Song nakedness can only be spoken of through
language: through the use of metaphors and metonymies that replaces the
genitals with secondary sexual features (for example, eyes, breasts) and by
remote and unlikely objects. The formal descriptons are in fact exercises in
frustraton.
9
In SOS, their love clearly involves a mutual give and take even in
the depth of longing.
Like the rest of creaton, sex is shown to be good; not to be interpreted as
part of fallen human nature. The lovers in the Song are presented as equals in
7 AUSTIN-BROOS, Diane J., Religion and the Politcs of Moral Orders, (Chicago: The University of
Chicago Press, 1997).
8 LANDY Francis, The Song of Songs and the Garden of Eden (JBL 98/4,1979), pp.513-528.
9 Ibid., p.526
46
every way. The female-male relatons celebrated are extremely positve and
egalitarian: My beloved is mine and I am his (2.16).
Interestngly, SOS opens and closes with the
woman speaking and she speaks most in the
collecton (81 verses to 49 for the man). She
initates most of the meetngs and is just as
actve in the lovemaking as the man. There
is no shame in that forthrightness. She is
just as eloquent about the beauty of her
lover as he is about hers. She is also gainfully
employed as a shepherdess and vineyard
keeper and is therefore not fnancially
dependent on her lover in anyway. Yet her
fnancial independence is not a barrier to
love and her partner does not feel less than
a man. Throughout the Song she is the mans
equal in every sense. She presents an ideal for Caribbean women.
Interestngly, at no point is the procreatve dimension of sex mentoned.
Lovemaking for the sake of love is the key. Sexual union has an independent
meaning apart from procreaton and is not presented as inferior to that end.
Sexuality and sensuality are presented as wholesome, beautful, good
something to be enjoyed without shame or embarrassment. We may say
that love and sexuality in the Caribbean has more about it of Eden than the
vineyard in SOS. Clearly, it is tme to change that.
No doubt, the Christan church will have a key role to teach about the nature
and meaning of sex drawing on the richness of SOS. The church need not fear
that opening the box will release into the world Pandoras demons of sexual
depravity and excess. Sadly, as we have demonstrated briefy, they are already
out here, and luring them back into the box is not an opton. The church
possesses the resources of a traditon that recognises the value of the body in
its faith in a God that became human through the sacrifce of a woman.
Questons to ponder:
Is there a sense in which some Caribbean people cheapen sex through
their refusal to share it within a truly loving commited relatonship? Can
you provide examples?
How should the church go about teaching about the churchs vision of sex
and sexuality which is so beautfully expressed in SOS?

Like the rest of creaton, sex
is shown to be good; not
to be interpreted as part
of fallen human nature.
The lovers in the Song
are presented as equals
in every way. The female-
male relatons celebrated
are extremely positve and
egalitarian: My beloved is
mine and I am his (2.16).
47
What are the key ideas that the church needs to share concerning sex and
sexuality?
Read the poem, Good...Love and ponder the questons below.
GOOD...LOVE
FOR ANITA
I want to know what good love feels like... Good love...
Intertwined bodies breaking sweat
Release[d]
Together yet apart
Joined but broken
Yearning to be one in the depths
Emptness echoes deep long again again again.
In the beginning
Divine moulded, massaged, baked, blew
Made two
This is good
This is loved
Called for love
Made for love.
Good love
God-love[d].
In the then
Reptlian incursion, womanly guile
Manly cowardice
Fed feeds sorrow aplenty
Flesh of fesh no longer
Broken ribs
Legacy of shame shame shame.
In the fres of youth
Desire burns strong
Furtve caresses, fumbles
Inadequacy, lies, pain
Good lover
48
Unsure
Good loving
Wrong
Take what you can get
Piddling exchange.
Middled years
Yearning for the day
Time tested words say
Good, love.
Good love
Good God!
Anna Kasaf Perkins, 2010
Questons to ponder:
How does the poem capture the divine intenton for sex?
How does it present the difering sexual experiences at various stages of
life?
What does good love look/feel like for you as a woman?
How do you get good love?
REVERENT SEX
Dr. Anna Kasaf Perkins
We Christans are stll fairly squeamish about public discussions on sex - liking
it; wantng it; who is having it; who shouldnt be having it; what kind to have
and how to have it. Hence our overall discomfort with popular artstes in the
Dancehall and Soca who are explicit about sexual desire, giving and receiving
sexual pleasure and making choices about sexual partners based on material
possessions and/or sexual prowess.
Few of us can recount the last tme we heard the word sex feature in a
sermon or homily.
We cant seem to shake the feeling that there is something not too right
about our sexuality. Happily, there is a woman pastor who has taken sex
and sexuality seriously. She believes she has a mission to Christans in the
49
Jamaican/Caribbean community who struggle with
issues around sex and sexuality. At the same tme,
she calls the church to take the lead in educaton on
sex. She has the temerity to call herself Professor
Sex.
Meet Rev. Carla Dunbar, an ordained pastor in the
Church of God of Prophecy. She pastors Buf Bay
and Orange Bay churches in Portland, Jamaica. An atractve, bright, vivacious,
trendy woman in her mid-fortes, she brings fashion, style and passion to
her ministry. (She, of course, faces critcism since she doesnt look like a
pastor, talk like one, or dress like one). She brings to her ministry a wealth
of personal experience, including motherhood at fourteen, abuse, marital
infdelity, an outside child, nervous breakdowns, contemplaton of suicide,
and unexplained illnesses. She is a wife, mother, grandmother, pastor, sister,
counsellor, and friend...a deeply sexual woman. Hers is a story of inspiraton,
courage, change, and most of all divine call.
Questons to ponder:
How are women pastors called to minister in our Caribbean church?
When was the last tme you heard sex discussed in church?
How was it done?
Sex in the church
Rev. Dunbar is very explicit about sex - sexual positons, sexual desire, sexuality,
sex and God. Sex jokes feature in her repertoire. Her interest in Christans
attudes to sex fowered in her fnal year at the Jamaica Theological Seminary
(JTS) where she received her BA in Theology and a double minor in Guidance
and Counselling and Pastoral Studies (2001).
She was saddened and intrigued by what she learned from talking to diferent
groups of Christans: some were very sad and reserved about sex; some had
never seen their spouse naked; others never talk with their partner about
sex. She also realised that Christan marriages are failing, even more than
secular marriages. Sex is one of the top reasons (along with fnancial issues
and poor communicaton) that such marriages fail. Sex isnt the only glue
but it is a very important one.
Sexual frequency speaks to a healthy marriage, she says. Yet fornicaton,
including illicit sexual engagement like adultery, is rife in the church. The reason

Few of us can recount
the last tme we
heard the word sex
feature in a sermon or
homily.
Reverent sex
50
for this is lack of knowledge (My people perish for lack of knowledge.) She
tells a truly frightening story of a seventy-year old woman, who, at the end
one of Rev. Dunbars presentatons, went to the microphone and thanked her
profusely for her words.
This woman claimed that she never knew the word sex was in the Bible. She
always thought sex was wrong and would fast and pray afer having sex with
her husband. Her aversion to sex even led to her husband using a machete
to coerce her into having sex. This elderly woman publicly declared that she
felt liberated now that she knew that God sanctoned sex. Rev. Dunbar, to say
the least, was stunned by the existence of such levels of ignorance within the
church. This confrmed her resolve to minister to Christans in this area.
Questons to ponder:
What does your church teach about sexual intercourse?
Is it wholesome? Inspiring?
How should Christan approaches to sex difer from that of non-
Christans?
She has been on talk shows such as Ian Boynes Religious HardTalk (TVJ), To
Have and to Hold and Radio Counsellor (Love 101), The Susan Show (CVM);
she has been featured in the newspapers. She contnues to give seminars and
workshops; visits schools; and provides one-on-one counselling in every parish
and almost every Christan denominaton in Jamaica (and outside Jamaica as
well). Pastors approach her to talk to their congregatons; she counsels pastors
and their spouses who are themselves experiencing hurt in their sexual lives.
Her ministry is a success as there have been many marriages that have been
restored, persons enlightened, lives touched.
Of course, the ministry is not without its challenges. Pastors and overseers
within her church have complained about her sexually explicit conversatons
on public television (She ah pastor?); her contemporary style of ministry and
trendy dressing (trousers, earrings, relaxed hair, nails) has been critcized
within her evangelical community; her church members fail to provide support
(she is bringing the world into the church); her ministry to men causes a few
to come on to her and this has even threatened her marriage! She ofen gets
tred of talking about sex. Yet she presses on to answer the call to minister to
contemporary people in a contemporary tme.
God and sex
Pastor Dunbar is clear that God sees sex as deeply important to the point
51
that God devoted one book of the Bible
to sex (Songs of Solomon, of course)!
She declares that we are created as
sexual and sensual beings; our sexuality
is not bad. Our sexual feelings are not
bad and should not be shunned (prayed
away). We should embrace them and
praise God for them. At the same tme,
we must learn self control; sex is to be
within the confnes of marriage.
In marriage there are no holds barred,
no positon out of bounds, so long
as the spouses agree. Sex is a form of
communicaton between the couple.
She therefore encourages spouses to
make tme for each other and for sex.
Wives are to learn how to conduct and atre themselves so that they can be
atractve to their husbands and husbands are to do the same. She models this
for her congregants, those she counsels and those who atend her seminars.
Unlike what many Christans believe, she sees sex as both spiritual and physical.
When we have sex our entre self - body, soul and spirit - is involved. Sex is not
simply for procreaton. To say this is how the Bible describes it is to take the
scriptures out of context. Therefore, when two Christans in a marriage have
sex and cannot talk to each other about it because they feel what they are
doing is wrong, God cries!
Dysfunctonal families are the result of the churchs teaching on sex. Even the
families of pastors are impacted; since men are generally the leaders in the
church, and they tend to focus more on evangelizing and ofen neglect the
needs of their wives. Too ofen the diferences in the psychological makeup of
men and women are ignored. Premarital counselling ofen does not involve
discussion about healthy sexual relatonships they are taught that men are
wired to want more sex; women are wired to want more afecton and this is
a prelude to sex. Some Christan husbands therefore go outside to fnd the
satsfacton lacking in their marriage. Some Christan women believe that
certain positons and kinds of sexual behaviour are for women in the lower
classes who try to tempt their husbands away. Children are also afected -
high school students are afraid to talk about sexual organs; girls are afraid to
talk with boys for fear of being labelled; inappropriate sexual actvity can and
does result. Age appropriate informaton needs to be provided to stem this
tde.

Unlike what many Christans
believe, she sees sex as both
spiritual and physical. When
we have sex our entre self
- body, soul and spirit - is
involved. Sex is not simply for
procreaton. To say this is how
the Bible describes it is to take
the scriptures out of context.
Therefore, when two Christans
in a marriage have sex and
cannot talk to each other about
it because they feel what they
are doing is wrong, God cries!
Reverent sex
52
Rev. Dunbar feels that Christans have much to learn from the world about
sex and sexuality. The kinds of hang-ups around sex in the church are not very
present in the lives of those who do not atend church. Many secular men
and women have a deep appreciaton for their bodies and sex that should
not be discounted. With her ministry to the church, perhaps that learning has
begun.
Questons to ponder:
What can the church learn from the world about sex?
What processes can be engaged to help Christans learn about their
bodies, sex and sexual intercourse?
53
MATRIARCHS
Dr. Rachele Evelyn Vernon
Rachele (Evie) Vernon is a Jamaican Nannyish theologian and a deaconess of
the Anglican Church in Jamaica. She is currently the director of Selly Oak Centre
for Mission Studies, Queens Foundaton, Birmingham, UK. Evie is actve in
the feminist/womanist movement, in ecumenical concerns and worked as a
trainer for faith-based community workers to address HIV/AIDS.
Ofen tmes we see a situaton unfolding, but we only see one side of the
story. This ofen leads us to cast value judgments, without assimilatng the
stories of the voiceless others for whom justce is denied. A justce reading of
the biblical narratve enables us to hear
other voices and get other perspectves
on the story.
For this study you are invited to read the
various segments using various voices,
each person narratng one characters
thoughts and feelings. Before looking
at the questons which follow the study,
discuss the impact of becoming the
character on your understanding of the
biblical text.
Gen 21.8-20
The child grew and was weaned, and Abraham held a great feast on
the day Isaac was weaned. But Sarah saw the son mocking - the one
Hagar the Egyptan had borne to Abraham. So she said to Abraham,
Drive out this slave with her son, for the son of this slave will not be
a co-heir with my son Isaac!
Now this was a very difcult thing for Abraham because of his son.
But God said to Abraham, Do not be concerned about the boy and
your slave. Whatever Sarah says to you, listen to her, because your
ofspring will be traced through Isaac. But I will also make a naton of
the slaves son because he is your ofspring.
Early in the morning Abraham got up, took bread and a waterskin,
[put them] on Hagars shoulders, and sent her and the boy away. She

Ofen tmes we see a situaton
unfolding, but we only see one
side of the story. This ofen leads
us to cast value judgments,
without assimilatng the stories
of the voiceless others for
whom justce is denied. A justce
reading of the biblical narratve
enables us to hear other voices
and get other perspectves on
the story.
Matriarchs
54
lef and wandered in the Wilderness of Beer-sheba. When the water
in the skin was gone, she lef the boy under one of the bushes. Then
she went and sat down nearby, about a bowshot away, for she said,
I cant [bear to] watch the boy die! So as she sat nearby, she wept
loudly.
God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar
from heaven and said to her, Whats wrong, Hagar? Dont be afraid,
for God has heard the voice of the boy from the place where he is.
Get up, help the boy up, and sustain him, for I will make him a great
naton. Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So
she went and flled the waterskin and gave the boy a drink. God was
with the boy, and he grew; he setled in the wilderness and became
an archer.
Hear the echoes of enslaved womens experiences
Slut! Steal away the womans husband and laugh at her!
Is it to the desert that missis (mistress) sent her to? Suppose she (is) dead?
All (those) like she (her) must dead (die)! Slut!
Oh God. Poor thing all de (the) same. To die like that. Then maasa (master)
knows about it?
But of course
And he didnt stop it? Even his child he allowed missis to send her away to
dead (die) in the desert? Mmmm.
And what shall he do? Missis says she (is) not having them here. Cast out the
bondswoman and her son. She (is) not having them here!
Hagar
The voices screamed through Hagars head as she tried to garner the scrap of
shadow beside the rock. She heard a rustling and wondered if it were the child
she had lef under the slight protecton of the leafess branches of the thorn
bush. She squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself not to turn her head. She
could not watch him die. She could not.
The women did not, could not let themselves understand. Slut? What choice
did she have? When Sarai had ordered her to go to Abrams bed, what should
she have done? Should she have said No thanks. It is against my religion.
Try your best! She was a slave. She would have just reached this desert a litle
faster.
Stll it might have been beter. At least that would have been her alone, and
not this innocent child.
55
It was not that she had wanted Abram - not at frst. In the beginning she had
clenched her teeth and prayed for it to be over.
It was evident that Abram also did not want her at frst. Poor old man - so
awkward, so touchingly polite. He had only ever been with Sarah as he once
confded. God, how he loved that woman! His precious Sarai. He would do
anything for her. And now she had required him to do this - to sleep with
another woman. And so he had done it. But he did not have to enjoy it.
It was later, afer months of trying to conceive and afer many disappointments
that she fnally admited certainty of her pregnancy. When she shared the
good news, Abram gave her a smile of such radiance, that she opened her
heart a tny crack and allowed herself to feel just a litle. He was stll an
awkward old man, but now he was her awkward old man. Even if just a litle
or barely.
She had really bloomed during her pregnancy, and he had been so atentve,
making sure that she rested, that she ate properly, that she had allowed
herself to hope a litle. Just a litle or barely.
And when Ishmael was born. Ah! That was a tme of magic. She had felt like a
queen. It was the best tme of her life. Beter even than her childhood before
the famine when her parents had sold her to the traders for debt. They had
been like one of those dream families, Abram, Ishmael and herself. He would
have done anything for her at that tme. Thus
she allowed herself to relax and to dream just
a litle.
And when Sarai, feeling partcularly burdened,
allowed her feelings to show briefy, in just a
glance or glare. She had let down her guard
just a litle. And that was all it had taken. Just
a look.
It was not Sarais cruelty in throwing her out
here that hurt her so much. She understood
that even though she could hardly agree with it. God knows, maybe she would
have done the same thing. The woman felt threatened, even though, in the
irony of ironies, the decision to have her conceive Abrams child had been
Sarais idea.
For Hagar, it was not Sarai as much as it was the pain of Abrams response or
lack of it. She had begged him, thrown herself at his feet and pleaded weeping,

She had really bloomed
during her pregnancy,
and he had been so
atentve, making sure
that she rested, that she
ate properly, that she had
allowed herself to hope a
litle. Just a litle or barely.
Matriarchs
56
even if not for her life, to spare their son. He would not even look at her. It
was then that she knew that all she had ever been to him was an incubator. A
baby machine to satsfy Sarais desires.
Abram
Abram looked at his sleeping wife, her face illumined by the glow of the
campfre outside the tent. Her face was lined now with the mark of the cruel
years, but to him she would always be beautful. In the silence of his heart he
spoke the words that he knew he would never have the courage to voice.
What have you made me do now, my Sarai? Murder two innocent people,
one my own child? Ah, Sarai, why have I never found the strength to stand up
to you, even when you want to destroy? Sarai. My Sarai.
When did we come to this? When did I move from being your friend and your
lover to being only the man who could not impregnate you? Oh Sarai You
felt that I despised you because you could not get pregnant, and only saw
you as the failed mother of my never-born sons. The truth is that it was you
who only saw me as the farmer whose worthless seeds failed to take root in
your soil.
Abram cried, Oh God, what have we become?
Sarai
I turned to you in the night and you were
gone to her again. You were never here for me
anymore. It was not supposed to be like that.
The baby was to have been ours, yours and
mine. She was just a womb - an incubator. This
should have brought us joy. Brought us closer
together. A son born to us - our son.
You say it never matered, but I felt you slipping
away from me every tme we overheard the
whispers about my barrenness, and why did you not have me put away so you
could get a new and fertle bride.
That is why I did it, Abram. I was afraid to lose you, so I thought we would use
this way of having a child. Our law says the slave womans child would have
been mine. She was just a thing to bring the baby into the world. You were not
supposed to have loved her. That is why I threw her away. She was just a thing.

You say it never matered,
but I felt you slipping
away from me every
tme we overheard the
whispers about my
barrenness, and why
did you not have me put
away so you could get a
new and fertle bride.
57
An instrument to have made me a mother.
Oh God! What have I done? I have killed a woman and her child!
Abram
Sarai, I never loved her. I only loved you. I cared for her. Afer all she is the
mother of my child. She is not an object or thing but I never loved her. I have
only loved you.
But Sarai, it is not too late. If we take the lamps and go searching for them,
perhaps they are stll alive. Perhaps
God
(In the desert) Hagar! Hagar! Get up!
Who is it? Who is it?
You know me, Hagar. I have always taken
care of you and loved you. And you have loved
me. A great wrong has been done here in this
desert.
You, Hagar, Abram and Sarai are all my children, made in my image. Ah! Here
they come now, to rescue you. (So they think). They stll listen to me in tmes
when they are able to open their hearts.
Come all of you. You have each turned the others and yourself into things
instead of people. You have used each other as objects instead of working
together as brother and sisters.
You Sarai... You saw yourself as a broken object of no worth because you were
unable to bear a child. You reduced Abram and Hagar to breeding stock, and
when Hagar was of no more use, you threw her out like garbage.
You Abram To you Sarai always remained a real person, but Hagar and even
your son were only useful to you as long as they kept Sarai happy. When she
decided to throw them out to die, you hardened your heart to Hagars cries,
and they became to you as mere stumbling blocks in the path of Sarais peace
of mind. You abandoned your responsibility as a father, as a man and as Sarais
friend, who should have given her good counsel, because you saw yourself as
less than a man, the cause of her unhappiness.

Come all of you. You have
each turned the others
and yourself into things
instead of people. You
have used each other as
objects instead of working
together as brother and
sisters.
Matriarchs
58
And you, Hagar... In the pain of your slavery, you fnally allowed yourself to
believe that you were merely their object to be used as they would. At frst
you resisted in your mind although you could not resist with your body, but at
last you came to believe their propaganda.
Hear me all of you. You have failed but you are
not failures. You have faws, but you are not
fawed. You are all my children. And I love you.
All of you.
Questons to ponder:
Listen to the voices of slave women (not
in the Bible reading). What women in our
contexts and communites are like them?
How are they like them? How are we like the slave women?
Listen to the voice of Hagar. What women our contexts and communites
are like her? How are they like her? How are we like Hagar?
Listen to the voice of Sarah. What women in our contexts and communites
are like her? How are they like her? How are we like Sarah?
Listen to the voice of Abraham. What men our contexts and communites
are like him? How are they like him? How are we like Abraham?
Consider the words of Langston Hughes, in the poem below. In what way
is Sarais acton a response to a dream deferred? Is this typical of persons
who wait upon God?
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore - and then
run? Does it stnk like roten meat? Or crust and sugar over - like a syrupy
sweet?
Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
1
Questons to ponder:
What does it mean that God appeared to the slave woman in her tme of
need?
1 Dream deferred by Langston Hughes

Hear me all of you. You
have failed but you are
not failures. You have
faws, but you are not
fawed. You are all my
children. And I love you.
All of you.
59
What message did God have for Hagar, Sarah and Abraham in their
situaton?
What message does God have for us in tmes of oppression and confict?
REV. DR. ADLYN SESSING-WHITE
You have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a
tooth. But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on
the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take
your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go a mile, go
also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse
anyone who wants to borrow from you... (Mt 5.38-42)
Dr. Adlyn Sessing-White was the frst woman commissioned as a Deaconess
in the Presbyterian Church in Jamaica (1959) and the frst woman ordained to
Ministry of Word and Sacraments in the United Church of Jamaica and Grand
Cayman (UCJ) in 1973 and the frst woman to be moderator of the UCJ in 1992.
She has had an outstanding ministry in pastoral work, educaton, educatonal
administraton and quality assurance, covering academic preparaton and
appointments in Jamaica and the U.S.A.
In refectng on over ffy years of
ministry, Adlyn reveals that her
spirituality is focused on reading and
refectng on Jesus as Son of Man.
For her, the essence of Jesus ministry
is linked to Jesus humanity. She has
been learning more and more about
Jesus as a human being and seeking
a deeper understanding of why Jesus
came and why he was unacceptable
to the people of his day.
It was because of love; the sacrifcial
demands of love Adlyn concludes.
For her, Jesus came to usher in a new
order of love. A new order of love that

You have heard that it has been
said, An eye for an eye and a tooth
for a tooth. But I say to you, do
not resist an evildoer. But if anyone
strikes you on the right cheek,
turn the other also; and if anyone
wants to sue you and take your
coat, give your cloak as well; and
if anyone forces you to go a mile,
go also the second mile. Give to
everyone who begs from you, and
do not refuse anyone who wants
to borrow from you...
(Mt 5.38-42)
Matriarchs
60
Jesus spoke about in terms such as, you have heard that it has been said, an eye
for an eye, but I say to you Other signifcant passages are those exhortng his
followers to turn the other cheek, to give a coat also, where someone wants
your cloak. For Adlyn, the more she ponders and understands Jesus ministry,
the deeper her understanding of this type of
love. All things considered, the sacrifce Jesus
made is love. He bore it all sacrifcially for us.
This love is very costly.
Adlyn feels that we need to preach this love more ofen, that nothing else
really maters. She concludes, I dont own anything. I am owned.
Who is this woman, Rev. Dr. Adlyn Sessing-White whose theology revolves
around Jesus humanity and his expression of sacrifcial love?
Adlyn hails from Medina in Manchester, Jamaica,
one of twelve siblings (fve boys and seven girls)
born to Wilfred and Ioney Sessing. She went to
primary school at age seven culminatng her early
educaton by passing the Third Jamaica Local
Examinaton. Adlyn then went to Kingston and
atended a private college, Bodmin College at
12 Blake Road in Kingston (near where Kingston
College is currently located). This college no
longer exists. She then taught for approximately
four years at the Morris Knibb Preparatory School
before going to Union Theological Seminary (UTS) at Canewood in Kingston,
Jamaica, to begin her formal theological educaton.
On completng her course of studies at UTS, in 1959, Adlyn became the frst
woman to be commissioned to the Order of Deaconesses by the Presbyterian
Church in Jamaica. She then worked in Montego Bay at the St. Pauls
Presbyterian Church, exercising all pastoral dutes except the administraton of
the sacraments. Commissioned deaconesses, in those days, were not allowed
to administer the sacraments that role was reserved for ministers. She then
went on to serve at the Lucea Presbyterian Church, before going to the United
States to do further studies.
Adlyn was convinced that ministry required careful academic preparaton
beyond the bare minimum that many leaders in the church at the tme thought
adequate for ministerial formaton. In 1962 she went to St. Johns University
in New York and did a Bachelors degree in Educaton, while simultaneously

This love is very costly.

Who is this woman,
Rev. Dr. Adlyn
Sessing-White
whose theology
revolves around
Jesus humanity and
his expression of
sacrifcial love?
61
serving as Christan Educaton director for a Presbyterian Church in Jamaica,
Long Island, United States.
Her frst intenton had been to do a Masters degree in Christan Educaton
at the Union Theological Seminary in New York. The Faculty at Union, on
examinaton of the transcript from her theological educaton in Jamaica,
accepted her for the Masters programme in Christan Educaton.
Acceptance into the programme, however, required the endorsement of the
Presbyterian Church in Jamaica and this endorsement was not forthcoming.
For the leadership of the Presbyterian Church at the tme, there was no
need for further training, and Adlyns business was to return to Jamaica as
the Presbyterian Church needed her. With the door to a Masters in Christan
Educaton efectvely closed to her, Adlyn enrolled for the programme in
Educaton at St. Johns University.
Adlyn maintained her resolve to seek the best possible academic preparaton
for efectve ministry, and opted to pursue studies in educaton, while serving
as Director of Christan Educaton for a Presbyterian Church in Long Island,
United States.
While serving at the Presbyterian Church in Long Island, the Minister there,
Rev. Lincoln, wrote to the Presbyterian Church in Jamaica asking them to
endorse Adlyns applicaton to become a member of the church in Long Island.
In a leter, the church in Jamaica declined to endorse Adlyns applicaton for
membership in the Long Island Church.
Adlyns Bachelors degree in Educaton was then followed by a Masters degree
in Library Science, and she worked in a library to fund her way through
graduate school. While she was studying in the United States, the Presbyterian
Church and the Congregatonal Church joined to become the United Church in
Jamaica and Grand Cayman, in 1965.
In 1969 Adlyn returned to Jamaica and joined the Andrews United Church in
Manchester, while working at the Church Teachers College in the same parish.
She eventually was appointed vice principal of the College. At the urging of
her then minister, Rev. Sam Smellie, Adlyn agreed to take over the directorship
of the work with the Womens Fellowship. This she did on a voluntary basis
and in the course of the appointment, she visited every congregaton of the
United Church conductng training programmes and encouraging the women
in their work.
Modelling her commitment to lifelong learning, Adlyn, while working at
Rev. Dr. Adlyn Sessing-White
62
the Church Teachers College, pursued a Masters degree in Educatonal
Administraton followed by a PhD in Educatonal Administraton at the
University of the West Indies.
On June 21, 1973 Adlyn was ordained to the
Ministry of Word and Sacrament. She recalls
that the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper at the
tme reported that she was the frst woman
of any mainline church to be ordained to the
Ministry of Word and Sacraments.
In 1995 Adlyn retred from the Church Teachers
College and also gave up being Director of the
United Churchs Womens Fellowship.
Another frst which Adlyn achieved, was to
become the frst woman to be the Moderator
of the United Church in Jamaica and Grand
Cayman in 1992.
In this capacity she was an integral part of the
negotatons during the courtship between
the Disciples of Christ in Jamaica and the
United Church in Jamaica and Grand Cayman.
This courtship resulted in marriage and with
the joining of the Disciples of Christ in Jamaica,
the new United Church in Jamaica and the
Cayman Islands came into being.
On Union Sunday, December 1992, Adlyn handed over the moderators
reigns to Rev. Dr. Derik Davidson of the former Disciples of Christ in Jamaica.
Dr. Davidson served for one year as moderator afer which Adlyn assumed the
post, completng her term and passing the mantle on to Rev. Dr. Richmond
Nelson, also of the former Disciples of Christ in Jamaica.
The United Church in the 1989 established the Insttute for Theological and
Leadership Development (ITLD) to provide theological educaton and training
for lay persons in the church. In 1993 Adlyn was appointed president of ITLD
and the work grew and fourished under her leadership. Adlyn demited ofce
in 2005 as ITLD was being developed into the Internatonal University of the
Caribbean (IUC).
Since then she has established her own consultancy working as an educatonal

On June 21, 1973 Adlyn
was ordained to the
Ministry of Word and
Sacrament.She recalls
that the Jamaica Gleaner
newspaper at the tme
reported that she was
the frst woman of any
mainline church to be
ordained to the Ministry
of Word and Sacraments.

Another frst which
Adlyn achieved, was to
become the frst woman
to be the Moderator
of the United Church
in Jamaica and Grand
Cayman in 1992.
63
consultant specializing in Quality Assurance and Accreditaton applicatons
by tertary insttutons seeking registraton with the University Council of
Jamaica. The UCJ also calls on Adlyn on a regular basis to use her expertse on
special projects.
Adlyn enjoys her hobbies of gardening and restoring antque furniture. She
currently lives in Manchester, Jamaica, with her husband.
Rev. Dr. Adlyn Sessing-White
64
RECONFIGURING THE
CARIBBEAN FAMILY
Rev. Olive Sampath Mahabir
Olive Sampath Mahabir is originally from Triniadad & Tobago where she
served as a deaconess in the Presbyterian Church in Trinidad & Tobago. She is
currently living in the United States. and was ordained as a minister of Word
and Sacrament by the Presbyterian Church (USA). She is an associate for
student afairs, alum and church relatons at Johnson C. Smith Theological
Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia and previously served as minister at Cadmus
Presbyterian Church in Michigan.
Read Mathew Chapter 12
Prayer: God our Mother and our Father, we thank you for this tme to refect
and study your Word. We pray that you will open our minds and hearts to
hear you speak to us and that we will be both inspired and challenged by your
Word. We ask that your Holy Spirit will enlighten us as we seek to fnd ways in
which your Word will transform and liberate us, grant us your divine guidance
and directon. In the name of Christ our Saviour we pray. Amen.
Introducton
If we were to read Mathews Gospel
from a womans perspectve, we would
see that the Gospel writer reveals
aspects of Mathews community as
a gender inclusive Gospel, in which
women are included. When read in
the backdrop of the Roman Empire,
Mathews community appears to be
living on the margins of society and
is opposed to the Roman Empire.
Consequently, living on the margins
produced new ways of thinking and
living, since the people needed to fnd
ways to survive while living under the
oppressive rule of their government.
One entty in Mathews community

Prayer: God our Mother and our
Father, we thank you for this tme
to refect and study your Word.
We pray that you will open our
minds and hearts to hear you speak
to us and that we will be both
inspired and challenged by your
Word. We ask that your Holy Spirit
will enlighten us as we seek to
fnd ways in which your Word will
transform and liberate us, grant us
your divine guidance and directon.
In the name of Christ our Saviour
we pray. Amen.
65
which undergoes such a transformaton is the family and the role of father
or patriarch. For instance, there are several texts which seem to displace the
earthly paternal fgure, and these texts are Mt 4.21-22, 8.21-22, 12.46-50, and
23.9. Hence, a new patern of family is proposed by Jesus, one which includes
women, and the passage which best supports this move reads as follows:
While he was stll speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers were
standing outside, wantng to speak to him. Someone told him, Look, your
mother and your brothers are standing outside, wantng to speak to you. But
to the one who had told him this, Jesus replied, Who is my mother, and who
are my brothers? And pointng to his disciples, he said, Here are my mother
and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my
brother and sister and mother. (Mt 12.46-50)
Explanaton of text
A close look at Mt 12.46-50 reveals several layers. Here Jesus speaks to the
crowds and his mother and brothers are standing outside wantng to speak to
him (v. 46), but he seems to pay no atenton to them. In Mt 12.46-50 there
could have been several reasons why Jesus mother and brothers were in the
same locaton as Jesus. They may have wanted to warn him of his opponents,
or even protect him from the intense crowds he was encountering.
1
Whatever
the reason for the presence of Jesus mother and brothers did not interest
Mathew, since the Gospel writer makes no atempt to provide an explanaton.
The focus of Mt 12.46-50 therefore, is not the locaton where Jesus mother
and brothers stood, but rather Jesus words which lead to a new defniton of
family. Verses 49-50 read and pointng to his disciples, he said, here are my
mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven
is my brother and sister and mother. By excluding the role of the father, and
including mother, brother and sister, patriarchy
2
or male dominaton and its
power dynamics are overturned. Here we see that Jesus sets up an alternatve
family among Mathews community,
3
and this new family includes women
as mothers and sisters, as opposed to the traditonal family grounded and
centred on patriarchy (fathers).
1 HARE, Douglas R.A., Mathew, in Interpretaton: A Bible Commentary for Preaching and
Teaching (Louisville: John Knox Press,1993), p.145.
2 My own defniton of patriarchy is derived from reading many diferent feminist scholars,
and spending much tme in dialogue and refecton on this partcular subject. Patriarchy is a
structure in which the father is ultmately and unquestonably the leader of a society, clan or
naton, consequently relegatng mothers or mother fgures to a lower place in the society. In
a patriarchal setng, mothers are worth less than fathers and have very litle or no rights and
privileges.
3 CARTER, Warren, Mathew and the Margins: A Sociopolitcal and Religious Reading (NY: Orbis
Books, 2005), p.279.
Reconfguring the Caribbean family
66
In Mt 12.46-50, Jesus seems to
replace the biological relatons
which consttute the family with
non-biological relatons, those who
do the will of the father. The new
family Jesus creates, which includes
mothers, brothers and sisters,
afrms the place of women in the
family.
4
It is important to note that
this new household is not based on
birth, ethnicity or gender.
5
During
frst century Rome (around the tme
the Gospel was writen) in Jewish
and Christan families the father
(paterfamilias) was the main fgure of
the home, and the father [patriarch] made the decisions, owned property and
dictated the familys life.
6
This guaranteed that the centrality of patriarchy or
the father in the Mediterranean gender system stayed intact, with distnct
male and female roles. These traditons and cultural codes excluded women
from their basic rights at that tme and women had no identty outside their
relatonship with a man/male.
It can be asserted that Mathew is intentonal about the inclusion of women
since his move from the patriarchal (male) family structure, to a matriarchal
(female) family structure is apparent in his genealogy of Jesus (Mt 1.16). In
Jesus genealogy, Joseph is not directly called Jesus father, rather it reads
Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus,
who is called the Messiah. In positoning Mary as the mother of Jesus and as
the primary parent, Mathews Gospel departs from the way in which families
were confgured in frst century Judaism, since only men/males were included
in the family tree or genealogy.
Mathew places women and mothers in a more visible and signifcant role
in the family by including them in the genealogy, certainly this was a very
radical move for a Gospel writer at that tme. There is no doubt that women
were already responsible for many tasks involving home and community life,
however, they were stll seen as insignifcant and stll kept in the margins.

4 TOLBERT, Mary Ann, Mark, in Womens Bible Commentary, (Eds.) Carol A. Newsom and
Sharon H. Ringe (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1992), p.257.
5 Carter, Op.cit. p.279.
6 JEFFERS, James S., Jewish and Christan Families in First Century Rome, in Judaism and
Christanity in First Century Rome by Karl P. Donfried and Peter Richardson (Wipf & Stock
Publishers, 2003), pp.138-145.

Mathew places women and
mothers in a more visible and
signifcant role in the family by
including them in the genealogy,
certainly this was a very radical
move for a Gospel writer at that
tme. There is no doubt that
women were already responsible
for many tasks involving home and
community life, however, they were
stll seen as insignifcant and stll
kept in the margins.
67
Mathews failure to name Joseph as Jesus earthly father and his inclusion
of four women in the genealogy of Jesus (Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Mary)
further shows the ascending place of women and the descent of fathers in
family history in the Gospel. It is fascinatng that the Gospel writer included
these partcular women since each character was associated with notoriety
or as some of us say a bad name. Tamar was a victm of rape, Rahab was a
prosttute, Ruth was a foreigner, a non-Israelite, and Mary was basically an
unwed mother. These four women of questonable character stand in the
midst of a genealogy in which the males were at the head of the family. Thus,
they set the stage for a new family legacy, a matriarchal one which represents
the inclusion of the marginal and the excluded. Also, the women included in
the genealogy demonstrate actve faith, and are contrasted with the powerful
and privileged elite males who according to biblical history failed to live out
their responsibilites.
7
Refecton:
If you were to trace your genealogy
and construct your family tree
including only the names of the
women in your family what will that
look like? Would you not be proud to
stand on the shoulders of the women
in your family?
Our history
If Mt 12.46-50 is read in this way,
through a Caribbean womans lens, it has the potental to dismantle patriarchy
within the Caribbean. In other words, it allows us to rethink the way we view
a womans place in the family, and it opens the door to place women at the
centre and even as the head of the family.
This is crucial for Caribbean women, since Caribbean women are in a unique
situaton, both geographically and culturally. Much of the populaton of
the Caribbean can trace their history to African slavery, Chinese and Indian
Indentured labour, as well as belonging to several European colonizers.
As slaves and labourers, we had to endure the loss of self-determinaton,
freedom, and the right to govern and order our own lives.
8
Caribbean peoples
were treated less than human, and women in partcular sufered many pains,
we were suppressed mentally, intellectually and emotonally.
7 Carter, Op cit. p.60.
8 THOMAS, Oral, A.W. A Resistant Hermeneutc Within the Caribbean, in Black Theology 6 no.
3 S (2008), p.333. htp://web.ebsco.com.ezprozy.drew.edu .

If Mt 12.46-50 is read in this way,
through a Caribbean womans lens,
it has the potental to dismantle
patriarchy within the Caribbean. In
other words, it allows us to rethink
the way we view a womans place
in the family, and it opens the door
to place women at the centre and
even as the head of the family.
68
Caribbean women found themselves in a new
social locaton in which a new life had to be
imagined, and in which we had to form and
shape a new identty.
In this historical situaton and even present
day, the Bible is an integral part of everyday
living, and in the Bible women must fnd
strength and hope for their lives. In light of
our unique history and culture, as Caribbean women, we must queston those
parts of the Bible that seem to place us in the margins, we should not be afraid
to ask: What does this mean to and for me as a woman? Any interpretaton
of the Scripture which oppresses women or calls them to be silent must be
seriously examined. The Scripture should be liberatng and afrming, and
when we read and interpret the Scripture women must underscore themes
of justce and equality for themselves frst, and then for all humanity and
creaton.
Refecton:
Are there ways in which we stll retain some of our authentc African and
Indian culture in our families, worship or church life?
Our families
Caribbean women also experienced the creaton of new types of families,
partcularly from people who were brought from Africa, Asia and Europe (and
not so much in Amerindian communites). In the present day many Caribbean
women are caring for families on their own without the responsibility and
support of their male partners. Trinidadian writer, Merle Hodge says that
much of the research done to discredit one-parent families which are headed
by females, has been conducted in the United States or somewhere similar.
She goes on to say that while one-parent households have been unsuccessful
in these polls, one parent households have great success in the Caribbean.
9
Ofcial statstcs indicate that 22-44% of women in CARICOM (Caribbean
Community) countries are sole heads of households,
10
and are raising successful
and well rounded children and Caribbean citzens. Children from single parent,
female headed households are mentally, emotonally and physically stable
and have great success in educaton and in life. At this point, I am inclined
9 HODGE, Merle, We Kind of Family, in Gendered Realites: Essays in Caribbean Feminist
Thought ed. Patricia Mohammed (Trinidad and Tobago: University of the West Indies Press,
2002), p.480.
10 htp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed

Caribbean women found
themselves in a new social
locaton in which a new life
had to be imagined, and in
which we had to form and
shape a new identty.
69
to say that I am not suggestng in any way the eradicaton of marriage and
two-parent families. Rather, I am proposing that families established upon
matriarchy (the mother as parental authority and provider) with the absence
of a male fgure, have been successful as well. In a matriarchal household,
the matriarch performs in the role of provider, disciplinarian, protector and
decision maker.
Matrifocality
11
in the Caribbean context implies the centrality of women
in the family and their kinship groups. While this does not mean the total
eliminaton of the male presence, it transfers power and focus from the male
to the female in the societys order.
Today in our churches and society there are many women who for some
reason or another single-handedly care for their children and other family
members (some reasons could be divorce, death of their husband, broken
marriage because of abuse, and children out of wedlock). As churches and
faith groups how can we afrm and encourage these women in their role as
providers and decision makers? In the Caribbean the norm requires a family
to consist of mother, father and children. And we believe that the answer to
single mothers and women is to fnd them a husband. The reality however,
is that male-female relatonships are much more complex in contemporary
society. And if women decide to care for their homes and families without the
presence of a male partner, their decision must be respected. True liberaton
for women means that women are not bound to oppressive systems based on
history, culture or social norms.
So we may ask the queston how does one
deal with Mathews Gospel, gender and
politcs while also negotatng the relatonship
which contnues to exist between the Bible
and everyday life? Mathew radically
reformulates the relatonship between his
community and the Greco-Roman imperial
structures of his day. In reading the Gospel of
Mathew, Caribbean women must read this
text in ways that empower them. Mathews
envisioning of women should motvate us to
envision ourselves as moving from the side-
line to the centre in our society and culture.
11 Matrifocality can be defned as societes which focus on the centrality of mothers in families
and by extension women. However, it does not necessarily mean that such families are
dominated by mothers and women. Matriarchy on the other hand, is defned as power
residing with the women and especially with the mothers of a community.

Matrifocality

in the
Caribbean context implies
the centrality of women
in the family and their
kinship groups. While this
does not mean the total
eliminaton of the male
presence, it transfers
power and focus from the
male to the female in the
societys order.
70
A Caribbean womans reading of Mathews text partcularly Mt 12:46-50
creates a paradigm shif, in that it expands roles and creates a more inclusive
view of family and women. Such a reading of the Bible text no longer alienates
persons and partcularly women, but portrays a God and a Gospel which
dismantles classism, sexism and powerlessness.
Conclusion
Ultmately, I have not set out to overthrow the insttuton of marriage (since
I am in a loving and commited marriage) or male-female relatonships, or
two parent homes. Rather, I have set out
to atempt a reading of Mathew which
decentres patriarchy in the Caribbean
context where women are ofen heads
of households, the sole providers and
leaders in their communites. Reading
from a contextual perspectve can be
liberatve for Caribbean women and
female heads of households. The text
can impact our lives as women if we
allow the text to speak to us in diferent
ways, and if we are willing to read the
text in new ways.
Questons to ponder:
How does this interpretaton of Mathews Gospel and this Bible study
speak to you personally as a woman, a mother and follower of Jesus
Christ?
What were the instances where Jesus mother (Mary) appears in the
Gospel narratves? What does this say about their relatonship?
What can the church do to support unwed mothers, widowed mothers,
teen mothers, and female heads of households?
Suggestons for follow up of the Bible Study:
Celebrate the women in your lives and churches by having a mothers/
womans appreciaton service.
Do some research and fnd a photograph of one of your female ancestors
(your grandmother, great-grandmother, etc.) frame it and give it to your
daughter or granddaughter as a gif.

A Caribbean womans reading
of Mathews text partcularly
Mt 12:46-50 creates a paradigm
shif, in that it expands roles
and creates a more inclusive
view of family and women.
Such a reading of the Bible text
no longer alienates persons
and partcularly women, but
portrays a God and a Gospel
which dismantles classism,
sexism and powerlessness.
71
Grant a scholarship at your primary school or high school in the name of
your mother, grandmother or a woman who has impacted your life.
MARGARET: A WOMAN OF
FAITH AND FORTITUDE
Rev. Olive Sampath Mahabir
I grew up in a small village in south Trinidad. It was a quiet place, and families
in my neighbourhood had very modest lives, many of whom made their living
in the agricultural sector. When I was about eight years old my neighbourhood
was transformed into a very busy place when a lumber yard opposite my
house began to expand rapidly. The owner was a gentleman who was very
forth coming, stern and who consistently operated in business mode. I did
not know him personally, nor did I have the opportunity to know him, he
passed away when I was 16 years old. This was the same year I began the
journey to understand Gods call in my own life. I became very involved in
the churches in the pastoral region, there were seven in all. During this tme I
became acquainted with many women in the region who dedicated their tme
and energy to building the church, they were all from diferent backgrounds
and ages. One woman stood out in my mind, she was introverted, and also
stern in the way she spoke, her name was Margaret.
I knew of Margaret since I was very young, but all I knew was that she was the
wife of the businessman who drove past my house everyday (the owner of the
lumber yard). For the next two years my encounters with Margaret were brief,
except for her occasional critque of my sermon. It was not untl I was assigned
to Margarets church as part of my ministerial training in 1998 that I was given
the privilege to know Margaret at a personal level. I then saw her regularly
when I became a full tme church worker in
her pastoral region from 2000-2004.
Margaret was an intriguing woman who
did not let many people into her life; I
quickly learnt that she was full of faith, clear
sightedness and a woman of great forttude.
Like many women in her generaton, she
married at a young age and became a mother

Margaret was an intriguing
woman who did not let
many people into her
life; I quickly learnt that
she was full of faith, clear
sightedness and a woman
of great forttude.
72
soon afer that. Margaret faced many challenges in her marriage, but when
I asked her to recall some of those challenges she simply stated that is the
past.
When I asked her how she got through the difcult tmes in her life she simply
said the one constant in my life has been my faith in God, and God has never
let me down.
Margaret lived much of her life in the shadow of a powerful man, but she was
never consumed by his presence. Margaret had her own life, her own identty
and as her family and success grew, so did her faith in God and her commitment
to Gods church. She nurtured her six sons and one daughter, educatng them
and preparing them for the world of business, always encouraging them to
put God frst. While she cared for her children and supported her husbands
vision for their familys business, Margaret found her own niche. She served
the church with great loyalty, and on many diferent levels. She was a member
of the churchs choir for ten years; she was
treasurer of the church and an elder for
thirteen years. The most incredible aspect
of her service was that she was a member
of the womens group of her congregaton
since its incepton about sixty years ago, and
she contnues to be a member to the present
day. Margaret is also a poet in her own right,
producing about three hundred poems in the
last thirty six years. Many of these poems
were writen and read in honour of people in ministry, church members and
family members; she has shared her poems at weddings, funerals, anniversary
celebratons, birthdays and farewell services.
At 78, Margaret has lived a full life grounded in faith, she taught her children
the values of generosity and loyalty as well. These two values are entrenched
deeply within her children; who are presently the leaders of the familys
business and they contnue in her spirit of benevolence. To date, Margaret
and her family have been generous fnancial contributors to churches all over
Trinidad. This makes Margaret a model for church leadership, and Christan
discipleship, but she is also the matriarch of her family and her familys
business.
Margarets life is not without pain, she had to endure the pain of losing her
husband and recently her mother. She has also endured serious illnesses
of the women closest to her including her daughter and sisters. She has
endured the tragedies and pain of her church family, all of which impacted

When I asked her how she
got through the difcult
tmes in her life she simply
said the one constant in
my life has been my faith in
God, and God has never let
me down.
73
her tremendously. Margaret represents a calibre of women in the Caribbean
who are strong, ambitous and independent, women who fnd balance in
their families, lives and their service to God. She stll contnues her service
to the church, however not at the forefront of leadership. In her unassuming
and benevolent spirit Margaret and her children contnue to assist with the
churchs needs even in the remotest parts of the country.
Margaret has assisted me in my own faith formaton, and encountering her
has made an indelible impression on my life and mind. She has challenged me
in my ministry and in my own life as a woman. She is like so many women in
our church and society, family oriented and centred on God.
She has lived and walked the gospel partcularly the words from Luke 12.48
from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from
the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
Let us contnue to celebrate all the Caribbean matriarchs, the matriarchs in
our churches and the matriarchs in our lives. I celebrate the ones in my life,
and I am flled with grattude that I can call a woman like Margaret my friend
and my mother-in-law.
Margaret: A woman of faith and forttude
74
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75
RUTH AND NAOMI - MAKING
THEIR STORY OF SOLIDARITY
OUR STORY
Dr. Aruna Gnanadason
Aruna Gnanadason, a member of the Church of South India is a former
staf of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Geneva, Switzerland where
she held several positons, the last of which was in the general secretariat
of the organisaton. She was responsible for the work on women of the
WCC through the second half of the Ecumenical Decade of the Churches
in Solidarity with Women. She presently lives in Chennai and is a freelance
writer, speaker and editor.
Prayer: We thank you dear God for so skilfully creatng us in all our diversity
and paintng us in colours so splendid! We thank you for the potental to
become a transforming community in your grace and pray for your contnuing
presence with us as we discover anew the hidden depths of meaning in your
word to strengthen our bonds of solidarity. In Jesus name we pray. Amen
Introducton to the Bible Study on the Book of Ruth
The Book of Ruth communicates a simple
story centred mainly on the lives of two
women - Ruth and Naomi - intermeshed
with the account of the relatonship
between natons, between family
members and between God and Israel.
The story goes that Elimelech and Naomi,
along with their two sons Mahlon and
Chilion, leave their own city of Bethlehem
in Judah and migrate to the foreign land
of Moab for the most obvious reason
they were seeking greener pastures
because of the famine in Judah. Their
sons got married to Ruth and Orpah,
two Moabite women. Unfortunately, all

Prayer: We thank you dear God
for so skilfully creatng us in all
our diversity and paintng us in
colours so splendid! We thank
you for the potental to become
a transforming community in
your grace and pray for your
contnuing presence with us as
we discover anew the hidden
depths of meaning in your
word to strengthen our bonds
of solidarity. In Jesus name we
pray. Amen
Ruth and Naomi - making their story of solidarity our story
76
three men in the family die, leaving Naomi with her two daughters-in-law
in a foreign land. Naomi decides to return to Judah as the period of famine
has passed and there is evidence of plenty in Judah. As they prepare for their
journey, Naomi tells her daughters-in-law to stay back and return to their own
ancestral homes. Both refuse, at the outset, but then Orpah does leave her
mother-in-law and returns to her family. Ruth however, contnues with Naomi
to Bethlehem.
The Bible narratve has potental to build community. It provides us the frame
work to re-look at the way we have been taught to relate to each other as
women, through surprising shifs in the story.
An important detail in this story is that the
two daughters-in-law are Moabites, in other
words they are considered to be traditonal
enemies and corrupters of Israel. So Ruths
insistence to stay with Naomi is even more
difcult to fathom. She risks staying with
her mother-in-law, despite the poor opinion
about her people. She refuses to leave, saying
words that have become familiar, Do not
press me to leave you Where you go I will
go, where you lodge, I will lodge, your people
shall be my people and your God my God.
(Ruth 1.16).
Ruth eventually remarries Boaz, a wealthy relatve of Naomis husband
Elimelech. The fact that Ruths ancestry is with a people who are counted
as enemies of Israel and because of her commitment and friendship with
Naomi she wins Gods favour and God uses her to build up the house of Israel.
According to the feminist theologian, Isabel Apawo Phiri, while in Ezra 10 and
Neh 13.23-27, God is presented as being opposed to Hebrew men marrying
foreign women, in the book of Ruth, God is seen as blessing a foreign woman,
Ruth, and enabling her to conceive a child who became the grandfather of
David, the king of Israel.
1
The aim of this Bible study:
Isabel Phiri contnues that this book reveals the kindness of God towards
any person who trusts God, regardless of gender, race or ethnic and religious
1 PHIRI, Isabel Apawo, Ruth, in African Bible Commentary, Tokunboh Adeyemo, General Editor,
(Zondervan, Word Alive Publishers, Kenya, 2006), p.319.

The Bible narratve
has potental to build
community. It provides us
the frame work to re-look
at the way we have been
taught to relate to each
other as women, through
surprising shifs in the
story.
77
background.
2
This Bible Study will draw on that Biblical promise and explore,
from a post-colonial perspectve, the potental of this story, to help us forge
bonds of unity among women within natons and across the contnents,
overcoming many historical obstacles in our way.
The methodology:
The Bible Study will situate this ancient Biblical narratve in the context of
todays realtes and will identfy its potental to challenge oppressive customs
and systems that have ensured that some women are kept in the situaton of
discriminaton based on class, race, caste, sexual orientaton and ability.
Two Indian narratves are used as the lenses to re-read the Book of Ruth from
a post-colonial context in the Indian context: missionary archives and a novel
set in colonial tmes in India. The key to this reading of the book of Ruth lies
in the solidarity between the two women recognizing that Naomis change
of heart and consciousness is critcal for building solidarity between her and
Ruth.
Reading the book of Ruth as an Indian and in India alongside other
narratves
Christan women in India were made foreigners in their own country when
they were Christanized. They became the ones seeking a home as they
were isolated from their own people and sometmes made to feel that they
really do not belong to their own country. Christanity in India is stll, by and
large, seen as a Western religion and is therefore perceived to be foreign.
The image of Christ brought to India during the tme of colonizaton was
associated with dominaton - of a conquering hero - over against other religious
motfs and images. Some exclusivist perceptons of Christans are rooted in
the missionary movement in India, where the establishment of European
looking homes with gardens in front of them for the Indian Christans, was
seen as an integral part of the missionary enterprise.
In a fascinatng postcolonial study of Basel missionary archives, Mrinalini
Sebastan, discovers that for the missionaries home stands for an altered
mode of living and is suggestve of marked progress - a new image of the
woman, especially that of a natve Christan woman emerges The oppositon
between the natves former mode of living and their changed circumstances,
therefore is not an indicaton of a complete transformaton of the status of
the converted woman, as we would like to believe and as the missionaries
2 Ibid., p.320
78
liked to believe but the reconsttuton of a mode of living that fts more into
an ideal of how a Christan woman ought to live.
3
Naomis impulse to fnd a home for Ruth is reminiscent of what Sebastan
has discovered in missionary archives. It is a home, marriage and domestcity
that were the marks of the civilizing mission, local customs and paterns
of behaviour and relatonships were denigrated as heathenish practce.
4

Sebastan writes that for the missionaries the need to transform the mode of
living relates to the fact that the civilizing impulse was very strong amongst
these missionaries, so much so that it ofen overshadowed their task of
evangelisaton.
5
She quotes from the Basel Report of 1884 where notons
regarding appearance and purity were part of the blue print for another mode
of living, a more civilized mode where obedience and good behaviour were
required qualites for evangelizaton.
We are happy to state that by far the greater part of our former pupils are
atached to us, and they appreciate the benefts received from us during a
number of years. Such young women make mostly good wives and mothers.
Those who are the least thankful are generally untdy, and scarcely show
the labour bestowed on them whilst they were in school. There are several
girls in the insttuton, who fll our hearts with misgiving, when we think of
their future. Sensuality, stealing, lying, quarrelling, pride, loquacity, are vices
which seem to form their second nature. The greater part, however, cheer
us through their obedience and good behaviour, and a few through their fear
of God.
6
The arrogant might of Christanity and its nexus with the colonizing project
led therefore not just to the colonizing of the land but also of the minds and
bodies of the natves and of their own spiritual and philosophical traditons
most of which was branded pagan. This is described poignantly by David
Davidar, the author of the novel, The House of Blue Mangoes:
The advent of muscular forms of Christanity coupled with imperfectly
understood Darwinism equated colour and paganism with inferiority. From
that point onwards, maters deteriorated. The Englishman abroad, consciously
or subconsciously, began to subscribe to the philosophy that the subject
peoples (especially in the tropics) were a lesser breed; their civilizatons were
3 SEBASTIAN, Mrinalini, Reading Archives from a postcolonial perspectve: Natve Bible
Women and the Missionary Ideal, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Vol.19 No. 1 (Spring
2003), p.11.
4 Ibid., p.13
5 Ibid., p.12
6 The Basel Report of 1884, 47 emphasis added by Sebastan Mrinalini who quotes it. Ibid.,
p.11
79
trashed and Britsh culture was exalted above
all others.
7
And so the character, Helen, the Anglo-
Indian wife of Kannan, the Indian creeper
(assistant to the planter), in the novel The
House of Blue Mangoes, looks forward in
antcipaton to live the life of a memsahib.
8

She looks forward to the invitaton to tea at
the Britsh planters home, where she dreams
of sitng and sipping tea with them like a
proper English lady.
9

It is women who were the frst that the missionaries encountered and the
missionaries made Indian women feel that what they were ofered was for
their own good to make them more civilized.
Sebastan gives the example of a customary inheritance law called
Aliyasanthana, which was the prevalent practce among diferent groups of
people where the Basel mission was started in 1834. This law was considered
heathenish by the missionaries, because in it succession was traced through
the female line with male members being enttled to maintenance on the
property handed down through female succession. The law was rejected and
the Britsh imposed a Christan inheritance law that was considered normal
because in it, fathers bequeath property to their sons.
10
This law later covered
all Christans in India and this so-called instrument of civilizaton kept Indian
Christan women in bondage tll very recently. This is the narratve of Indian
womens lives that inspired me to re-read the story of Ruth and Naomi in a
new way.
The methodology of using other narratves to read the Biblical text:
Reading steps for group work:
Spend tme in prayer asking for clarity of vision.
As this is a long book, it will not be possible to read the whole text in
one session therefore, retell the story of Ruth and Naomi this can be
7 DAVIDAR, David, The House of Blue Mangoes, (New Delhi: Penguin Books India Ltd., 2002),
pp.298-299.
8 Ibid., p.283. Memsahib is a Hindi word which here stands for the white mistress of the
plantaton.
9 Ibid., p.283
10 Mrinalini Sebastan, Op cit p.13

It is women who were the
frst that the missionaries
encountered and the
missionaries made Indian
women feel that what they
were ofered was for their
own good to make them
more civilized.
80
done either by the leader telling the whole story or saying the frst line
and each person in the group contnuing the story each adding a line.
Keep the Bible text open so as to remind the group of the next stage in
the story. The leader needs to be well prepared to ensure that the story
is fully retold with all details.
Give tme for the group to recollect
other relevant narratves, either from
missionary archives, from novels they
have read, or from real life which depict
positve images of the solidarity among
women in our societes. While the
focus is on positve images, give the
opportunity to the group to also share
negatve images where solidarity among
women is not evident. Two lists can be
put on the wall one recording positve images and the other negatve
images of women working together.
Go back to the book of Ruth and allow the group to consider how it can
liberate us as men and women to build solidarity for the transformaton
of our societes. If there is something that any person disagrees with in
the actons of Naomi and Ruth, allow this to come to the open in the
discussion not to be contested, but to be noted.
Allow the group tme to refect on the men in the story and the role they
play in salvaton history. Boaz can partcularly be considered. (Ruth 2
and 3).
Is it a story of the power of sisterhood between Naomi and Ruth is the
queston to be addressed?
A post-colonial reading of the text is a way to liberate the text and to empower
us in our engagement with each other to fnd alternatve communites of
solidarity and power.
A short descripton of post-colonial methodology:
Postcolonial theory ofers a space for the once colonized to resurrect the
marginal, the indigene, the subaltern It is an act of reclamaton, redempton
and reafrmaton against the past colonial and current neocolonizing
tendencies which contnue to exert infuence even afer territorial and
politcal independence has been accomplished. It is a tactc, a practce and
a process. It means fnding ways of operatng under a set of arduous and
difcult conditons which jeopardize and dehumanize people.
11
11 SUGIRTHARAJAH, R.S., The Bible and the Third World: Precolonial, Colonial and Postcolonial
Encounters (Cambridge University Press, UK, 2001), p.250.

A post-colonial reading of
the text is a way to liberate
the text and to empower
us in our engagement
with each other to fnd
alternatve communites of
solidarity and power.
81
What has interested me most in this theory is the emphasis it places on mutual
interdependence and mutual transformaton of both the colonized and the
colonizer; among diferent categories of peoples among the colonized in one
naton; or between colonized peoples from diferent natons. It ofers the
possibility for the constructon of a hybrid identty based on the inter-twined
histories of the colonized and the colonizer. It aims to overcome essentalisms
and dichotomies. A post colonial reading situates itself in that in-between-
space where one is equally commited to and disturbed by the colonized
and colonizing cultures.
12
It ofers to the colonized third world peoples and
churches the possibility to reclaim the Bible and our faith as our own.
Implicatons of such a reading for the Indian context:
It is important to do a postcolonial
13

reading of the book of Ruth from
the perspectves of poor women in
India who have been described as
having privileged access to survival
expertse
14
. Women in India have
survived in the context of extreme
poverty which afects them the most
but also in spite of the insttutonalized
systems of social and cultural
discriminaton - both of patriarchy and
of caste.
A post-colonial reading of the text will
afrm womens roles in politcal and
cultural struggles but as with other
former colonies, in India too, the liberaton paradigm has emphasized that
women must put themselves in a secondary role for the sake of the liberaton
of their peoples, either from the colonial power or from other forms of
politcal, economic or social structures of dominaton.
In spite of the fact that Indian women contnue to be the poorest of the poor,
and are bogged down by cultural practces such as dowry, and by marriage
which is seen as the norm and therefore sometmes imposed on women, as
well as by the stgma atached to widowhood and many other forms of social
and economic discriminaton, women have by and large been socialized to
12 Ibid., p.249
13 Also see SUGIRTHARAJAH R.S., Asian Biblical Hermeneutcs and Postcolonialism: Contestng
the Interpretatons (Shefeld Academic Press, Shefeld, 1999).
14 SHIVA, Vandana, Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development (London: Zed Books, 1989),
p.224.

A post-colonial reading of the
text will afrm womens roles in
politcal and cultural struggles but
as with other former colonies,
in India too, the liberaton
paradigm has emphasized that
women must put themselves in
a secondary role for the sake of
the liberaton of their peoples,
either from the colonial power
or from other forms of politcal,
economic or social structures of
dominaton.
82
put their families and communites above their own personal interests. And
yet, it was only recently that liberaton theologians such as Dalit theologians
in India have recognised that their theologies are incomplete if they do not
take into account the doubly and even thrice oppressed women in their
communites.
15
The theologian Kwok Pui Lan, in her text
Finding a Home for Ruth: Biblical Studies
from the Margins writes: many womens
stories in the Bible had been read as serving
some grand purpose, such as the salvaton
that comes through God or the politcal
liberaton of the people. Post colonial
feminist critcs are quick to point out that
womens issues have been subsumed.
16
The story of Indian women is a meta-story of
oppression and struggle, in itself. Therefore
fnding a home for Ruth is no easy exercise
in the Indian context, because we live in a
very patriarchal social context where the
contnuaton of the male line is given precedence, and where the upper castes
contnue to hold sway.
It is important to also take note of the positve role the missionary movement
has played in the lives of Indian women. Several examples can be given of their
contributon to the liberaton of Indian women: from educaton of women,
to the building of the zenana health mission for women, to training women
to be evangelists and catechists to organising women for social reform.
17

Many women headed mission boards emerged in the last two centuries and
much of the property that mission agencies owned in India were funded by
15 CLARKE, Sathianathan, MANCHALA, Deenabandhu & PEACOCK, Philip Vinod, (Eds.), Dalit
Theology in the Twenty First Century: Discordant Voices, Discerning Pathways (Delhi/Geneva:
Oxford University Press and WCC Publicatons, 2010).
16 LAN, Kwok Pui, Finding a Home for Ruth: Biblical Studies from the Margins, mss Paper
presented at a Bossey (World Council of Churches) Seminar on Post-Colonial Hermeneutcs,
July 2001.
17 One such example is referred to the Breast Cloth or Upper cloth movement, when in the mid
19
th
Century, the missionary movement in the former Travancore State now part of Tamil
Nadu - supported the Chanar women in their struggle to cover their breasts. Till then this
had been a privilege of the upper caste Nair women only. For more informaton on this and
on other ways in which the London Missionary Society, worked for the liberaton of women,
see Joy GNANADASON, A Forgoten History: The Story of the Missionary Movement and the
Liberaton of the People in South Tranvancore (Chennai: Gurukul Lutheran Theological College
and Research Insttute, 1994).

The story of Indian women is
a meta-story of oppression
and struggle, in itself.
Therefore fnding a home for
Ruth is no easy exercise in
the Indian context, because
we live in a very patriarchal
social context where the
contnuaton of the male
line is given precedence,
and where the upper castes
contnue to hold sway.
83
contributons from women in their home countries.
The missiologist, Dana L. Roberts writes: Evangelical women saw themselves
as helping to save the world through self-sacrifce and service. Their interest
in spreading evangelical ideals throughout the world increased as the century
progressed, so by the end of the century, 57 percent of the subscribers to the
London City Mission were women, 56 percent of legacies lef to the Baptst
Missionary Society were from women and 70 percent of all receipts to foreign
missions were given by women and children.
18
But as the missionary archives quoted above indicates, the queston as
to whether women could be liberated within the frame of colonizaton,
remains a point of contenton. Women of colonizing centres, while oppressed
by various forms of patriarchy in their own contexts (and here it is caste), also
perpetuate the oppression of the other when they operate within colonial
frameworks of thinking.
19
The missionary movement, in its atempt to liberate the women from the
men in their communites, used the women as its contact point. Under
the pretext of saving brown women (from brown men) colonial desire and
imperialistc advances have masked and collectvely reconsttuted in a blatant
reversal as social mission.
20
In other words colonialism has contributed to
the contnuing divisions among us as women in India.
Finding a home for the Other among Indian women
Therefore, there is danger in speaking of all women of India as one
category. They are not. Essentalism tends to make some womens historical
subordinaton to men (and to other women) seem like a natural fact rather
than as a cultural and even politcal product. For instance in India there are
deeply marked divisions of caste and class and ignoring this would not do
justce to the women here in such a context fnding a home for Dalit and
Adivasi
21
women in India remains as urgent a task today as ever.
18 Dana L. Roberts, quotng F.K.Proshaka (Women and Philanthropy in 19
th
Century England,
Oxford: Clarendon Press) in The Christan Home as a Cornerstone of Anglo-American
Missionary Thought and Practce, Convertng Colonialism: Visions and Realites in Mission
History, 1706-1914 ed. Dana L. Roberts, (Michigan/Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company, 2008), p.138.
19 DUBE, Musa, Postcolonial Feminist Spaces and Religion, Postcolonialism, Feminism and
Religious Discourse, ed. Donaldson Laura E. and Kwok Pui-Lan (New York and London:
Routledge, 2002), p.106.
20 KWOK, Pui Lan, Unbinding our Feet: Saving Brown Women and Feminist Religious Discourse,
Postcolonialism, Feminism and Religious Discourse, Ibid. p.64.
21 Adivasi which literally means the frst inhabitants is the way Indigenous Peoples in India
describe themselves. Tribals is another word they use to describe their identty.
84
The missionary movement in India targeted
the Dalits as the major group to be evangelized.
In other words Dalit Indian women were
the contact point
22
between the occupied
lands and the colonizers. Many of the newly
converted Indian Christans were from the
subaltern class, which was largely rural, semi-
literate and minimally westernized and Dalit,
and came to Christanity mainly through
mass conversions. For these converts, who
were mainly outcastes and Tribals, their
principal encounter with the colonial power
was through the mission agencies and their
welfare work. They were the recipients of
the benefcent efects of missionary work
They saw their dignity being restored by the
interventon of missionaries and colonial
administraton in cases like the Upper Cloth
Movement in Travancore.
23
B.R. Ambedkar, who has been considered
the Father of the Dalit Movement, strongly
advocated conversion as a weapon against the
upper castes, whenever they have been subjected to limits of their endurance
in the area of social discriminaton as well as economic exploitaton.
24

Therefore, a newly independent pan-Indian identty did not mater to the
Christan Dalits. Their plight in post independent India and the contnuing
hesitaton of the church in India to respond to their legitmate claims, and
fght for their rights as Dalit Christans, justfes their fears.
Solidarity between Naomi and Ruth has to inform us as we build bonds of
solidarity among us as women in India.
22 MUSA, Dube, Postcolonial Feminist Interpretaton of the Bible, (St. Louis, Missouri: Chalice
Press 2000), p.119.
23 SUGIRTHARAJAH, R. S., Complacencies and Cul-de-Sacs, Christan Theologies and Colonialism,
in Postcolonial Theologies: Divinity and Empire, Catherine Keller, Michael Nausner and Mayra
Rivera, eds., (Chalice Press: St. Louis Missouri. 2004), p.27.
24 LOBO, Lancy, 2001, Visions, Illusions and Dilemmas of Dalit Christans in India, Dalit Identty
and Politcs: Cultural Subordinaton and the Dalit Challenge, New Delhi, Sage, p. 293. Quoted
by Peniel Jesudason Rufus Rajkumar in The Diversity and Dialectcs of Dalit Dissent and
Implicatons for Dalit Theology and Liberaton, Dalit Theology in the Twenty First Century, Op
Cit, p.58

Solidarity between Naomi
and Ruth has to inform
us as we build bonds of
solidarity among us as
women in India.

The solidarity between
Naomi and Ruth needs to
cross the oceans. Colonial
relatonships ensured that
at the outset as Indian
women we were stll
dependant, almost entrely,
on Western feminist
theory to defne liberaton
and Western feminist
theologians to discover
how we can read the Bible
anew.
85
Finding a home for our solidarity with women across the globe:
The solidarity between Naomi and Ruth needs to cross the oceans. Colonial
relatonships ensured that at the outset as Indian women we were stll
dependant, almost entrely, on Western feminist theory to defne liberaton
and Western feminist theologians to discover how we can read the Bible
anew.
While we have to be eternally grateful to feminist theologians from the
West, for their wisdom that liberated our reading of the Bible, I believe it
also steered us into a partcular methodology and scholarship that kept many
Indian women out of the discussion and strengthened the divide between
theologically trained women and women in the pew. It also did not open the
space for us to refect on the deep divisions among us as women such as
that between Helen, the wife of Kannan, the Indian assistant to the planter
and the planters Britsh wife, in the novel referred to earlier.
Colonial relatonships afected our contact as Indian women with women from
other colonized natons in general and partcularly with women theologians
from other third world contexts. For example our links with women in the
Caribbean has been limited. Because of our shared history, building solidarity
with feminist theologians from the Caribbean would have enriched us in our
struggles and would have certainly helped us to make our theological work in
India more contextual, grounded, as well as more relevant and efectve in the
task of transformaton of our societes and of the world.
The word of God in this text: Ruth and Naomi as a perfect example for
solidarity!
The Book of Ruth is a powerful text that afrms the solidarity between these
two women, even with a level of manipulaton, which was the only politcal
tool they had available to them to survive. It reminds us of the potental of
joint strategies and joint actons for the sake of the liberaton of all women
and men. In a context of economic globalizaton and empire when economic,
politcal and social forces are engendering discriminaton and injustce within
each of our natons and between us as women the story of Naomi and Ruth is
a story that afrms the power that we celebrate as we seek new ways to forge
unity among women
Actons for change:
As a follow-up some of the actons we can engage in:
Learn more about women theologians in other countries, partcularly
86
in the Third World, read what they have writen and allow the insights
gained to analyse and understand your own context.
Study the role of colonialism, globalizaton and empire in keeping us
divided as women.
Join feminist networks online which are linked to women in other countries
show solidarity with them by signing online pettons and any other actons of
support that they solicit.
THEIR STORY IS OUR STORY IN
OUR UNITY IS OUR POWER!
Dr. Aruna Gnanadason
Abha is a Dalit woman living in the Dalit village of Chikathana in the
Marathwada region of Maharashtra in Central India. She along with the others
in her village has been set apart as manual scavengers because of their Dalit
caste background.
She is gutsy and strong, and boldly asserts, My vision for our future is that
our children will not be engaged in manual scavenging!
The caste system is the bane of Indian society. In no other country is inequality
so graded that it gives litle opportunity for those at the lowest rungs of the
structure, who strive for liberaton, to break out of the rigidly structured caste
hierarchy. A system sanctoned by religion prevents the freedom of mind and
therefore this clear voice of Abha was like a spurt of fresh air. The Dalits of
Chikathana live either doing the degrading tasks of manual cleaning or they
work as landless labourers in the felds of upper caste landlords exposing
them to many forms of exploitaton and violence. Women of this community
largely engage in the sweeping of the streets and making brooms from leaves
they collect from the forests or they do menial jobs in the agricultural sector.
Resistance to oppression is taking major risks because Dalit women all over
India face violent forms of suppression of their voices. In a searing artcle
enttled, Cruelty, Criminality and Community: Dalit Women in the Cultural
Web of Indian Caste-Patriarchy, Sathianathan Clarke and Paul Divakar write
87
that, Cruelty is inficted upon Dalit women
to remind them of the fact that they are
the lowest among the low when viewed
from the important lenses of both caste and
gender. While Dalit men are ofen violently
punished and sometmes killed, Dalit women
are also publicly violated. It is this explicit
and public patern of ritualized cruelty that
communicates to the Dalit women that she
has to bear the marks of violence on her body
in front of the entre social body.
1
The writers list the horrendous forms of
physical and verbal abuse experienced by
Dalit women. They add the tragic fact that in additon to the public forms of
societal violence that Dalit experience: Dalit women sufer verbal and other
forms of abuse not only from upper caste men (and women) but also from
their own partners and the (extended) family.
2
The law courts and the police connive with the culprits by sometmes
remaining mute spectators to public humiliaton of Dalit women or not
registering the cases or by dismissing them without doing them justce. The
violence is also aggravated by the open economic and politcal discriminaton
Dalit women face. It is estmated that 85% of Dalit women work as labourers
in the agricultural feld, almost entrely as landless and the lowest paid. They
face discriminaton in the delivery of health services and educaton. Their
politcal partcipaton is seriously hampered by politcally motvated violence
against them.
Can Indian women make the story of Naomi and Ruth their story?
There has been a rich history of womens actvism in India; feminism has seen
itself as a movement not just for a transformed world for women but for all
men and women in this society and for the earth itself.
As it has been described: The contemporary Indian womens movement
is a complex, variously placed movement which encompasses and links
such issues as work, wages, environment, ecology, civil rights, sex, violence,
1 CLARKE, Sathianathan & NAMALA, Paul Divakar, in Cruelty, Criminality and Community:
Dalit Women in the Cultural Web of Indian Caste-Patriarchy, Cruelty and Christan Witness:
Confrontng Violence in its Ugliest, Deenabandhu Manchala, Drea Frochtling and Michael
Trice, eds. (Geneva: WCC Publicatons, 2011), p.25.
2 Ibid., p.31

She is gutsy and strong,
and boldly asserts, My
vision for our future is
that our children will not
be engaged in manual
scavenging!

Can Indian women make
the story of Naomi and
Ruth their story?
Their story is our story - in our unity is our power!
88
representaton, caste, class, allocaton of basic resources and common goods,
consumer rights, health, religion, community, and individual and social
relatonships...
Structurally, the womens movement has
a vertcal as well as horizontal reach: from
the horizontal network of autonomous
feminist groups, issue - and occupaton-
based womens organisatons, development
groups, radical professional associatons,
and party afliated organisatons, it reaches
upward to administratve insttutons, state
functonaries, members of parliament and
politcal leaders.
3
This is its strength but also its weakness as its eforts sometmes have
become dissipated and competng agendas have led to a lack of a clear
voice. Additonally, Gabriele Dietrich reminds us of the fact that, It has taken
sometme for the womens movement to shed some upper-caste secularist
blinkers.
4
This is a fact that the feminist movement has been largely led by
middle class, urban, educated and upper caste women. And this has without
a doubt infuenced the agenda of the movement at tmes.
But we have litle choice as women in this country. We need to forge strong
links with each other so as to provide a hope for the millions of Abhas in India
and all over the world. The challenge of building bridges between all women
in India and globally, is to emphasize the revolutonary potental of such unity
among us in the context of the economic injustce and the politcal vacuum
created by globalizaton and the unipolar world we live in.
Feminisms power (however we name it in our own contexts) as a politcal,
social and cultural alternatve paradigm cannot be underestmated. It is in
our consciousness about shared victmizaton
5
that real solidarity among
us can be based. There can be no space for the hierarchalizing of sufering or
of competng traumas as women of the world we are in this together and
we have to look into each others eyes, unafraid and discover the politcal
potental of such solidarity among us.
3 KUMAR, Radha, From Chipko to Sat: The Contemporary Womens Movement in India,
Gender and Politcs in India, ed. Nivedita Menon ( New Delhi: Oxford University Press,1999),
p.368.
4 DIETRICH, Gabriele, Beyond Patriarchy, Caste and Capitalism, Seeds of Hope (Arasaradi,
Tamilnadu: Tamilnadu Theological Seminary, 2009), p.13.
5 bell hooks, Feminist Theory from Margin to Centre (Boston: Southend Press, 1984), p.49.

There has been a rich
history of womens
actvism in India; feminism
has seen itself as a
movement not just for
a transformed world for
women but for all men and
women in this society and
for the earth itself.
89
We need a new politcal and theological imaginaton to reclaim the power
of our sisterhood the sisterhood between Naomi and Ruth - to get more
actvely engaged in transformaton of all injustce in our societes and the
world.
Monica Melanchthon, a Dalit feminist theologian describes it well when she
writes: Female individualism is futle when the need today is for a collectve
feminism. Some men would prefer that women fght lone batles and
would celebrate this as strength and courage, and therefore empowering to
women.
6
Using stories from the Bible, giving a name for unnamed women such as
the servant in the Book of Judith, and by reclaiming the stories of women
from historical narratves, which have ofen been silent on the role of
women, Monica Melanchthon stresses the
difculty of individual actons and the need
for collectve acton. She proposes that there
can be dialogue and reconciliaton when we
stress on the camaraderie between (these)
women
7
coming from difering communites,
groups and regions. Dalit women have come
together across the country able supported
by Dalit men and women and men from other
communites who stand in solidarity with
them to challenge all forms of injustce.
Abha and the other women in her community
do not seek our help they seek our solidarity
their story is our story and together we can challenge the injustce that denies
fullness to life to all women and all of society and the Earth itself!
6 MELANCHTHON, Monica, The Servant in the Book of Judith: Interpretng the Silence, Telling
the Story, Dalit Theology in the Twenty First Century: Discordant Voices, Discerning Pathways,
Sathianathan Clarke, Deenabandhu Manchala and Philip Vinod Peacock eds. (Delhi/Geneva:
Oxford University Press and WCC Publicatons, 2010.), p.246.
7 Ibid., p.246

We need a new
politcal and theological
imaginaton to reclaim the
power of our sisterhood
the sisterhood between
Naomi and Ruth - to get
more actvely engaged
in transformaton of all
injustce in our societes
and the world.
Their story is our story - in our unity is our power!
90
THE ANGUISH AND TERROR OF
RAPE AND INCEST
THE STORY OF TAMAR
Patricia Sheeratan-Bisnauth is the executve secretary for Justce and
Partnership with the World Communion of Reformed Churches. She is
responsible for Gender Justce and Justce in the Economy, on the Earth and
for all Gods Creaton. Patricia is the frst woman to be ordained as a minister
of Word and Sacrament of the Guyana Presbyterian Church in 1984.
Text: 2 Samuel 13.1-22
Introducton
The story of Tamar has not been a popular one for churches. One rarely hears
a sermon preached on Tamar, Dinah (Gen 34.1-12) or the Levites concubine
(Judg 19.10, 20.48). These are three of the stories of rape and violence against
women told in the Bible. These stories are disturbing because they deal with
the sin of sexual violence which has been difcult for the church. The story
of rape and incest in 2 Sam 13 occurs in the family of David, one of the most
famous persons in the Bible. Davids son
Amnon rapes his half-sister, Tamar. Davids
other son, Tamars full brother, is outraged
and kills Amnon.
Rape is a horrifc form of violence which
is a manifestaton of an abuse of power,
especially male power. It is one of the most
used weapons usually of male abuse of
women. Rape takes place in public as well
as in private. It is perpetrated by strangers
or family members or persons known to the
victms, including rape in marriage. Rape is
also used as a weapon of war, confict and to
setle disputes. Ofen the victm or survivor
has litle access to justce and healing. It
ofen eats away at its victm, emotonally,
psychologically and socially and leaves deep
scars.

Rape is ubiquitous and
afects persons regardless
of age, ethnicity, gender or
social standing. It has been
known to happen to the
youngest infant up to the
oldest adult. There have
also been reports of rape
in churches, perpetrated
by pastors, priests, usually
by men with power in the
church. Recently, in the
Caribbean there has been
a spate of cases of rape of
young school girls in mini-
buses and in schools.
91
Rape is ubiquitous and afects persons regardless of age, ethnicity, gender or
social standing. It has been known to happen to the youngest infant up to the
oldest adult. There have also been reports of rape in churches, perpetrated
by pastors, priests, usually by men with power in the church. Recently, in the
Caribbean there has been a spate of cases of rape of young school girls in
mini-buses and in schools.
The rate of violence in the Caribbean region has been spiralling to a
signifcantly high level. Gender based violence is especially highly prevalent in
all Caribbean countries. According to a 2007 World Bank report, all Caribbean
countries have higher rates of sexual violence than the world average. Rape
and sexual molestaton of women and children are rampant in Hait and this
combines with other economic, natural and social disasters as well as a high
rate of societal violence. In Guyana one in four women sufered from male
physical abuse in a relatonship, and approximately 30% of women surveyed
in Trinidad & Tobago have experienced domestc violence. In Suriname 67% of
women have experienced violence in a partner relatonship and 30% of adult
women in Antgua & Barbuda and Barbados have experienced some form of
domestc abuse.
1
In 2008 charges of sexual assault were laid against Prime
Minister Ralph Gonsalves of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The media
reported on 2 cases of rape by Gonsalves and similar allegatons by three
other women against him. Both cases were dropped when investgatons
discontnued. One of the survivors dropped her case and it was reported that
she was pressured to do so.
2
Reading the text
Organise for partcipants to do a biblio-dramatc or group reading of 2 Sam 13.
1-22 and afer the reading invite partcipants to share the following in table
groups:
What were you feeling as the story of Tamar was being told?
Identfy and describe the main characters in this story. What is the role of
each of the male characters in the rape of Tamar?
Imagine Tamar in her everyday life. What was life like for her?
1 A Joint Report by the United Natons Ofce on Drugs and Crime and the Latn America and the
Caribbean Region of the World Bank on Crime, Violence, and Development: Trends, Costs, and
Policy Optons in the Caribbean, March 2007 htp://www.unodc.org/pdf/research/Cr_and_
Vio_Car_E.pdf
2 Caribbean Media Corporaton [Bridgetown]. 20 September 2008. "Woman Said Pressured to
Drop Rape Case Against St Vincent Premier." (BBC Monitoring Americas 21 Sept. 2008)
The anguish and terror of rape and incest
92
How is she treated by her family and the community, afer the rape?
What would you do if Tamar was your sister or daughter?
What is the power constructon in the story? Identfy places where power
and powerlessness are evident and share the situaton in your context.
Where is God in the story of Tamar?
What does the text tell us?
The rape involved three of Davids children: Absalom, Amnon and Tamar. It was
a horrifc tragedy which cannot be disconnected from what was happening
in the family, especially the sexual irresponsibility of David, and the power
struggle between Amnon and Absalom. Amnons politcal ambitons as the
heir to King David were challenged by Absalom. David was by far the most
powerful of Israels kings, militaristcally and charismatcally. He was to become
the prototype of the Messiah. Jesus, on the other hand, would play down that
aspect of his status that described himself as the scion of the House of David,
and emphasizes his role as the powerless Sufering Servant.
David, the irresponsible father
What could he have done? Did he pretend not to know what was happening
right in his house? What about the parent who is in denial about an open
secret in the family?
King David is the most pathetc person in this
story. Great and powerful as he was the most
that could be said of him in his relatonship
to women and to his children, is that he is
irresponsible. He hears of the incest/rape; he
is very angry; he does nothing! Verse 21 tells
us why: But he had no wish to harm his son
Amnon, since he loved him; he was his frst-
born (son). How typically patriarchal! For
all his power, he would not take disciplinary
acton against his son. But the daughter is forced to live a sad, disconsolate,
lonely existence for the tme being in Absaloms house, and then.. His
inacton would lead to the loss of both Amnon and Absalom; Tamar had
already been lost. Did he care?
Absalom, seizing power at any cost
When sexual violence, including rape and assaults occur, usually the victm

What could he have done?
Did he pretend not to
know what was happening
right in his house? What
about the parent who is
in denial about an open
secret in the family?
93
is silenced by the family, church, society and
the legal system. Why should she be quiet in a
situaton in which she is terrorized? How can
her family, who claim to love her not feel her
pain, vulnerability and need for justce and
healing?
Interestngly, the incident of the rape falls
under Secton C of 2 Samuel that deals
with Davids family and the intrigues for the
Succession. Even more interestng is the fact
that sub-secton 3 is headed Absalom. This
makes the story of the rape an episode within
the larger story of Absaloms quest for politcal
power. Absalom was Tamars full-blooded
brother. He would use the violaton of his
sister as the pretext and justfcaton for the use of force (primary power) in
the murder of Amnon (2 Sam 13.22-33), but his objectve was the seizure of
Davids throne.
Patriarchy alone does not explain his advice to Tamar: Has Amnon your
brother been with you? Be quiet now, my sister; he is your brother; do not
take this so much to heart (v.20). And yet, he begins a vendeta thereafer
that would cost him his life. Obviously, her pain and shame was no big thing!
Except that it could be put to good use.
Amnon, obsessed with power and lust
Dominant masculinity and manhood are closely linked with sex, power and
violence. Men seek to prove their masculinity through sexual conquests.
How does your church address the
issue of dominant masculinity? What
are your responses to rape and incest?
How do you deal with victms and
perpetrators?
It is abhorrent to think that Amnons
rape of Tamar was an act of contempt
contempt for Absalom whose sister she
was, and whose ambiton for politcal
power at his (Amnons) expense was
an open secret. He was certainly

When sexual violence,
including rape and assaults
occur, usually the victm
is silenced by the family,
church, society and the
legal system. Why should
she be quiet in a situaton
in which she is terrorized?
How can her family, who
claim to love her not feel
her pain, vulnerability
and need for justce and
healing?

Dominant masculinity and
manhood are closely linked with
sex, power and violence. Men
seek to prove their masculinity
through sexual conquests. How
does your church address the
issue of dominant masculinity?
What are your responses to rape
and incest? How do you deal with
victms and perpetrators?
94
contemptuous of her once the physical violaton was over. His order to his
servant was explicit: Get rid of this woman for me, throw her out and bolt
the door afer her (v.17). Get rid of the whore! According to 2 Sam 13.2 f, it
was Amnons desire for Tamar that made him ill. Or was it the frustraton of
his power to obtain her? A defniton of power is that power is meant every
opportunity/possibility existng within a social relatonship, which permits
one to carry out ones own will, even against resistance, and regardless of the
basis on which this opportunity rests. It was his cousin, the shrewd Jonadab,
that would suggest how Amnon, whom he pointedly called Son of the King
with all the power potental that ttle entailed, might create the opportunity
however dishonest the basis on which that opportunity would rest.
Who are the Jonadabs in your community/church? How do we respond to
their amoral behaviour/abuse of power?
Tamar, confrontng power
Like Tamar, many women cry out from pain and anguish of rape, incest and
domestc violence. Who are the Tamars of your family, church and community?
How are they heard in your church and community? Is your church one that
brings healing, support and demands justce?
Against the power of naked, violent force, Tamar would use another kind of
power: that of moral persuasion and ratonal commonsense with an appeal
to personal self-interest. No, my brother! Do not violate me. This is not a
thing men do in Israel. Do not commit such an outrage. Wherever would I go,
bearing my shame? While you would become an outcast in Israel. Go now and
speak to the king; he will not refuse to give me to you. (vv.12-13)
But he brushed aside that appeal, overpowered her and raped her. Had he
loved Tamar he would have listened to her and achieved the desired outcome
of a sound, permanent relatonship with her. In 2 Sam 13.1, it is writen that
Amnon fell in love with Tamar. But was it really love, or was it rather lust,
insecurity, wantonness and vileness? His falling out came quicker than most.
He showed no concern for Tamar, even when she pleaded with him. Love is
not only a feeling or sexual urges; it is the desire to engage with another in
the interest of the mutual growth and development, sharing deep and caring
concern for each other. Even afer the rape, Tamar would appeal for common
sense and humanity in Amnons interest, but to no avail.
Tamars pain and anguish ripped her life apart. She ripped her clothes, threw
ashes on her head, and wailed as she mourned publicly. She declared that
she was violated and was clearly calling for justce and mercy from her father,
95
King David. Tamar lived in a context which judged harshly the victm of such a
crime. She had been shamed and fnished in her community.
Breaking the silence of rape, incest and all forms of gender based violence
Men are placed at the top on the pyramid of human relatonships and are
systematcally encouraged to view power as dominatng and controlling.
Rape and sexual violence are rooted in a patriarchal constructon of power,
where power is seen as dominant and controlling; it wields its ugly hands
against those who are vulnerable and powerless. It has its basis in patriarchy
- a system that positons men over women (and also some men over other
men) and instls a sense of enttlement and privilege in many men. Patriarchy
also insttutonalizes the social, cultural and legal contexts that permit gender
violence.
Rape is about violence and power. Amnon used his power as he was not only
bigger and stronger than his sister but also had other male privileged power
based on his status, frstly as a man and more so, a man with power in the
family and society. He was driven by lofy ambitons about power to rule
and control. He felt that he can do what he feels like doing without facing
consequences. David had the power to make Amnon bear the consequences
of the crime commited against Tamar and thus bring justce to his daughter,
but he did not. He did not punish Amnon for the crime he commited.
The many Davids in our churches and community remain silent and suppress
victms of rape, incest and domestc violence when they should be outraged
and compelled to seek justce for the victms. The church community needs to
take a public stance in giving voice, presence and acton on overcoming all
forms of gender based violence. This can no longer be treated as a marginal
issue. It is a frightening epidemic afectng the Caribbean.
Churches need to seriously consider this issue as a priority and address it at
every opportunity - in sermons, prayers, litanies, liturgical dances, songs and
mission priorites. Church leaders must challenge theology which legitmizes
male dominance over women. They need to organise Christan educaton
material and widespread re-reading of the Bible, especially texts found in
Pauls leters to the Ephesians, Corinthians and Colossians which churches
ofen misuse to teach about marriage and family life. These are just a few
examples of texts which have ofen been misinterpreted to prescribe male
control over the family and submission of women, even to the point of
submitng to abuse.
An important strategy is to address the issue of dominant masculinity. There
96
needs to be a process of redefning masculinity and to create a social climate,
in male peer culture, in which the abuse of women is seen as completely
unacceptable. A comprehensive strategy involving wide-scale discussions of
the underlying social causes of mens violence is required. Strategies need to
take into account that violence is learned behaviour, and boys and men need
to be re-educated on how to be men in ways that do not involve abusing girls
and women - physically, sexually, or emotonally. It is tme for the church to
say NO TO VIOLENCE and for men to be at the forefront of this campaign.
3
Ask partcipants to read the story below on Rape, A Lifetme of Hurt. Afer the
story is read, invite them to form small group or use table groups and discuss
the following:
Where does sexual abuse occur? Share a case that you know of in your
family, community or church.
What are ways and means used by sexual abusers to manipulate their
victms?
What happens to the victms of incest and rape? How are they silenced?
What possibilites are there to break the code of silence and for the truth
to be heard?
What roles do other family play in such situatons?
Ofen victms of sexual abuse and incest are shamed, blamed and
demeaned. How can the church help in bringing justce, healing and
safety?
Conclusion
Afer the group discussion, ask partcipants to share briefy key points and
feedback. Allow tme also for brief discussion and feedback from the plenary.
Put up a list of available centres/places for counselling and other support
structures that are available in your city/context for both survivors and victms
of domestc and sexual violence. Share informaton on resources available.
(Refer to resource on page 260)
Close the Bible study session by organising partcipants in a circle. Light a large
candle in the middle of the circle and have available small candles, enough for
each person to have one. Two persons will need to stand at two convenient
spots to assist persons with lightng their candles.
3 SHEERATTAN-BISNAUTH, Patricia and PEACOCK, Philip Vinod, (Eds.) Created in Gods Image:
From Hegemony to Partnership (Geneva: WCRC and WCC, 2010).
97
Lead in singing a song, afer which, partcipants will be invited to come forth
and name persons who have sufered and those who are sufering from
domestc or sexual violence. They may choose to name the persons silently or
aloud. As they step forward, they will light a candle and say a prayer for the
person.
End in a collectve prayer and singing songs of hope.

The rapist might
try to gain some
advantage by ripping
at your clothes. If
your hands are free,
get those beautfully
manicured nails into
his eyes.
RAPE, A LIFETIME OF HURT
Jamaica Gleaner, published Monday, January 16, 2006
1
Nashauna Drummond, Staf Reporter
The rapist might try to gain some advantage by ripping at your clothes. If
your hands are free, get those beautfully manicured nails into his eyes.
Rape fgures
For 2005 there were 735 reported cases of rape in Jamaica. Though these are
preliminary fgures from the Constabulary Communicaton Network (CCN),
women contnue to be victms of numerous sexual abuses. Rape, carnal abuse
and incest are the ultmate abuse of womens human rights.
When a woman is raped, she never fully heals. The scars she carries for the
rest of her life are mostly hidden from public eye. For the next two weeks
Flair will highlight the stories of women who were victms of various forms of
sexual abuse. We will atempt to learn about their healing processes perhaps
in the process their stories will help other victms.
All the names of the victms have been changed to
protect their privacy.
Incest - Jennys story
Jenny was sexually molested by her stepfather.
Now in her 40s and married with two children, she
stll wears the scars of her ordeal.
Stll unable to speak about it, she wrote the details
of her ordeal for Flair.
1 htp://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20060116/fair/fair1.html
98
My ordeal started when I was about fve years old. I was sexually molested
by him from age fve to age 12. I cannot remember any tme when I was not
afraid or when I felt safe. I could not tell my mother because she would beat
me (well thats what he told me), so I just sufered in silence.
My liberaton came on my frst day in secondary school. I was getng my
things ready when he called me to tell me my mother wanted me to feed the
rabbits. She had gone to the market, so I went and thats when he grabbed
me and wanted me to have sex with him. I managed to free myself from his
grip and ran. I told him I was going to tell mama what he had been doing to
me and he just laughed and said, Who you think she is going to believe, me
or you?
I couldnt wait to get home to tell mama. I got home to fnd him, mama and
one of my uncles sitng in the living room waitng for me. She told me to
come in and take of my clothes and I froze. Without so much as a word she
pulled out an electric wire - three pieces plaited into one. For the frst hit I
stripped down to my birthday suit. I was naked in front of the man who had
been molestng me. He was just sitng there with this look of, I told you so,
on his face.
My mother beat me bloody that day. He had told her some story about me
and some boy and she didnt think - she just believed him - end of story. My
stepfather stole my soul and my mother killed my spirit at the age of 12.
Healing
How am I dealing with it? Well I tried to take my life at the age of 16 and
Jesus saved me. For the beter part afer that, I blocked it out and just didnt
deal with it. But I was killing myself. Many people now say I am doing well.
Im married with two beautful children, I own my own business, drive a nice
car. But I have no feelings, I am numb and my emotons are messed up. When
I hear some women speak about how they feel when their partner touches
them, I sometmes look at them with envy. I dont know how to make love to
my husband. I just have sexual intercourse.
I am getng counselling now and I pray to God that I can get some help
because now that my memories are back it is getng harder and harder to
deal with it.
Statutory rape - Janes story
Jane is now 33 years old, she was raped when she was 13. Her parents had
divorced and she was living in the United States with her mother but she
99
Rape, a lifetme of hurt
visited Jamaica every summer and Christmas. One summer she and her
friends went over to the house of a guy they knew. He was older, about 18.
We were hanging out and he asked me to accompany him into a room. I never
thought anything of it as I had known him for a while, so I went. He kissed me
and stll I did not think anything of it as I thought he was cute. Then the issue
of sex came up and I told him I didnt want to have sex.
That was when I realised how large the house was and that we were prety
far away from everyone. I was isolated. I started to protest verbally and then
it escalated. We were tussling and he called three of his friends into the room.
One of them had a gun. When I saw it all my fght just went out the window. He
probably saw that and he told them to leave. There was a bathroom adjoining
the room and he told me to get inside. I was so petrifed that anything he said
I would have done.
He locked the bathroom door and thats when the act occurred. Its like I had
an out-of-body experience, it happened but didnt happen.
One of my girlfriends came upstairs and saw me shaking and got really mad,
she was so angry I wished I was that strong. He ran out laughing and she and
I went home.
I didnt tell anyone for six months then I told my parents. My mother was
angry at my father because she blamed him and he wanted to press charges. I
told him no. I asked dad not to do anything about it; thats one thing I insisted
on. I didnt want anyone to know because even at that age I knew they would
say it was my fault even though I thought no one would believe me. But
in future if I was somewhere and the rapist was there, I would leave. I was
petrifed of him for years. I blamed myself and I thought I was foolish and so
naive.
100
NOT A MUMBLING WORD
Rev. Robina Marie Winbush
Robina Winbush is an associate stated clerk for the Presbyterian Church
(USA). She serves as the director of the Department of Ecumenical and
Agency Relatons in the Ofce of the General Assembly. Robina has served
on several natonal and internatonal denominatonal and ecumenical
commitees and organizatons including the Natonal Council of Churches
of Christ, USA, the World Council of Churches and the World Alliance of
Reformed Churches. An ordained minister, she has served congregatons in
Harlem, Long Island, the Bronx, Queens, New York and Louisville, KY.
Read Judges 19.1-30
Introducton
This Bible study was presented at the World Council of Churches, Global
Ecumenical Conference on Justce for Dalits in Thailand, 2009. It shows ways
in which the struggles of African Americans are connected with the liberaton
struggles of Dalits. On the surface, it is no secret that the liberaton struggle
of African Americans, partcularly in the relatvely recent years of what is
referred to as the civil rights movement has given inspiraton and power to
liberaton struggles of marginalized and oppressed groups both within the
United States and throughout the world. However, before one can look at
the heart of the struggle, one must stop and examine the oppression that
demands eradicaton.
I am an African American woman who is privileged by virtue of educaton and
occupaton but at the same tme I come from a community, which is stll defned
by race and skin colour in the United States, which despite having elected one
who both is and identfes as an African American to the highest ofce in the
country, African American communites contnue to have a disproportonate
number of our men incarcerated, a disproportonate number of our children
uneducated and a disproportonate number of our community bearing the
burden of this current economic crisis. I hear the words of my sister, Dr. Jean
Sindab
1
screaming at me to remind folks of the struggles of those who are not
privileged by virtue of educaton and occupaton and whose reality is so ofen
overlooked.
1 Dr. Jean Sindab was an African American Baptst laywoman who served on the staf of the
World Council of Churches in the Programme to Combat Racism in the 1980s.
101
I am always mindful of a woman with
whom I had worked prior to entering
the staf of the PC (USA) over 20 years
ago. She was a woman whose life was
marked by racism, poverty, abuse and
marginalizaton. She had lived her life
in and out of mental insttutons. She
literally came to me in a vision during
my frst natonal meetng and asked the
queston How is what youre doing
going to make my life any beter? It is
to her, that I dedicate this Bible study.
Prayer: Speak to our hearts Holy Spirit.
Give us the words that will bring new
life - words on the wings of a morning
to drive all the nights of doubt away.
Speak to our hearts Holy Spirit. As you
speak, when we grow uncomfortable,
remind us that you are pruning the
parts of us that need to be removed.
When we feel some joy, remind us that you are refreshing and empowering
us for the work of ministry. Holy One, receive the glory and grant us your
blessing. In the name of the One who is the Living Word, Jesus the Christ, we
dare to pray. Amen
Invite partcipants to do a biblio-dramatc reading of Judges 19.1- 30.
Silent Refecton: Write your image reacton - words, pictures, etc.
The murderous brutality and rape of a woman and her children from the
village of Kherlanji near Nagpur:
On the evening of 29 September 2006, as they were preparing for dinner, 44
year old Surekha Bhotmange, her 18 year old daughter Priyanka, her 23 year
old son Roshan and 21 year old son Sudhir, were dragged from their house.
Surekha and Priyanka were stripped naked, dragged by their hair to the village
centre about 500 meters away, humiliated, biten, beaten black and blue,
gang-raped in full public view for an hour before they were hacked to death.
Their atackers pushed stcks into their private parts. Roshan and Sudhir were
kicked and stabbed repeatedly before they were dead, their faces disfgured
and private parts mutlated. It is said that the punching did not stop even afer
Surekha and her three children were dead and also that Surekha and Priyanka

Prayer: Speak to our hearts
Holy Spirit. Give us the words
that will bring new life - words
on the wings of a morning to
drive all the nights of doubt
away. Speak to our hearts Holy
Spirit. As you speak, when we
grow uncomfortable, remind us
that you are pruning the parts
of us that need to be removed.
When we feel some joy, remind
us that you are refreshing and
empowering us for the work of
ministry. Holy One, receive the
glory and grant us your blessing.
In the name of the One who is
the Living Word, Jesus the Christ,
we dare to pray. Amen
Not a mumbling word
102
were raped even afer they were dead. Surekha and her childrens bodies lay
strewn in the village square for hours.
2
Silent Refecton - Write your image reacton words, pictures, etc.
It is important that we not run past the
horror of these stories. That we allow
ourselves to listen, to react, to own
what it does to us to hear these stories
of women, of men, of children, created
in the image of God, claimed by God
as Gods own and so brutally atacked
and their lives destroyed. No wonder,
Phyllis Trible identfed the story of the
unnamed woman from Bethlehem as a
Text of Terror.
3
It is important that we
allow ourselves to be horrifed, frightened, angry beyond acceptable words,
and grieved in the depths of our spirits. Too ofen we are quick to turn the
page, to look for a new story not quite so horrifc, something that will make
us forget. But the stories do not go away. They remain from generaton to
generaton, demanding our atenton; untl we stop, listen, feel the horror,
and seek a more faithful response.
We will invite the story of this unnamed woman from Bethlehem to be the
lens through which we struggle with multple issues of social ordering, power
relatonships, sexuality, hospitality, and insider/outsider dynamics. However,
I will only be able to touch on these issues briefy and will focus my major
atenton on: silencing as a weapon of mass destructon.
We will explore together ways, in which we who claim the name of the Anointed
One, Jesus the Christ, might faithfully respond in our own tme and context.
What are the tools of resistance that might efectvely be employed?
Many biblical scholars have addressed this text through the analysis of North
African biblical hospitality codes and the violaton of these codes in the act
of the Benjaminites.
4
They compare the hospitality by the concubines father
extended to his daughters master to the lack of hospitality shown by the men
of Gibeah, both in refusing to open their homes and the desire to rape the
2 NAMALA, Annie, Afrming the Image of God in Dalit Women: A Task for the in the Indian
Church in In Gods Image: Journal of Asian Womens Resource Centre for Culture and
Theology, Vol. 26, No. 3, (September 2007).
3 TRIBLE, Phyllis, Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratves (OBT
Philadelphia: Fortress Press 1984).
4 OLSEN, David T.,Judges in New Interpreters Bible Vol II, (Nashville: Abingdon Press,1998).

We will explore together ways,
in which we who claim the name
of the Anointed One, Jesus the
Christ, might faithfully respond in
our own tme and context. What
are the tools of resistance that
might efectvely be employed?
103
Levite. Others have examined this text as an example of the faithlessness of
the Israelites in a tme when they had no king and each man did what was
right in his own eyes.
5
Others would dare to address the vulnerability and
violaton of the women in this story and subsequent story found in chapter
20.
6
For the purposes of this conference, I would like to examine the work of
womanist scholar, Koala Jones-Warsaw who suggests that patriarchy defned
a social context in which layers of social ordering created multple victms for
which multple partes bear responsibility.
7
It would be too easy to isolate this
story as the depraved act of violence against one woman in one community.
However, the systems that existed to allow such violence to occur must be
examined.
We must acknowledge that a social order
had been created that privileged some by
virtue of their gender, their age, their birth
order, their marital status, their wealth, their
tribal afliaton.
This social stratfcaton is played out in the
relatonships between the individual men
in this story. The father of this unnamed
woman has a greater standing because of
age. However, the master/husband was
identfed as a Levite which indicated that he was from the tribe responsible
for the teaching and keeping of the holy laws that were to govern the Israelites
- a religious man who held a positon of honour, placing him above many other
men in his society. The old man who opened his home to the Levite had been
working in the felds, which suggest that he had neither sons nor servants
to work for him and therefore possibly limited resources. The servant to the
Levite is clearly the least infuental of all the men in the story.
The two women in this story are both in vulnerable situatons. The unnamed
woman from Bethlehem is identfed as a concubine, which means she has
none of the privileges of a wife and is therefore in an inferior positon both
within her family and community. The virgin daughter of the old man is
the only other female specifcally identfed in this story. It would not be an
5 Ibid.
6 Phyllis Trible, Op.cit.
7 WARSAW, Koala Jones,Towards a Womanist Hermeneutc: A Reading of Judges 19-21 in a
A Feminist Companion to Judges ed. Athalya Brenner (Shefeld: Shefeld Academic Press,
1993).

We must acknowledge that
a social order had been
created that privileged
some by virtue of their
gender, their age, their birth
order, their marital status,
their wealth, their tribal
afliaton.
Not a mumbling word
104
unreasonable conclusion that because of her
age, marital status and possibly economic
status, she was not in a partcularly protected
group.
Now let us take a moment and look at the
story again:
The story begins with the woman having lef
the Levite, returning to her fathers house
and the Levite coming to bring her back.
Biblical scholars debate the reasoning of her
leaving. Some would translate the Hebrew verb zn as to commit adultery.
Others would argue that the word could be translated to become angry
with. Because women in ancient Israel could not initate divorce, the generic
term of adultery is the only term that could be applied to a woman who leaves
her husband/master.
8
What we do know is that the woman leaves the Levites household, returns
to her fathers house and stays there four months. The Levite has come to
speak tenderly to her to speak to her heart and to bring her back.
I suspect it doesnt take great hermeneutcal imaginaton to envision the gifs,
the sof words, the wooing that the Levite did trying to get his woman back.
However, the text reports no such gifs are given. No sof words are spoken.
No wooing is experienced. Rather an exchange between two men is all we
hear.
We watch an exchange between the Levite and his father-in-law for four days.
It remains unclear whether the two were engaged in an ancient rite of male
bonding - drinking, eatng and making merry or whether the father was
trying to detain the Levite in his house long enough to ascertain whether it
was safe for his daughter to leave with him or whether they were engaged in
a power play over who had claim to the daughter/concubine.
9
The woman had become an object passed from father to her master/husband.
Female sexuality is a valuable asset that is transferred from father to master/
husband. What is clear is that the decision to stay or leave was no longer the
decision of the woman, but now a brokered decision between two men, each
of whom were responsible on some level for her well being. Each of whom,
8 David J.Olsen, Op cit.
9 McCANN, Clinton J., Judges in Interpretaton: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and
Preaching (Louisville: John Knox Press, 2002).

What we do know is that
the woman leaves the
Levites household, returns
to her fathers house and
stays there four months.
The Levite has come to
speak tenderly to her to
speak to her heart and to
bring her back.
105
the story will reveal, failed her.
From the woman, her mother or any other female that may have infuenced
what was to come; we hear not a mumbling
word. The narrator of this story efectvely
silences their voices and their witness.
Finally the Levite prevails over his father-in-
law and decides to leave late on the ffh day.
The decision to leave late in the day means
they will not reach their destnaton before
nightall. The servant advises the Levite to
stop and fnd refuge in the city of Jebus. But
the Levite, not wantng to enter a city of
foreigners, ignores the advice of his lower
positoned servant and decides to contnue on to Gibeah, where he expected
to receive an appropriate welcome and hospitality from his Benjaminite
relatves. (Your enemy aint always the stranger!) Arriving in Gibeah, he waits
in the public square to be invited into someones home. He waited for the
ancient North African hospitality to be ofered to him. However, there is not an
outpouring of hospitality. And he waits. Finally, one old man of questonable
economic status and positon ofers him hospitality. (It is ofen those who
have the least who ofer the most!)
No sooner had the Levite and his entourage entered the old mans home and
are enjoying themselves, the threat of atack on the Levite by a group of men
outside the home is made known. They bang on the door demanding that the
Levite be given to them so that they may rape him. The old man in an atempt
to protect the Levite, ofers to give the gang his virgin daughter instead.
Does this sound familiar? Remember Abraham and Lot? One must wonder
what type of perverted social/familial system sacrifces children to protect
adults? The Levite intervenes and throws his concubine to the destructve
crowd. From the virgin daughter, the wife of the old man or any other female
in the house we hear not a mumbling word of oppositon or protest. Again,
the narrator has efectvely silenced their voices and their witness.
The brutal gang rape and torture of this daughter of God in the public square
is appalling. It is not a brief horrible encounter; it is a prolonged and tortuous
event that happened over hours - all night long. Throughout this horrible
ordeal, we are told that the Levite slept comfortably in the old mans home
and there wasnt a mumbling word from that house not a word of concern,
not a word of prayerful supplicaton, not a mumbling word.

From the woman, her
mother or any other female
that may have infuenced
what was to come; we
hear not a mumbling word.
The narrator of this story
efectvely silences their
voices and their witness.
Not a mumbling word
106
Throughout this atrocious atack in the public
square there is not a mumbling word from
any of the townspeople. Surely, somebody
knew what was going on? Where were the
family members of these crazy men? Where
were the community busy-bodies? Where
were those charged with the responsibility
of keeping order? There is a collusion of
powers that allow such an atack to occur
and we dont hear a mumbling word.
Afer being raped and tortured all night long, this unnamed daughter of God
drags herself back to the house that should have been a source of protecton
and collapses on the doorstep. We can only imagine her lying there, beaten,
raped and brutalized, but consistent with the rest of this story, we do not
hear even a whimper or a cry.
The Levite wakes up from his sleep and prepares to go home. He doesnt
prepare to go look for her, to comfort her, to confront her atackers, to confess
his complicity and guilt for her demise. He prepares to contnue on his journey.
The only words we hear him speak to his beloved concubine, the woman he
went to speak tenderly to and whose heart he wanted to touch with tender
words - the only words we hear him speak when he sees her lying there is
GET UP! We are going. Again there is silence.
The servant, the old man, the virgin daughter, other residents of the household,
all the townspeople nobody says a mumbling word! There is silence.
The story does not end there. The Levite throws her on his donkey, goes home,
and cuts her up in twelve pieces. Let me stop here for just one minute. We are
never told when the woman dies. It is not clear that her unresponsiveness to
the command to get up afer being tortured and raped was because she was
dead. We know that if she wasnt already dead, she is sufciently dead afer
being dismembered!
Mieke Bal suggests that her death begins at her exposure to the ravaging
crowds and ends with her dismemberment. She dies several tmes or rather
she never stops dying!
10
The Levite then sends her dismembered body throughout Israel as a call to
war against the Benjaminites, declaring there has never been such a vile thing
10 BAL, Mieke, A Body of Writng: Judges 19 in A Feminist Companion to Judges, Athalya
Brenner ed. (Shefeld: Shefeld Academic Press, 1993), p. 222.

The servant, the old man,
the virgin daughter, other
residents of the household,
all the townspeople
nobody says a mumbling
word!There is silence.
107
done since the days of Egyptan bondage. To what vile thing is he referring?
The rape to which he sacrifced his beloved? The torture for which he ofered
no words of sorrow or dismay? Or maybe the vile thing is that his male,
patriarchal ego was bruised! He uses this horrifc event as an excuse to wage
war, murder the Benjaminites and rape 400 other women in Shiloh.
From the beginning to the end in this awful saga, there is this deafening silence
that troubles my soul. There is silence even
from God! From the beginning to the end,
God says not a mumbling word!
Let us pause for a moment. I would like for
you to discuss the queston of what fuels
silence?
I would argue with others that a social order
that gives a hierarchal value to life, that
defnes some persons solely by their beneft
to others and makes them easily expendable,
is a social order that violates Gods intenton for humanity. It is a social order
in which people will negotate their own positons and contnuously look for
others to throw to ravaging crowds in atempts to literally save their own asses.
It is a social order in which fathers place daughters in vulnerable and violatng
situatons. It is a social order in which husbands sacrifce their beloved for the
sake of their own honour. It is a social order in which the most marginalized
cannot fnd their own voice. It is a social order that creates a theology with a
mute god in the face of unspeakable horror.
Alice Walker in her book Possessing the Secret of Joy writes of a woman
whose life has been defned by female genital mutlaton. The woman Tashi
asks for me a most relevant queston.
I grew agitated each tme he (her pastor/husband) touched on the sufering
of Jesus. For a long tme my agitaton confused me. I am a great lover of Jesus,
and always have been. Stll I began to see how the constant focus on the
sufering of Jesus alone excludes the sufering of others from ones view I
knew I wanted my own sufering, the sufering of women and litle girls, stll
cringing before the overwhelming might and weapons of torture, to be the
subject of a sermon. Was woman herself not the tree of life? And was she not
crucifed? Not in some age no one even remembers, but right now, daily, in
many lands on earth?
One sermon, I begged him, one discussion with your followers about what

From the beginning to the
end in this awful saga, there
is this deafening silence that
troubles my soul. There is
silence even from God!From
the beginning to the end,
God says not a mumbling
word!
Not a mumbling word
108
was done to me. He said the congregaton would be embarrassed to discuss
something so private and that, in any case, he would be ashamed to do so.
They circumcised women, litle girls in Jesus tme. Did he know? Did the
subject anger or embarrass him? Did the early church erase the record? Jesus
himself was circumcised; perhaps he thought only the cutng done to him
was done to women, and therefore, since he survived, it was all right.
11
When we who are marked by the waters of baptsm and fed with the very
life force of our Saviour at the Table of our Lord engage in the conspiracy of
silence when violence and oppression is done to the most marginalized in our
midst, are we by virtue of our silence, implying that for Jesus it is alright?
My dear friend and colleague, the Rev. Dr. Randall Bailey, in refectng on
the book of Judges notes that the violence perpetuated against women and
childrens bodies - from the sacrifce of Jephthahs daughter to the rape and
murder of this unnamed woman from Bethlehem to and the mass rape of
the daughters of Shiloh and the contnual silence of God in the face of such
violence is problematc to say the least. The narrator of Judges presents a
god whose primary concern is a self-possessed jealousy and anger over the
worship of some other deity that doesnt exist.
The narrator in Judges does not present a God who is concerned about the
treatment of women, the poor and the oppression of the stranger. In the face
of unbelievable horror, the narrator fails to record a mumbling word from
God.
Dr. Bailey argues that such a portrayal of God is a betrayal of God!
12
What then becomes a more faithful response?
I hear the words of my slave ancestors who took Jeremiahs queston, Is
there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?
13
And fipped it with
the answer as they began to sing: There is a Balm in Gilead to heal the sin-
sick soul. There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole. You may not
preach like Peter, you may not pray like Paul, but you can show the power of
Jesus who came to free us all There is a balm in Gilead
11 WALKER, Alice, Possessing the Secret of Joy (New York: Pocket Star Books 1992), pp. 275-276.
12 Dr. Bailey is the Andrew W. Mellan Professor of Hebrew Bible at the Interdenominatonal
Theological Seminary in Atlanta, GA. This refecton comes from a March 11, 2009 interview
with Dr. Bailey in preparaton for this Bible study.
13 Jeremiah 8: 18-23
109
I had forgoten many of the details of Tashis life. However, I never forgot the
fnal message in her story: Resistance is the Secret of Joy!
Resistance is the balm in Gilead! Resistance! Resistance! Resistance!
Throughout the biblical text, the unnamed woman is made silent by the
narrator. However, she was the only one in the story who exercised resistance
to a social order that was oppressive. In verse 2, we are told, But his concubine
became angry with him and she went away from him to her fathers house
She took the initatve to escape a situaton that was unacceptable.
What would have happened if she had a family and community of support that
protected her rather than betrayed her? Not only would her life have been
saved, but a brutal war, mass rapes of innocent women and the enslavement
of a whole village could have been averted!
Harriet Brent Jacobs, a 21 year old enslaved mulato escaped the sexual
exploitaton of her master by hiding in an atc crawl space in her grandmothers
house for seven years. While only fve feet four inches tall, there was barely
room to lie down, no room to stand up and stretch. There was no ventlaton,
no protecton from the biter cold in the winter or the scorching heat in the
summer. Her fesh was eaten by tny insects. She was forced into silence and
stllness unless her presence was made
known. For seven years she hid in this
place untl she could escape to a place
where chatel slavery would not defne
her. But her resistance was supported
by her family and community who loved
her. Her grandmother fed her, her uncle
obtained needed medicine, her friends
were on the lookout, her young children
managed to keep an unspeakable secret.
Silence has its place never in the
collusion of oppression, always in the
service of liberaton!
14
Joanne Litle was a young uneducated Black woman in North Carolina who
while being jailed for some minor ofense was subject to rape by her jailer.
She resisted and killed him! Knowing that she would not receive a fair trial,
she managed to escape prison. However, a natonal movement of African
14 BRENT, Linda, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: An Authentc Historical Narratve Describing
the Horrors of Slavery as Experienced by Black Women, (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,
1973).
Not a mumbling word

What would have happened
if she had a family and
community of support that
protected her rather than
betrayed her? Not only would
her life have been saved, but
a brutal war, mass rapes of
innocent women and the
enslavement of a whole village
could have been averted!
110
Americans and feminists commited to justce rose up to her defence and
dared to resist a system that would declare a woman had no right to defend
herself against sexual assault.
When the collusion of powers wanted to justfy the massacre of Surekha and
her children, the community resisted this distorton, came out en masse,
protestng and demanding that truth would come forth untl her story was
told and justce given!
Evangeline Anderson-Rajkumar suggests
that, resistance begins, When we
begin to understand the Dalit body as
a subversive tool for theologizing in
context. It is a theology that understands
there is no place for silence, passivity and
uncritcal accommodatons or absorpton
of violence against Dalits when one opts
to engage in (and not just study) Dalit
theologizing.
15
We must resist the temptaton to protect
our positons of privilege (as litle as
it might be) and partcipate in the collusion of silence. We must resist the
silencing of God and then demanding allegiance to such a god in the face of
unspeakable horror.
I believe that for the church one of our frst acts of resistance must be to break
the silence, to remember the victms of violence, to call forth their names, to
tell their stories, to lament for their families, and the whole communitys loss
of their potental.
Acts of Remembrance, Confession, and Lament: The community is invited to
remember, name and lament the victms of violence.
Resistance is found in Elizabeth Joys artcle, Dalit Womans Body in Relaton
to Land, Labour and Liberaton when she quotes Samuel Ryan that we must
employ a theology that will not atempt to explain away sufering, but will
engage a praxis to overcome all the minions of death. The perspectve or
horizon in our context will be God as freedom Theology will connect hope
and freedom in history; connect eschatology and struggle for justce now;
15 ANDERSON RAJKUMAR, Evangeline, Dalit Body: A Subversive Tool for Theologizing in Context
in In Gods Image: Journal of Asian Womens Resource Centre for Culture and Theology, Vol.
26, No. 3, (September 2007).

I believe that for the church
one of our frst acts of
resistance must be to break
the silence, to remember
the victms of violence, to
call forth their names, to tell
their stories, to lament for
their families, and the whole
communitys loss of their
potental.
111
connect the reign of God and social change.
16
Resistance is picking up the challenge that Annie Namala presents when she
suggest that the church must develop a theological angle that accompanies
legal and human rights struggles, building a sound base with which Dalit
women and the community can rebuild their social image. The task would be
to go beyond presentng the Bible and Christan theology as given today, but
to help Dalit women and community to create one from their experience and
break away from the mould of the outcaste-untouchable and afrm the image
of God in them.
17
Resistance is engaging in work that moves Dalit women and other excluded,
marginalized people from lives of degradaton, death and destructon, to hope
and possibilites.
Resistance involves commitng ourselves to confrontng and dismantling
hierarchical systems that allow for the destructon of sons and daughters
of the Most High God. Resistance means commitng ourselves to work for
and building communites and systems that values and honours each human
being as one in whom divine potental exists. Resistance means commitng
ourselves to work for a world in which every living being is respected as part
of Gods created order. Resistance is seeking out those who have been defled,
dismembered, and discarded on the dung heaps of this world and daring to
speak words of life, restoring to them all that has been destroyed! Resistance
is believing in the power of the resurrecton today, right now in the face of
death and destructon!
Resistance is hard work. Many of you here
have been engaged in resistance struggles
for a long tme. You fnish one struggle
only to fnd another struggle and another
struggle. You wonder if your work makes
any diference and if you can engage in
yet another struggle.
I remind you again of the words of my slave
ancestors: Sometmes I feel discouraged
and think my works in vain. But then the
Holy Spirit revives my soul again. There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick
soul. There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole.
16 JOY, Elizabeth, Dalit Womans Body in Relaton to Land, Labour and Liberaton in In Gods
Image, Ibid.
17 NAMALA, Annie, Afrming the Image of God in Dalit Women: As Task for the Indian Church,
in In Gods Image, Ibid.

I remind you again of the
words of my slave ancestors:
Sometmes I feel discouraged
and think my works in vain.
But then the Holy Spirit revives
my soul again. There is a balm
in Gilead to heal the sin-sick
soul. There is a balm in Gilead
to make the wounded whole.
Not a mumbling word
112
I am most encouraged by Koala Jones-Warsaws suggeston that our hope lies
in the resurrecton of black women (of Dalit women; of all women) who must
gather together the pieces of herself from every feld and dumping ground
and stand before God and humanity as a whole human being and declare in
the words of Maya Angelou:
You may write me down in history
With your biter twisted lies
You may trod in the very dirt,
But stll like dust Ill rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom
Cause I walk like Ive got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns
With the certainty of tdes
Just like hopes springing high
Stll Ill rise
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops
Wakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtness ofend you?
Dont you take it awful hard
Cause I laugh like Ive got gold mines
Diggin in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes
You may kill me with your hatefulness
But stll, like air, Ill rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like Ive got diamonds
At the meetng of my thighs?
Out of the huts of historys shame
I rise
113
Up from a past thats rooted in pain
I rise
Im a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling
I bear in the tde
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak thats wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifs that my ancestors gave
I am the dream and the hope of the slave
I rise
I rise
I rise
18
In the name of this unnamed women from Bethlehem, may it be so!
18 ANGELOU Maya, Maya Angelou Poems (New York: Bantam Books, 1986), pp. 154-155.
Not a mumbling word
114
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115
WOMANHOOD
A BIBLE STUDY ON PROVERBS 31
Rev. Dr. Gillian Wilson
Gillian Wilson is a Guyanese who currently lives in Jamaica and is the
librarian of the United Theological College of the West Indies (UTCWI).
She has served as co-ordinator of the Insttute of Contnuing Studies (ICS,
UTCWI). Gillian is an ordained deacon in the Methodist Church in the
Caribbean and the Americas (MCCA), and Director of the Wesley Diaconal
Community. She also served as deacon in the Tobago Circuit of the South
Caribbean District, MCCA.
Introducton
Women are said to be nurturers and to
have the ability (even though not used) to
dictate how the world turns. The proverb
the hand that rocks the cradle rules the
world bears testmony to this and to the
fact that early childhood caregivers at
some point dictate the morals of society.
The book of Proverbs makes reference to
three women: Woman Wisdom, Queen
Mother and the Virtuous Wife.
The women we glimpse in Proverbs 31
difer signifcantly from the women referred to throughout the book. On
the whole the women outside of Proverbs 31 are seen as inconsequental,
disreputable, untrustworthy and fatal to the well-being of men.
The two women, described as the Queen Mother and the Virtuous Wife
are presented as strong and infuental in their own right. Their positon as
mother and wife has not restricted them. On the contrary, it has given them
an arena within which they can exert power. The power they employ is not
oppressive, exploitatve or manipulatve, it is relatonal. It is used for the
beneft of others.
Understanding the text
In Proverbs 31, in some respects, womanhood is depicted in ways that seem
positve. At the same tme however, the depicton of womanhood bears some

The women we glimpse in
Proverbs 31 difer signifcantly
from the women referred to
throughout the book. On the
whole the women outside
of Proverbs 31 are seen as
inconsequental, disreputable,
untrustworthy and fatal to the
well-being of men.
Womanhood
116
of the values of the society of the day. In fact some of the teachings in the text
refect and reinforce the values and customs of a society that is patriarchal in
structure and androcentric in perspectve. For example, the male perspectve
of the instructon is evidenced in the repeated warning about the temptress,
which we see in the earlier sectons of Proverbs. She is depicted as worldly,
wise, taking advantage of the naivet of the young and innocent man. The
underlying understanding is that the woman is captvatng, provocatve and
can be irresistble.
The truth is that men too are captvatng and provocatve. They can be just as
atractve and irresistble. The fact that only a woman is portrayed in this light
says less about the seductve character of women and more about the gender
bias of the writer.
In the Book of Proverbs the women of Israel are depicted in the positons
assigned to them by the religious, social and ethical norms of the day. However
in this closing chapter some atempt is made to show them in another light
- that of good mothers and industrious women. One of the problems in this
text is that while the text teaches the fear of Yahweh, the woman who is
exalted is not the one who fears Yahweh but the one who brings honour to
her husband in public life. We also see that while the mother advises her
son, one signifcant advice is against spending his strength on women who are
described as those who ruin kings (v.3).
Interpretng the Scriptural text
Proverbs 31.1-9
This passage is distnctve in that the advice comes from the queen mother
rather than from the reigning king. She calls the king son of my vows
indicatng that she made promises to God in exchange for the birth of this son.
Mothers at all tmes and places warn their sons against dangerous women
and drunkenness. Earlier in Proverbs we see a similar warning (23.27-35). The
general understanding is that the damaging efects are greater when the son
is a king. Here the menton of a vow suggests that the sons misbehaviour
might cast a shadow over his mothers integrity in the eyes of God.
Proverbs 31.10-31
This poem is ttled the virtuous wife. It speaks of a woman whose husband
is well respected at the gates because of her conduct. (31.23) It was probably
created not to honour one partcularly praiseworthy woman but rather
to underscore the central signifcance of the work of skilled women in a
household-based economy.
117
A commentator suggests that it might be likely that the poem was composed
in the period afer the Babylonian exile, when, with the collapse of the great
natonal centres of government and religion the home became the central
social and religious insttuton, the place where the Israelite identty was
established.
This industrious wife is presented as a model wife, mother, and provider.
However this portrait is the prevailing model fostered by patriarchal society.
While her husband is seated with the elders at the gates of the city, presumably
conductng the public business of the society, she is busy providing for the
private needs of the household.
Even though the wife works outside the home all her business is transacted on
behalf of her family. Hence even though she is out of the home her business
remains within the sphere of the family while her husband contnues in the
public sphere. The fact that the poem ends on an imperatve note suggests that
women did not ofen receive public recogniton for their role in maintaining
the well-being of family and community.
The main virtues identfed in chapter 31 - prudence and temperance, are
both important for the well being of the individual and the community in
which she lives. The person who recognises her worth and value as a woman,
partner, mother, sister and friend can deal beter with reality and challenges.
She need not be weighed down with the stress of insecurites and anxiety
about the future (v.25). She is able to act generously towards others (v.20) and
to contribute to wholeness and well-being. Her own happiness is a sphere of
blessing to others.
Exploring the meaning of the text
In verses 1-9 Dianne Bergant suggests that what is important is not so much
the queen mother role as instructor but rather the content of her instructon.
For her advice to her son refects the dominant values of the patriarchal society
in which she lives. In this way her advice can be understood as contributng to
and supportng the gender bias of the society. This bias is brought out in the
mode of training advice and cauton against Lemuels dealing with women.
1
A role model for Christan women today
When we read the text at face value we fnd the qualites that the Israelite
society might have expected from a woman which would qualify as a good or
wise woman.
1 BERGANT, Dianne, Israels Wisdom Literature (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1997).
Womanhood
118
When we read this text from a Caribbean womans perspectve of a single
woman who heads a household and who enters the fray every day competng
in an androcentric society as well as competng with members of her own sex,
we fnd aspects of liberaton and oppression.
Proverb 31, especially the second secton, is used in the Jewish household as
a model for the soon to be wife and/or mother who serves the needs of her
family diligently.
When we examine this ancient biblical
ideal of womanhood the queston as
to whether the chapter deals with the
queen as the mother and the advisor of
the king, or of the king giving kudos to
his mother, depends on how we read the
text. Whether the wife is an industrious
woman serving in her own private sphere,
or whether it is the public status of the
man that is being exalted depends also on
how the text is read. In the text we do not
fnd the stereotyped housewife occupied
with household chores. Her daily life is
not dictated by the demands of her husband and her children. We do not fnd
a hardened, overly ambitous career woman who leaves her family to fend for
itself either. What we fnd is a strong, dignifed, multtalented, caring woman
who is an individual in her own right.
But what of the Caribbean women who since the 1970s and 80s dragged,
hauled, pushed, pulled, fetched, lifed, and carried merchandise in what
was known as trading to provide not only for their households, but also to
strengthen the ailing economy of their natons. Their merchandise stocked
supermarkets and paved the way for varying types of commerce. These
actvites benefted many families as homes were built, food was placed on
the table and children educated.
The current state of the worlds fnancial and social crises has forced more
and more women to, as the Caribbean proverb goes, tun yuh hand an mek
fashion. Probably, this is similar to what was happening in Israel at the tme
of the writng of the text.
Throughout the world more and more women from afuent families have
been entering the world of paid labour and the world of work. The struggle for
survival has awakened them to struggle in other areas where human destny

When we read this text
from a Caribbean womans
perspectve of a single woman
who heads a household and
who enters the fray every day
competng in an androcentric
society as well as competng
with members of her own sex,
we fnd aspects of liberaton
and oppression.
119
is also at stake. Entering the labour force
has changed the expression of womens
faith. From their previous horizon of
home and family, women have opened
out to a broader reality.
God is no longer one who addresses a
world limited to the actvites of home
and family; God becomes the one who
addresses socioeconomic and politcal
challenges.
The image of God is no longer that of
father to whom one owes submission;
rather God is basically the image of what is
most human in woman and man, seeking
expression and liberaton.
How do we study texts such as Proverbs
31 in this changed and changing context?
Conclusion
The model woman described in Proverbs as a portrait of ideal womanhood
is not to be looked upon as being outside the reach of the specifc Caribbean
women that I chose to focus on. The focus of this portrait should be a womans
relatonship with God, not her specifc abilites or marital status. Who is a
virtuous woman today? While Proverbs 31 tells us that it is the woman who
serves her family best, the ideal woman is the woman who puts her trust in
God, and this should encourage all women everywhere.
As a group share your reactons to this passage.
What do you think about the way in which the woman is portrayed in
both sectons of Proverb 31?
What does this passage tell you about women and work and security?
Identfy any parallels in your region that can be drawn with womens
positon today?
Compare the roles of women in the text and the roles of women in the
Caribbean today.

The current state of the worlds
fnancial and social crises has
forced more and more women
to, as the Caribbean proverb
goes, tun yuh hand an mek
fashion. Probably, this is
similar to what was happening
in Israel at the tme of the
writng of the text.

The image of God is no longer
that of father to whom one
owes submission; rather God
is basically the image of what
is most human in woman and
man, seeking expression and
liberaton.
Womanhood
120
Group actvity
This passage was writen as a poem in the form known as an acrostc. Each
line began with a leter following the order of the Hebrew alphabet.
Ask each group member to write a brief poem or skit about women and
work in the 21
st
century.
OR ask group members to write a verse beginning with the leters of the
alphabet about women and work in their communites.
Share the poems and skits and encourage the writers to speak about
events or experiences that prompted them to write what they have.
REV. WINIFRED RHODEN-
RUTHERFORD
Thy life was given for me;
thy blood, O Lord, was shed,
that I might ransomed be,
and quickened from the dead.
what have I given for thee?
1
Winifred Rhoden-Rutherford was born in St. Catherine, Jamaica. She was the
frst woman ordained by the Disciples of Christ in Jamaica (now United Church
of Jamaica and Cayman Islands). In the early days as a child in the Sunday
School of a Methodist Church, Winifred, when asked by the Sunday School
teacher what she wanted to be when she grew up, said, A Missionary.
Her call to ministry was not a dramatc
experience, but a desire from childhood
days to serve God, which was nurtured by
her mother and Sunday School teachers,
given focus while atending Oberlin High
School as a boarder where she gave her
life to Christ, then going on to service in a
1 Hymn by Frances Ridley Havergal, 1858

thy blood, O Lord, was shed,
that I might ransomed be,
and quickened from the dead.
what have I given for thee?
121
number of capacites in Jamaica and the
United States.
For most of her ministry, Winifred worked
as a Tent Maker, earning a living in other
jobs while serving the church in ministry.
What was the spiritual journey through
which she travelled?
Winifred describes it in this way:
I grew up in a Christan home where my mother was a great infuence in my
life. Her loyalty and dedicaton to God and the church made a remarkable
diference in the way her fve children were brought up. (I was the second of
fve.) At the age of 15 and a student at Oberlin High School, I commited my
life to the Lord and was baptzed at the Oberlin Christan Church (Disciples of
Christ). The words of the hymn, Thy life was given for me, what have I given
for Thee? spurred me on to commitment. What had I done for God? The
thought of full tme ministry was not in my mind, although at about the age of
nine or ten, I told my Sunday School teacher that I wanted to be a missionary.
I atribute my decision to go into full tme ministry to Mrs. Dorothy Robertson,
teacher and wife of the Principal of Oberlin High School.
2
The Disciples of Christ Church was at that tme recruitng students to study
at the Seminary and the school being under the auspices of the church was
asked to recommend commited candidates. I was singled out and encouraged
by Mrs. Rob to apply for training in Christan Educaton at the Theological
Seminary at Canewood.
At frst I was reluctant, saying why me, but a voice
spoke to me, saying why not you?
With the encouragement of my mother and
Mrs. Robertson, I started the three year study and
the journey. Along the way I was tempted to give
up, but I was encouraged by Richmond Nelson a
student at the Seminary and also by Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery
3
, tutors at
the Seminary. They reminded me that Christ did not promise an easy road,
and that there would be bumps along the way, but He also promised never to
leave us nor forsake us. I was encouraged and contnued the course of study.
2 Rev. Cyril Robertson was the Principal of Oberlin High School at that tme.
3 Ruth and J.D. Montgomery were sent by the Disciples of Christ in the US to work with the
Disciples of Christ in Jamaica as tutors at Union Theological Seminary, Canewood, Jamaica

For most of her ministry,
Winifred worked as a Tent
Maker, earning a living in
other jobs while serving the
church in ministry. What was
the spiritual journey through
which she travelled?

At frst I was reluctant,
saying why me, but
a voice spoke to me,
saying why not you?
Rev. Winifred Rhoden-Rutherford
122
My journey contnued as I served the churches in Portland, preparing for and
conductng vacaton Bible School, workshops for Sunday School teachers and
working with Christan Youth Fellowship groups. My job also included directng
Youth Conferences. I began to pastor churches when there was a shortage of
pastors especially for some of the rural churches. Some of the churches were
the Lucky Hill, Providence circuit and the Mannings Hill, Oberlin and Salisbury
Plains circuit.
As a pastor and Guidance Counsellor, my life has been dedicated to helping
children, teenagers and their parents to make wise decisions. Since the
treasures and wisdom and knowledge are hid in Christ my goal has been to
provide Biblical principles and
concepts of life to guide people
in their choices. Putng God frst
in all things, not only in maters
of religion but in all maters of life
whether religious or secular, and
expressing deep appreciaton to
God and to people, are my basic
principles.
Among my favourite scripture
texts, are; Is 40.31 But they that
wait upon the Lord shall renew
their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and
not be weary; they shall walk and not faint; and Jer 29.11: For I know the
thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not
of evil, to give you an expected end.
Winifred describes her ministerial career in this way:
I began my ministerial career 54 years ago when I entered the Canewood
Theological Seminary now the United Theological College of the West Indies
(UTCWI). My feld of study was Christan Educaton. In 1959, I was ordained to
the Christan Ministry and was assigned the positon of Director of Christan
Educaton to the Disciples of Christ Churches in Jamaica. I worked with children
and young people, organising and directng Youth Conferences, Vacaton Bible
Schools, Workshops, etc. My love for children and young people took me to
the feld of public educaton where I taught Religious Educaton and other
subjects at Oberlin High School, my alma mater.
In 1965, I migrated to the United States where I contnued my educaton
earning a Bachelors Degree in Sociology and later a Masters Degree in

Among my favourite scripture texts,
are; Is 40.31 But they that wait upon
the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like
eagles, they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint; and Jer
29.11: For I know the thoughts that
I think towards you, saith the Lord,
thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to
give you an expected end.
123
Guidance and Counselling. My career in the church
and in public educaton spanned 55 years between
Jamaica and the United States. I served as pastor,
teacher and guidance counsellor in Jamaica and in
the United States. I also served on several Boards
of the Northeastern Region of the Christan Church
(Disciples of Christ) in New York. On the Natonal
level I served on the Board of the Division of
Overseas Ministries of the church. For 19 years I
was a Guidance Counsellor with the New York City
Board of Educaton.
In this positon I was able to touch the lives of many children and their parents.
This was a fulflling ministry for me.
In 1992 myself and a group of six started the United Christan Church (Disciples
of Christ) in Brooklyn, New York. I was able to help our small congregaton
acquire a building for permanent worship. Afer serving as the pastor of the
United Christan Church for 10 years, I retred. I am now residing in Orlando,
Florida.
On a personal note I have one daughter, Alyssa. In 1995, I married my
elementary school friend and neighbour, Cleveland Rutherford (afer over 40
years of not seeing or corresponding with each other).

In this positon I
was able to touch
the lives of many
children and their
parents. This was a
fulflling ministry
for me.
Rev. Winifred Rhoden-Rutherford
124
WOMEN, BEAUTY AND
PERSONAL EMPOWERMENT -
BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT
A BIBLE STUDY ON PROVERBS 8
Ms Jennifer Ayana Mccalman & Ms Simone Singh
Ayana McCalman is a 28 year old Guyanese atorney-at-law. She currently
serves the Council for World Mission (CWM) as a deputy moderator and
Caribbean region representatve. She has a passion for justce especially
regarding issues afectng women and youth.
Simone Singh is a 24 year old youth leader from Trinidad & Tobago. She is
the natonal youth coordinator of the Presbyterian Church in T&T. Simone
is engaged in policy design and implementaton of youth programmes
involving peace in society, including gender based violence.
Introducton
Ever heard the slang statements, If you aint red, yuh dead? or The blacker
the berry, the sweeter the juice? They both refer to the skin tones of women
found in the Caribbean black, brown, red, yellow.
Too ofen, even in our Caribbean society, who we are, is surmised based upon
the colour of our skin and the texture of our hair. Conclusions are drawn based
upon the curves of our hips and the clothes that we wear. It is commonly said
that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but is beauty found only through the
physical eye or the eye of the mind?
Together, our body, mind and spirit consttute
our total image. Thus, it is unfortunate that the
image of women has ofen been distorted in
media and culture. Our society has demeaned
the woman through its limited focus on the
body and outward appearances. This has
had a massive degeneratve impact on the
societys view of beauty and how it is defned.
For many women, the only symbol of beauty
that they could recognize is their bodies. For

Ever heard the slang
statements, If you aint red,
yuh dead? or The blacker
the berry, the sweeter the
juice? They both refer to
the skin tones of women
found in the Caribbean
black, brown, red, yellow.
125
many more women their bodies represent
a struggle with self esteem and identty
as they strive to ft the fashion model size
presented in the latest advertsing trend
or music video. These issues restrain the
capacites of women, restrictng them
from being confdent about their bodies
and their worth as human beings. We
have to empower women to become self-
assured so that they can make healthy
choices about their lifestyles and their
bodies, so transforming their lives and
enabling them to fully contribute to the
advancement of their societes.
Questons to ponder:
What defnes us as persons? What motvates us to be self-assured, confdent
and productve as women?
This Bible study examines one image of woman as presented in Proverbs 8.
It is presented with the hope that it will start a conversaton on the meaning of
real beauty and will encourage women to take actons to empower themselves
and each other to restore their whole image in body, mind and spirit.
In Proverbs 8 the virtue of wisdom is personifed. Wisdom is given human
qualites and abilites, and made to appear as a woman. Proverbs 8 stands
out as unique and remarkable because the recorders of the text present this
matchless imagery of woman, even though the Bible itself is writen almost
exclusively in male language, by men. Even the book of Proverbs was writen
by King Solomon, the wisest person to have walked the earth, and he is the
one to personify wisdom as a woman. Throughout this study we will refer to
the imagery in Proverbs 8 as the Woman Wisdom in alignment with the
personifcaton of wisdom as a woman in the biblical text.
Understanding the text
The Woman Wisdom is introduced at the beginning of the book of Proverbs
(see Prov 1.22-33) and at length in Proverbs 8 and 9. The Woman Wisdom
is a remarkable, positve image of femininity, as it is a virtue that men and
women alike seek afer. It is a virtue that seems almost unatainable, one that
is linked directly to the atributes of the Creator. People always research words
of wisdom and atempt to incorporate wisdom into their daily lives. There
are many calendars, books, desktop items, diaries and so on that incorporate

This Bible study examines
one image of woman as
presented in Proverbs 8. It is
presented with the hope that
it will start a conversaton on
the meaning of real beauty
and will encourage women
to take actons to empower
themselves and each other to
restore their whole image in
body, mind and spirit.
Women, beauty and personal empowerment
126
words of wisdom for users. People send text messages, set their Facebook
statuses and spread e-mails that contain wise sayings and quotatons. It is
indeed an advantage to have wisdom and use it in ones life. Especially in
the Caribbean islands, we seek wisdom from the experiences of our mothers,
grandmothers and the elder women in our communites. When we need
advice on life issues, medicinal remedies, family life, prayer and spiritual
guidance, we ofen seek out the women who have endured much through
their lives, and who can give tmely and practcal advice to soothe our souls.
This is why the imagery of woman as Wisdom is so very noteworthy for us to
contemplate and identfy with.
Proverbs 8 ofers a direct challenge from Scripture to the distorted and negatve
beliefs held by society and even within the church regarding the image and role
of women. We understand even more why the Woman Wisdom is remarkable
when we frst consider the book of Proverbs itself.
There are several key principles in the book of Proverbs that enable us to
interpret and unlock the meaning of Proverbs 8. These principles include:
The source of wisdom is devoton to God. Prov 1.7 declares The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
The book of Proverbs is intended to provide practcal instructon to
both women and men for daily living. The book includes instructons on
various maters such as decision making about the way and order of life;
responsible family life; just relatonships; discipline, wealth and success.
The book of Proverbs encourages embracing wisdom, that is, life ordered
by divine principles of truth, righteousness and justce in contrast to
foolishness. Foolishness is not merely being silly or senseless but lacking
good judgment and refusing to be corrected.
Within the verses of Proverbs chapter 8 we encounter wisdom personifed as
the Woman Wisdom who is presented as:
Speaking in the frst person with her words.
She cries out and shouts: Prov 8.1-4.
A symbol of truth, righteousness and justce.
The virtue of wisdom is praised as the true
source of life and success: see Prov 8.7-8; 15;
Prov 8.34-35.

It is the Woman
Wisdom whose image
is given as positvely
representng the call to
common sense, good
judgment, truth and
righteousness in daily
life.
127
The divine companion of God. She is described as present and partcipatng
in the creaton of the world: Prov 8.22-31.
It is the Woman Wisdom whose image is given as positvely representng the
call to common sense, good judgment, truth and righteousness in daily life.
This depicton of the Woman Wisdom invites us to consider for further study
why the writers presented wisdom as female. It has been suggested that
the writers of the text may have been infuenced both by the cross-cultural
depictons of women in religious writng as goddesses as well as the roles of
actual women who lived at that tme. Some of these real women are recorded
in the Old Testament including the unnamed Daughters of Zelophehad whose
petton changed the law of Israel regarding land (Num 27.1-11) and Deborah
who served the kingdom of Israel as a Prophetess and as a wife and mother
(Judg 4,5).
No mater what the source of infuence was for presentng wisdom as female,
the text stands as another positve image for women. The text provides
signifcant lessons to both women and men regarding the image of women as
created by God. We explore these lessons below.
The role and image of women
She could have been no more than twelve. She was brought from Guyana,
she said, to work as a domestc. It had turned out that she had other dutes,
including serving her employers sexual needs as well. We asked if she was in
school. She shook her head in the negatve. We asked if she would like to go
to school. She nodded. Her eyes lit up at the thought but it was soon replaced
by a cowering fear that her keeper would discover that she had shared with
us this dream of a door to freedom. She hurriedly declared that she must go,
fear flling her face (Excerpt from Trinidad Express Newspaper Women &
Girls by Dr. Kris Rampersad, September 24, 2010)
The Woman Wisdom directly challenges the underlying assumpton of
women as weak, passive or powerless and the use of scriptures to support
these images. It is a direct challenge to the stereotypical images regarding
the sexuality of women either as virgins, whores or mere objects for sexual
fantasy. It also calls for an end to silence on the experiences and portrayal of
women as objects of violence and abuse.
Questons to ponder: What are the roles of women in the home, workplace,
church, society? How have they changed over the years? What sorts of
messages are given to our younger generaton about the role and functon of
women in the society?
128
The Woman Wisdom declares that those who
fnd her fnd life and favour from the Lord and
warns that those who hate her love death:
Prov 8.35-36.
Therefore as we begin to consider maters of
beauty - in mind, body and spirit - we must
encourage women to recognise that real
beauty is found when they embrace wisdom
and take responsibility for their daily life to walk practcally in the principles
of truth, justce and righteousness. This is true beauty, beauty that is found
in our thoughts, words, actons beauty of the heart and soul. Such beauty
should be more infuental and acknowledged than beauty of the skin and
body.
The Woman Wisdom also calls us to recognise the inherent worth of both
women and men as divinely created beings. The text in Proverbs 8 cries out
against the misinterpretaton of the creaton story in Genesis, of women as
somewhat inferior, since she was created out of the rib of the man, and is
therefore part of the man and not a whole person. The Woman Wisdom
acknowledges that she too like all living things of the earth is created by God
(Prov 8.25).
It is noteworthy also that the Woman Wisdom is shown in the text as speaking
in the frst person. In fact she shouts and cries aloud (Prov 8.1-2). We must
then encourage women to speak out and share their stories in their own
words and with their own voices. We must further encourage women to
acknowledge and demand that their whole person - body, mind and spirit be
regarded as sacred and beautful with conscious recogniton of their roles as
equal partners in fulflling Gods mission. We were created with purpose and
importance by God, and are irreplaceable upon this earth.
Questons to ponder: What actons can we take individually or as a group to
share and spread the image of woman as Woman Wisdom? How can we
inculcate the virtue of wisdom into our daily lives by word, thought and
acton? What routes will we take to shape the image of women for the next
generaton?
Conclusion
A re-reading of the text of Proverbs 8 provides the opportunity to contnue the
discourse between women and men as created in the image of God, before
considering cultural assumptons about acceptable and appropriate gender

The Woman Wisdom
declares that those who
fnd her fnd life and favour
from the Lord and warns
that those who hate her
love death: Prov 8.35-36.
129
roles and relatonships. The later point is ofen where the conversaton
between women and men begins. However, the alternatve method of startng
the conversaton about the image of women and men as created by God may
help to overcome resistance to the discourse from both women and men.
It provides an opportunity to difuse arguments centred solely about who is
victor or victm, powerful or powerless and can inspire creatve, productve
and mutually benefcial dialogue.
Even more, the Woman Wisdom presents a model for women to take acton,
acknowledge their spiritual strength, and work towards their own positve
self awareness and personal growth. We are challenged to steer our warped
societal views of women away from beauty of the body toward beauty of the
spirit.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we
are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens
us most. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented,
and famous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your
playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about
shrinking so that people wont feel insecure around you. We were born to
make manifest the glory of God that is within us. Its not just in some of us; its
in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other
people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our
presence automatcally liberates others.
1
1 WILLIAMSON, Marianne Our Deepest Fear from A Return To Love: Refectons on the
Principles of A Course in Miracles htp://skdesigns.com/internet/artcles/quotes/williamson/
our_deepest_fear. Quoted by Nelson Mandela in his inaugural speech in 1994.
130
CARIBBEAN WOMAN!
(Proverbs 31)
Rev. Doreen Wynter and Hon. Joan M. Purcell
Virtuous Woman!
Strong Woman, Weak Woman
Radical Actvist, Professional catalyst
Virtuous Woman!
Inclusive and atractve
Competent and caring
In private and in public
She is all that and more
Virtuous Woman!
Seeking and questoning
Refectng and analysing
Strong in faith, Steadfast in hope
Open to love, Devoted to God
Virtuous Woman!
Acknowledges her fears and bears well her cares
Faces her struggles and never gives up
So dont write us of, were more than enough
Were everywhere in the Caribbean Seas
From Dominican Republic in the North to Guyana in the South
We are Virtuous Women!
131
132
WOMEN, LEADERSHIP AND
POWER IN CHURCH AND
SOCIETY
Rev. Joy Evelyn Abdul-Mohan
Joy Abdul-Mohan is a minister with the Presbyterian Church in Trinidad &
Tobago in a three point pastoral region and serves as Chaplain of three
Presbyterian Primary Schools. Joy is the frst woman trained and ordained
locally in the Presbyterian Church of Trinidad & Tobago (PCTT). She is the frst
woman to serve as principal of the St. Andrews Theological College (SATC),
Trinidad 2002-2010. Joy works extensively with ecumenical and community
organisatons that serve and care for prisoners, abused women and children.
Read Judg 4.1-10; reference text: Mark 10.35-45
Introducton
Women and men together are created in Gods image and both together
represent the fullness of God and humanity. Both were created with a specifc
purpose in mind and an inner power.
I am using power to mean the ability to do, act or produce, which means
that power, can be destructve or constructve. Power, as used in this Bible
study, also refers to energy and control. From these perspectves we can say
that power is present in the very fabric of our lives, that is, in politcal, social,
economic and religious structures. In other words, power is endemic to life
itself and it has both positve and negatve connotatons. However, power is a
gif from God and should be used to bring fullness of life to humanity.
As women in leadership, we need to ensure
that we unleash the power within that
will enable us to improve the quality of life
of ourselves and others, to build and not
destroy; a power that will help us realize our
fullest potental and fulfl the purpose for
which we were created.
Sufce it to say that women have played a

Women and men together
are created in Gods
image and both together
represent the fullness
of God and humanity.
Both were created with a
specifc purpose in mind
and an inner power.
133
central and vital role in peoples struggles
across the globe against oppression and
exploitaton. In the Caribbean we hear
names like Eugenia Charles (Dominican
Republic), Porta Simpson (Jamaica), Janet
Jagan (Guyana), Enid Kirton (Trinidad),
Anna Mahase (Trinidad), Zalayhar Hassanali
(Trinidad), Beryl McBernie (Trinidad) and
Kamla Persad-Bissesar, the frst female Prime
Minister of Trinidad & Tobago. Internatonally,
we can recall the eforts, sacrifce and service
of women, to name a few like Aung San Suu
Kyi, Indira Gandhi, Mother Theresa and Rosa
Parks among others.
Albeit women in the Caribbean and in other countries have made strides in
their struggle for liberaton, society has contnued to perpetuate many forms
of exploitaton and oppression of women. Hence, a crisis of leadership engulfs
the world today. Politcal leaders, economic experts, leaders in the feld of
educaton, law and religion; women and men who know the way and can lead
others on the progressive path are very few.
In the Bible we fnd examples of women
who held critcal positons of leadership
and made signifcant contributons.
One such person is Deborah of whom
we read in the book of Judges.
Reading and interpretng the text
Deborah is one of the most remarkable
characters and leaders in the Old
Testament. She was considered among
the wisest of Old Testament women.
She was indeed a famous and fearless patriot, chosen and called by God to
liberate her troubled and crushed people.
Many and varied were the accomplishments of her brilliant career. She was
one of the many women in scriptures distnguished as a prophet. She was a
competent judge and leader. But apparently this public actvity did not prevent
her, or make her in any way neglectul of her domestc responsibilites.

As women in leadership,
we need to ensure that
we unleash the power
within that will enable us
to improve the quality of
life of ourselves and others,
to build and not destroy;
a power that will help us
realize our fullest potental
and fulfl the purpose for
which we were created.

Deborah is one of the most
remarkable characters and
leaders in the Old Testament. She
was considered among the wisest
of Old Testament women. She
was indeed a famous and fearless
patriot, chosen and called by
God to liberate her troubled and
crushed people.
Women, leadership and power in church and society
134
As a prophetess Deborah discerned the mind of God for her tmes and
declared the purpose of God to her people. Dignifed in person she used to
sit under the palm (tree) between Ramah and Bethel in Mount Ephraim: and
the Israelites came up to her for judgment. (Judg 4.5)
Deborahs leadership was not merely that of mediator setling some dispute.
It also refected Gods values of righteousness, justce and mercy which she
dispensed afer her victory over Israels enemies. She ruled with justce in a
land that had been at war for forty years. (Judg 5.31) Deborah was a servant-
leader in the sense that she served selfessly and sacrifcially - for the good of
her country.
Early in her leadership role as a judge, Deborah was greatly concerned about
Israels oppression as understood by the community and it leaders. For them
God had told Barak to take the necessary steps to deliver Israel, but he lacked
the courage or the know-how to initate the conquest. When this was made
known to Deborah, she sent for Barak and said to him, The Lord, the God
of Israel, commands you, Go, take positon at Mount Tabor, bringing ten
thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun (Judg 4.6-7).
Barak was fearful, however, and said to her, If you will go with me, I will
go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go (Judg 4.8). Baraks obvious
dependence upon Deborah indicates the great degree of leadership, which
she wielded in Israel at the tme. The whole initatve of the batle was in the
hands of this female leader, judge and companion in batle.
Interestngly, Barak saw Deborahs leadership skills and celebrated it. He was
not an insecure male with a blown up
ego that prevented him from seeing the
benefts of her leadership at that tme in
Israel. Barak actually broke the status quo
and looked beyond the taboos of the day.
On the other hand, Deborahs reply to
Barak was simply, I will surely go with
you; nevertheless, the road on which
you are going will not lead to your glory,
for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand
of a woman (Judg 4.9). Barak values the
satsfacton of his mind, and the good
success of his country, more than his honour; and therefore by no means
would he drop his request. He would not go into batle without Deborah, to
direct him and pray for him. Also, Barak must have understood that it was not
going to be easy for him as a man to permit a woman to take the front line.

Interestngly, Barak saw
Deborahs leadership skills
and celebrated it. He was
not an insecure male with a
blown up ego that prevented
him from seeing the benefts
of her leadership at that tme
in Israel. Barak actually broke
the status quo and looked
beyond the taboos of the day.
135
He knew that there was going to be talk so he prepared himself for it. So
Deborah went with Barak, she would not send him where she would not go
herself as a servant-leader.
The scriptures show that as judge, Deborah exercised authority in maters of
legal disputes. As a prophetess she proclaimed Gods word to the people; and
with divine inspiraton she composed one of the greatest pieces of poetry in
the Bible as found in Judges 5.
At the tme of the judges it seemed that men of faith and heroism had largely
disappeared from Israel. The Joshuas and Calebs were no more and the people
were crushed in spirit. But Israels victory will come through Deborahs skillful
leadership.
Deborah lived and worked in a very patriarchal society where women were
treated as inferior to men. In fact they were seen as mere objects. In Rabbinic
literature you would hear the saying, it is beter to be born a dog than a
woman. Yet God in Gods wisdom chose Deborah for leadership - because no
man was capable of that task at that tme. Deborah was not chosen for mere
tokenism, but God saw that she had the potental and competence to lead.
Applicaton of the text
Indeed, wasnt Deborah a woman whom God in Gods sovereignty chose to
be the spiritual leader and judge when there was apparently no man found
suitable for the occasion? (On a personal note, those who know me well
know that I stpulate the use of inclusive language.) However, I would like
to maintain the word man in this context. Get this ladies and gentlemen:
apparently there was no man found suitable to do the job!
In these changing and challenging tmes, women are called to become judge
and prophetess, by taking a stand on consttutonal maters in their church
and country, sitng with women, men and children to teach them the ways
that God wants them to go and praying and weeping with them in their
struggles. Women must speak out against the injustces meted out to others,
especially the defenseless and marginalized. Women are urged to share their
views on issues of violence and crime, domestc violence, incest, racism and
sexism. More importantly, women must make the word of God relevant in the
21
st
century.
Like Deborah, woman leaders need to sit under their palm tree, as judge
- guiding persons to understand the way the church operates and what is
expected of each person; working with them to build the church and society;
136
as a prophetess proclaiming Gods word
to Gods people, teaching them the statues
and instructons of the Lord, showing them
the best possible way to go.
Women leaders may consider the model
of servant-leadership our Lord Jesus has
provided for all leaders, which can be
efectve and transformatve. The greatest
must become the servant. The leader
must also be a servant. The Apostle Paul
picks up Jesus point when he said, For
we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim
Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as slaves
(servants) for Jesus sake (2 Cor 4.5).
In many forums the term servant may
have a negatve connotaton and may seem politcally incorrect. Furthermore,
the words servant and leader are usually thought of as being opposites. But
when Jesus came on the scene he reversed the directon of service without
giving up his leadership. He was assertve and frm in his leadership. He was a
no nonsense person but he was also a servant.
If we look deeper into the Gospel lesson, Mark 10.35-45 we see that Jesus
uses a situaton to teach his disciples what it means for them to be servant-
leaders. Afer telling them that the positons of importance are to be given
only by God, he uses the craving of James and John, who were jockeying
for positons as an opportunity to explain the true meaning of the concept
of exaltaton. They wanted to be leaders in the new Israel that Jesus would
establish afer his resurrecton, but they were stll thinking like everyone else
at that tme. They sought to obtain power and authority, but Jesus promoted
another style of leadership; that of servant-leadership.
Jesus life was an example of service to all of humanity, and that was supposed
to be the model for all his disciples. In the kingdom Jesus wants to establish,
importance is determined through service. Unlike society in general, where
leaders bask in their importance and power and where their resums shine
more than they do, the leaders in the Christan community are to be humble
servants of Gods people.
Jesus message contnues to be a challenge to us in the 21st century. Our world
considers power and importance to be the ultmate goal in life. It would seem
that the rich and powerful are looked up to and envied, and they determine

Like Deborah, woman leaders
need to sit under their palm
tree, as judge - guiding
persons to understand the
way the church operates and
what is expected of each
person; working with them to
build the church and society;
as a prophetess proclaiming
Gods word to Gods people,
teaching them the statues
and instructons of the Lord,
showing them the best
possible way to go.
137
the course of society, usually to their own beneft. Sometmes that attude
even afects our churches. But Jesus calls us to servant-leadership.
Women in leadership and the church as a whole are called to be a model
of servant leadership, both in the church and in the society. When we serve
others in the church and serve the larger community outside the church,
we demonstrate that there is another way to live; one that is not motvated
by what benefts and satsfes us but rather by what is benefcial to all of
humankind.
Eloquence, a polished speech, an impressive appearance or intellectual
atainments are admirable and even helpful in ministry, but only one who has
truly become a servant-leader and serves for Christs sake and not from selfsh
motves will be able to afect the creatve and transforming power of God
in their leadership. It is through servant leadership that the ministry, which
Christ entrusted to us, will be sustained.
Women are called to ofer a vital and compelling leadership not only in a society
of materialistc values, but also in a pluralistc environment of a multethnic,
multcultural and multreligious reality. Therefore, women need to be more
conscious of their power and purpose as they contnue to lead others in Gods
way and to ofer Gods vision of a society of peace, unity, equality and justce,
in a place dominated by other visions of unity - by economic, politcal and
ideological visions.
Refectons/thoughts to ponder:
As women leaders unleash that divine power within, the following may be
considered:
Women need to recognise their unique gifs and abilites. For too
long women have undervalued themselves, avoided public ofce,
and thus society has been denied the special contributon of womens
perspectves.
Women are called to develop and exercise an empowering rather than
a controlling style of leadership to which most women have grown
accustomed.
Women are called to be innovatve and creatve; to atempt new styles
of leadership, cutng through outmoded practces and introducing new
models.
Women are called to critque the prevailing patriarchal models and
engage critcally in the natonal and internatonal scene.
138
In the face of strong oppositon, women are challenged to keep their
eforts fresh and strong; to be frm and feminine in their decision-making;
to maintain the fght at a level commensurate with todays values; to feel
that they are in control of their own lives, rather than being controlled by
others.
As women of power and purpose, we are constrained to be both vigilant
and visionary.
STRUGGLING TO BE BORN
AGAIN
(Based on Romans 7 and 8)
Her soul writhed and wrestled with painful thought
The peace, hope and faith once claimed she now desperately sought.
For actons and words foundering out of control
Showed angels of darkness and imprisoned her soul.
She struggled to be born again!
Is fesh so doomed and always destned to win?
Must it abort every good and conceive every sin?
Can faith not fan the ficker of one word?
And raise it to a fame, pleasing God?
She struggled to be born again!
Her soul setled serenely at Salvatons door
Anguish and torment were raging no more.
Gods Spirit had won; her heart was Gods home
The blessings she missed became forever her own.
She struggled and was born again!
Rev. Joy Evelyn Abdul-Mohan (Refectons from a woman in
ordained ministry for 22 years)
Prayer to celebrate womanhood:
Creator of our lives and caretaker of our souls, our hearts are flled with
grattude for your numerous blessings. Out of the turbulence and restlessness
of this world we set aside this tme to celebrate womanhood.
139
We praise you that you have called us as women to serve you and humanity
in unique ways.
Bless the eforts, hard work and sacrifcial labour of all women around the
world as we create a partnership and network that go beyond ethnic, religious,
politcal, social and geographical barriers. We thank you for the rich global
experience you have initated through countless Caribbean women.
Let your power be present in our weakness, in our fears and in our antcipaton.
Str our imaginaton and sharpen our wills. Grant to all women the power to
let go of the past and step into the future, trustng and unafraid, as we strive
to respond to you, in new and excitng ways.
O God in these changing and challenging tmes, help us to contnue to play a
vital role in providing opportunites for women and the entre human race to
deepen their faith and commitment.
We commend all that we have and are into your care and keeping, that our
lives would be enriched and souls would be refreshed, for the sake of Christ,
our eternal Friend, we pray. Amen.
THE YOUNG, DYNAMIC
JOY EVELYN ABDUL MOHAN
Mrs. Vera Hajarysingh
Vera Hajarysingh is a retred primary school teacher and poet. She has
published two books of poems. Selectons from the Heart and Women of
the Bible; Bold, Beautful, Sinful, Blessed.
What a joy it is for us to know the young, dynamic, efervescent trail blazer
Rev. Joy Evelyn Abdul Mohan. In many ways she reminds us of Ruth who goes
willingly into unfamiliar territory armed with the precious knowledge that God
will always be with her. As she says to Naomi Your God will be my God.
Rev. Joy surfaced at a tme when women, especially young single women were
stll being subtly subdued in a male dominated society which comprises mainly
of Indo-Trinidadians and Afro-Trinidadians. This young Indo-Trinidadian girl
grew up in a society, which was traditonally male-dominated, where it was
Struggling to be born again
140
taboo to speak up or express an opinion
or apply for jobs which were traditonally
male. It was at this tme our trail blazer
emerged.
Raised and nurtured by parents who
treated their children equally, she and
her two brothers were blessed to have
parents who did not display or promote
gender bias. Like her brothers, she had
the same freedom and independence
to make her own choices and decisions.
Joy was especially encouraged by her father who was an educator, to pursue
her dreams with dignity, vigilance, competency, hard-work, sacrifce and
determinaton. Some of his words would forever be etched in her memory,
Sad but true, in our culture a woman must work twice as hard to achieve her
goals
Joy was the frst locally trained woman to graduate from the ministerial
programme at St. Andrews Theological College in Trinidad (SATC). Thus she
became the frst locally trained woman to be ordained in the Presbyterian
Church in Trinidad and Tobago (PCTT) in 1989.
Although there was one second career woman in the early 1960s who pursued
theological studies overseas and became the frst ordained woman in the
PCTT, it was not the custom for younger women (19 years and under) to apply
to become ordained ministers. On a whole, women were expected to apply to
become Deaconesses or the traditonal Bible Women.
These achievements were not without challenges.
As the frst female applicant and graduate in the Licentate in Theology, the
pathway here was fraught with pitalls of traditonally male biases against
female progressiveness in the area of theology. From the start, it was difcult
because the entre organizatonal structure of the church and the St. Andrews
Theological College was oriented towards men. Policies were structured by
men for the beneft of men.
Joy was in her fourth year as an ordained minister when she applied to
Princeton Theological Seminary and was accepted as an Internatonal Scholar.
Following a lull, Joy was the frst person to be granted study leave from the
PCTT at that tme. Was this to be a grand celebraton for the whole church?For
the general laity and women populaton this was wonderful, but not for all

Joy was the frst locally trained
woman to graduate from the
ministerial programme at St.
Andrews Theological College
in Trinidad (SATC). Thus she
became the frst locally trained
woman to be ordained in the
Presbyterian Church in Trinidad
and Tobago (PCTT) in 1989.
141
of Joys male colleagues. Some unkind remarks were made as to how she
atained the scholarship and got recommended for study leave in the frst
place. These remarks however, did not deter her from fulflling her dream to
pursue post-graduate studies.
In 1993 Joy obtained a Master of Arts from Princeton Theological Seminary.
Upon returning to Trinidad & Tobago she was appointed assistant principal of
SATC in 2001. On the 1 August, 2002 she was appointed the frst woman to
serve as principal of SATC.
During the period she served as principal, Joy also faced several challenges
as the frst woman. SATCs structure was very much founded on an approach
to mens way of knowing and doing. It was strange and sometmes
unacceptable to have things done according to a womans way of knowing
and doing. There was the tendency by some to belitle her and prove that the
mans way of knowing and doing is the right and only way. Yet, Joy maintained
her femininity and assertveness in executng her dutes and brought a new
dimension of leadership.
As was writen about her in an appreciaton speech, following her tenure of
eight years as principal:
SATC has been the benefciary of Rev. Joys success. During her stnt as
principal, Rev. Joy has achieved too many things to be chronicled in this short
story. Her accomplishments ranged from infrastructural and insttutonal
improvements to pastoral care and fund raising. Faced with the ominous
challenge of having to get SATC registered with the Accreditaton Council
of Trinidad and Tobago (ACTT) or face its shutdown, Rev. Joy demonstrated
her faith-flled commitment and dedicaton to SATC. Working assiduously
with the staf of SATC, volunteers and a sub-commitee appointed to ensure
the registraton, Rev. Joy worked long and hard to raise the required fees
needed for the process and to make sure that everything was done to make it
successful - as it eventually was.
Rev. Joy served as principal during a most challenging transiton period in life
of SATC. Faced with new models of governance, confusing if not confictng
lines of authority, a plethora of demands and directves, all mixed in with some
headstrong personalites, Rev. Joy responded with as willing and as open an
attude as she could. Always she was conscientous and commited to SATC.
Litle more could have been asked in the circumstances. Indeed, on the very
eve of her departure, August 2010 Rev. Joy atended the interview with the
ACTT and led the SATC team in successfully convincing the Council that SATC
is ft for candidacy for accreditaton.
The young, dynamic Joy Evelyn Abdul Mohan
142
Rev. Joy also found tme to be involved in actve community service which
included counselling at the Halfway House for Abused Women, The Hope
Centre for Abandoned and Abused Children and The J.C. McDonald Home
for the Aged. She also served as second vice president of Naparima Scouts
Associaton and as an honorary member of the South Aids Support. She has
also served as chaplain of St. Augustne Girls High School, Naparima College,
Corinth Teachers College and the Prisons Service.
Today we loudly applaud this virtuous woman who has looked well into the
needs of her community and who like Ruth, with God as her guide, was not
afraid to venture into unchartered territory and blaze a trail for many of our
young women to follow. As John Keats once said, A thing of beauty is a joy
forever: Its loveliness increases.
Rev. Joy Evelyn Abdul Mohan is certainly a joy to all whose lives she has
touched. May God contnue to bless her as she works in Gods Vineyard.
143
RESILIENT WOMEN
A BIBLE STUDY ON MIRIAM - PROPHET AND LEADER
Patricia Sheeratan-Bisnauth is the Executve Secretary for Justce and
Partnership with the World Communion of Reformed Churches. She is
responsible for Gender Justce and Justce in the Economy on the Earth and
for all Gods Creaton. Patricia is the frst woman to be ordained as a Minister
of Word and Sacrament of the Guyana Presbyterian Church in 1984.
Read Ex 2.3-10; 15.20-21, Num 12, 20.1, Mic 6.4
Introducton
The paradigm of power and leadership in the Caribbean perpetuates male
dominaton, divisiveness, and maintains systems of economic injustce,
resultng in poverty and social fragmentaton. Caribbean women have survived
hard tmes, and contnue to seek ways to resist injustces and to transform
their churches and societes.
This Bible study looks at the Prophet Miriam as a woman who has not only
survived slavery and oppression but showed great resilience, resistance and
prophetc leadership. Miriam was a visionary, charismatc and powerful leader
who mobilised her community to stay together, keeping hope alive as they
escaped slavery, embarking on a long and rough journey home. She ofers a
good womanist model for resistance and
transformaton. The Apostle Paul refers to
Miriam (Ex 15.19 -21), Moses and Aaron
(Num 33) when he spoke about leadership
as a gif of the church (Rom 12.8). This
vision of leadership is not individualistc; it
is closely related to the gifs of the Spirit
for the good of the whole community.
Womens resistance
On March 8, 2002 more than 140 women
and a few men across Guyanas ethnic
diversity marched through the streets of

The paradigm of power and
leadership in the Caribbean
perpetuates male dominaton,
divisiveness, and maintains
systems of economic injustce,
resultng in poverty and social
fragmentaton. Caribbean
women have survived hard
tmes, and contnue to seek
ways to resist injustces and to
transform their churches and
societes.
Resilient women
144
Linden, Wismar and neighbouring communites, banging empty pots and
pans, demanding that their unpaid work be recognized and counted. They
chanted:
Invest in caring, not killing! Abolish the Third World debt and free up the
money to pay for what people need!
They demanded beter health care, potable
water, afordable electricity, pension and
natonal insurance benefts for domestc
workers and housewives. The march was
organised by Red Thread Women as part
of a worldwide Global Womens Strike
campaign. The demonstrators also spoke
out against the atacks of the early 1960s
during the worse racial and politcal riot in
Guyana. They drew public atenton to the
power of women in Guyana, to demand
what they are enttled to, and to reclaim
their frst right not to be at war with their
neighbour of another race.
On March 6, 1964 Kowsilla, a young
woman labourer and mother of four, was
killed during the Great Sugar Strike in the former Britsh Guiana. Her body
was crushed by a sugar estate scab, who drove a tractor through her, while
she was demonstratng at the Leonora Sugar Estate. The perpetrator was later
acquited. Kowsilla, a member of the Womens Progressive Organisaton was
a sugar worker and leader in the struggle for humane working conditons and
trade union recogniton.
She struggled for her people by resistng injustce and standing frm in her
belief of human rights and dignity. She paid the price with her life. Sadly,
Kowsillas story is not well documented and her story is largely untold.
Womens resistance against slavery and many forms of oppression provides
a frm basis for strength, courage and prophetc witness. They can be read
alongside the groundbreaking stories of women in the Bible. The Bible names
more than 150 women and includes many others who were not named, those
who played signifcant roles such as mothers, sisters, daughters, friends,
queens, prophets, judges, preachers, missionaries and revolutonaries.
Women in biblical tmes lived on the margins of their societes and faced
tremendous challenges. With great resilience, determinaton and in defence

Invest in caring, not killing!
Abolish the Third World debt
and free up the money to pay
for what people need!

She struggled for her people
by resistng injustce and
standing frm in her belief
of human rights and dignity.
She paid the price with her
life. Sadly, Kowsillas story is
not well documented and her
story is largely untold.
145
of life, they were able to expose the instability of the oppressive and death
dealing systems, challenging the power by which they were maintained.
Women played signifcant roles in every aspect of life, including prophetc
ministry and leadership.
Group exercise:
Learn about the history of your community and the struggles of those
who have contributed to its development, making it one which you can
call home.
What are current threats to your community - women, men, youths,
children and the environment? How can you advocate and act to bring
out change for your generaton as well as for your future generaton?
Background to the texts
According to scholars, Exodus, Genesis, Levitcus and Numbers are based on
several sources and traditons that were in existence during this period and
were probably compiled around the 6th century BCE. Exodus means departure
from oppression into liberaton. It is the second book in the Hebrew scriptures
which gives an account of the period of Israelite slavery in Egypt - their
resistance, escape, wanderings in the wilderness, return to the promised
land and the covenant between God and Gods people. Miriam, with her
brothers Moses and Aaron, led the Hebrew people throughout the forty years
in the wilderness as they searched for a land to call home.
The people of Israel were forced into exile. Theirs was a hard life and many
may have ofen yearned for the stability and setled life they had lef behind in
Egypt. Everything was scarce water, food and other basic necessites. Their
living conditons were poor. Though womens roles are not clearly mentoned
in the texts, it is obvious that their roles were signifcant in these tmes of
hardship and they were a threat to the community.
The women maintained family, safety and sanity and were resourceful in
providing physical sustenance as well as spiritual nurture. Women were
essental in ensuring the survival of their tribes and cultures and the protecton
of life forms in their eco-system. They also preserved rituals and ceremonies
in worship and community life.
Some scholars would say that stories as we have them in the Bible were edited
much later by male priests, and therefore while there are hints that women
had a thriving cultural traditon of their own, this has been lost because it was
Resilient women
146
never recorded. Women played important roles, which included subvertng
the system and enabling the escape (Ex 3.22). They helped to keep hope alive
by organising and leading community celebratons, as they did upon safely
crossing the sea (Ex 15.1-21).
Group exercise:
Identfy roles that women played in biblical tmes. Discuss their strategies
and their importance in addressing injustces and bringing about
change.
Identfy roles that women play in your church and community. Name
women who have made signifcant contributon and what you can learn
from them.
What characteristcs and styles of leadership do you draw from these
women?
The prophet Miriam: a charismatc and respected leader
Miriam lived in challenging tmes and emerged as a leader of her people
bringing steadfastness, resilience, courage and hope to her community. She is
named in the list of ancestors together with her brothers, Moses and Aaron
(Num 26.59, 1 Chron 6.3). Miriam is believed to be the unnamed sister in the
birth story of Moses (Ex 2.4-7). As a child she showed signifcant initatve,
courage, wisdom and confdence.
Miriam took risks and was strategic and skilful when she cleverly worked with
her mother, Jochebed to save her brother, Moses. Miriam watched over him
and organised for him to be taken into the pharaohs house-hold. She was
resourceful and strategic, for example, when she got her mother to be Moses
wet-nurse and care-giver. This is a well-known story, which shows that the
survival of Moses depended on the courage and ingenuity of his mother and
sister (Ex 2.1-10).
Miriam is the frst person in the Bible to be called a prophet (Ex 15.20) and is
named as one of four women prophets in the Hebrew scriptures. The others
were Deborah (Judg 4), Huldah (2 Kgs 22.14-15), and the unnamed woman
in Isa 8.3. Prophets were Gods spokespersons who played leadership roles
in religious and sacred maters and were known for addressing injustces in
their societes. They were priests, poets, musicians, warriors and dancers.
Prophets in the Bible spoke loudly and clearly about the real situatons of
peoples painful sufering, brokenness and other injustces which they faced.
They addressed issues of religious conficts, empire/imperialism and all forms
147
of power abuse, economic exploitaton, poverty and social injustces.
Miriam was a leader who was grounded in the struggle, resilience and culture
of life of her ancestors. She was also a poet, singer and dancer, which was a
worthy atribute in her partcipatory leadership style. Miriam had charisma and
great ability to mobilise people. She was an essental prophet for her people
during their escape from slavery and wanderings in the wilderness. Miriam
led by example and identfed with the people. She was not an authoritatve
leader who was alienated from the grassroots. She led with service, showing
love, care and solidarity in her peoples struggles.
Miriams word was regarded as relevant for people in their context. When
she emerged as a leader, she did not alienate herself from the people who
walked with her, including all the people she was elected to lead. She was able
to garner good community support. The people accepted her leadership and
showed their loyalty and solidarity with her even when she was kept outside
the camp for seven days (Num 12.14-15).
Miriam is also known for leading the victory song, the Song of Miriam (Ex 15.1-
21). This is said to be one of the oldest poetc couplets in the Old Testament.
Miriam led the community in singing and dancing to celebrate Yahweh who
had delivered them and brought them from bondage to freedom. In this act
she was contnuing the traditon of her ancestors. Her song is preserved as an
important part of this ritual of celebraton.
Questons to ponder:
How do you celebrate signifcant events in your community?
Share some of the songs sung by your ancestors and others in your
community to celebrate their power of resistance in overcoming injustce
and reclaiming dignity?
How do the popular culture and arts today inspire and mobilise people to
move for change transformaton and change?
Miriams recogniton as a respected leader in her community was not an
overnight event. It was a growing process that began in the early years of her
life. Her skills were recognised and used as gifs for her family and community.
If Miriam had held back she might have lost the opportunity to make a
diference as a leader. Her role as a leader for the whole community shows
her acceptance by both men and women. It is possible that there were men,
including her two brothers, who encouraged and supported her as prophet
and leader.
Resilient women
148
Her ability to receive afrmaton and to focus on the tasks with which she was
confronted would have played a signifcant part in the respect and authority
she had among her people. The refusal of the entre community to journey on
untl Miriam was healed of her illness is another testmony to her standing.
The reference to her in Mic 6.4 reconfrms the status and role given to her by
the whole community. It also identfes Yahwehs choice of Miriam to play an
important role in saving the people of Israel.
Engaging critcally with the Caribbean contextual reality - Nothing about
us, without us, is for us The Caribbean is stll a long way from emancipaton
from imperialism. People are stll colonized in mind and spirit with the impact
of the past as well as new forms of colonialism. The culture of our powerful
neighbours in North America is highly infuental in the Caribbean. People
model American lifestyles, speaking like New Yorkers and trying to look like
them. More and more we are lured into this foreign culture which promotes
individualism, compettveness and greed and which has a negatve impact
on family and community. This has taken a toll on community and naton
building, social cohesiveness and development.
There is also an impoverishment in visionary leadership in the Caribbean,
especially in politcs and religion. Ecumenism is threatened and churches
lack the prophetc spirit. In the politcal sphere, oppositonal politcs (on
both parts with ruling and oppositon partes) are destructve and retarding.
The signifcant gap between people in positons of power and those at the
grassroots shows the lack of vision, wisdom and strategies of leaders. Politcal
leaders ofen run way ahead of the people, with litle consciousness of what
is required for peoples development.
Miriam did not run ahead with a following of people struggling behind.
She was in the midst of her community, recognising their gifs, strengths,
vulnerabilites, hopes and fears.
A signifcant strength of Miriam was her recogniton of the relatonal character
of life and interdependence of people and also of humanity and the rest of
creaton, and their ultmate dependence on God the Creator, Redeemer and
Sustainer.
The Southern African philosophy of Ubuntu ofers a good grounding for
people/community centred leadership. Ubuntu translated means I am
what I am because of who we all are. It is based on the critcal factor of
interdependency of people on each other and people with the earth. This
is necessary for wholesome, cohesive and progressive communites, natons
and also for the Caribbean region as a whole.
149
Leaders need to be well grounded in the
history of the people, including stories
of the marginalized. Their approach
should be inclusive leadership, based on
partnership. As Audre Lorde, an African
American womanist, with Caribbean roots
said:
Without community there is no liberaton,
only the most vulnerable and temporary
armistce between and individual and
her oppression. But community must not
mean a shedding of our diferences, nor the pathetc pretence that these
diferences do not exist.
Questons to ponder:
How has your community changed in the last twenty years? Identfy some
negatve and positve features.
What role can the church play in enable life-giving communites, which
are undergirded with shared responsibilites, showing concern and care
for all citzens and for the environment?
Miriam in the Caribbean context
Miriam demonstrated many aspects of leadership in the texts that carry
her story. She epitomizes the diferent roles that one woman can play as a
respected leader. Like Miriam, Caribbean women have played critcal roles
in leading their people from slavery to emancipaton. These were prophetc
women who led resistance movements against Slavery and colonial rule
struggling for freedom against slavery and colonialism, for life and for justce.
From Nanny of the Maroons, to Mary Prince, Anastasia, Kowsilla and others
named and unnamed, women have lef behind a great heritage of resistance,
leadership and survival of their communites.
There is a dire need for the prophetc spirit, imaginaton and strategies of
Miriam and many Caribbean women to carve out new paths today. One
practcal way forward is to tell the stories of these amazing women and to
invite our communites to drink from their wells of nourishment and hope.
This could be an important aspect of enabling our churches and communites
to come forth with a prophetc vision for an alternatve paradigm of power
and leadership based on principles of care, compassion, shared resources and
power, interdependency and community.

A signifcant strength of
Miriam was her recogniton
of the relatonal character of
life and interdependence of
people and also of humanity
and the rest of creaton, and
their ultmate dependence on
God the Creator, Redeemer
and Sustainer.
Resilient women
150
Like Miriam, women with visionary leadership need to be nurtured, promoted
and supported. They bring the dreams and wisdom of the grassroots, to
develop alternatves, which are sensitve to the local situaton, and with
consideraton of what is necessary for people to live together in dignity. The
stories (below) of Karen De Souza and Christna Ramjatan speak about todays
women leaders whose lives, witness and mission are rooted in their love, care,
astuteness and ability to mobilise and bring wisdom and experience to their
communites in tmes of hardship.
Christna was and Karen is resilient, persistent and not ahead of people but
always with them. Their examples are visionary demonstratng partcipatory
leadership with service and commitment to life for all, especially for the
poor and marginalised. Their stories are living testmonies to ways that
grassroots women leaders can ofer prophetc witness with fresh perspectves
in leadership for these tmes. They have demonstrated in their leadership
approaches and styles that it is important to work in solidarity with
people as partners. Caribbean women and men are challenged to envision
transformatve communites which partcipate in the realisaton of Gods kin-
dom of wholeness and life in fullness for all people. The womanist paradigm
can inspire the carving out of new paths towards transformaton and life-
giving models of leadership for the beterment of all people.
Questons to ponder:
What are the signs of the tmes in which we are now living? Share both
negatve and positve.
What are key challenges to the prophetc ministry? How can the church
community be a prophetc witness? Name three practcal steps that your
church can take.
What are the signifcant qualites of Miriam as a prophet and leader?
Discuss her characteristcs and style and what makes for efectve
leadership.
Do a dramatc reading of the stories of Miriam, Christna Ramjatan and
Karen de Souza. Draw out signifcant elements and their contributon
throw leadership as service.
Name a prophetc woman in your church and/or community. What are
three outstanding features of this woman? How can she be supported as
a prophetc voice to contribute to an alternatve people-centred model of
leadership?
151
LENA CHRISTINA RAMJATTAN:
WOMENS ACTIVIST, POLITICAL
AND PRESBYTERIAN WOMENS
GROUP LEADER
Rev. Dr. Dale A. Bisnauth
Dale Bisnauth is the moderator of the Guyana Presbyterian Church and
director of the Formaton for Ministry and Mission, Guyana
Lena Christna Ramjatan was born on December 20, 1920 at Grahams Hall
on the East Coast of Demerara, the second of three children, born to Isaac
and Naomi Bridgewater. At the age of fve, her mother died and the family
migrated to the bauxite town of Mackenzie on the Demerara River. Christna
began school at the Christanburg Scots Presbyterian School. In March 1939,
the nineteen year old would marry John Ramjatan in another Scots church
the St. Andrews Presbyterian Kirk in Georgetown.
Christna tended to be ecumenical in her church life. At Christanburg, she was
deeply involved in the Bible Class and the Womens group of the Presbyterian
Church, but found tme to become involved in womens work in the Pilgrim
Holiness and Christan Brethren Churches. In additon, she was an actve
member of the Dorcas Society at Mackenzie. When she moved to Georgetown,
Christna became a member of the Burns Memorial Presbyterian Church and
an actve member of the womens group there.
Christna was a woman of integrity, unselfsh and caring; she burned with a
passion for the rights of women. The care of the needy was uppermost in her
personal agenda and she spared no efort on their behalf. Her moto was:
I am my sisters and brothers keeper; those who knew her well described
Christna as a Good Samaritan.
Given her interest in people, her concern for their welfare and her
identfcaton with the poor and downtrodden, it was no surprise when at
34 Christna became drawn into the politcal life of Guyana. At that tme, the
politcal struggle was for politcal independence from Britain and for Universal
Adult Sufrage. The leader in that struggle was the Peoples Progressive Party
led by Dr. Cheddi Jagan. Christna joined the struggle; her house in Mackenzie
Lena Christna Ramjatan
152
became a centre of politcal actvity. She herself became an actvist.
Christna paid for her actvism. In disturbances in 1964 her father was
murdered. She herself was batered and beaten causing serious impairment
to her sight and hearing. But this did not deter her. Towards the end of her
life Christna became both deaf and blind. But the struggles of the likes of
Christna Ramjatan were not in vain. Guyana became independent from
Britain and won Universal Adult Sufrage. She herself was awarded with the
Medal of Service in 1993 a natonal award. In that same year, she received
from the Womens Afairs Bureau, a certfcate for outstanding contributon to
womens development, peace and equality. What was her chief motvaton in
life? She said that it was her love for Jesus Christ, and remarked of Christna
women:
We share our mutual woes
Our mutual burdens bear;
And ofen for each other fows
The sympathizing tear.
WOMENS RIGHTS ACTIVIST
KAREN DE SOUZA IS A SPECIAL
PERSON
Kaieteur News, Sunday, December 19, 2010 (Story by Sharmain Cornete)
It is all well and good for a party to say we are taking on the grand, natonal
agenda, but the fact remains that there is no natonal agenda if you do not
address the agenda of the individual.
Driven by the passion to see women rise above
societal challenges, primary among them
domestc violence, Karen de Souza, has over
the years remained a force to be reckoned
with.
As one of the founders and dedicated members
of Red Thread, a local non-governmental
organisaton, de Souza has for more than
a decade dedicated her tme and energies

It is all well and good
for a party to say we
are taking on the grand,
natonal agenda, but the
fact remains that there is
no natonal agenda if you
do not address the agenda
of the individual.
153
towards helping to give grass-root women
a voice, as well as economic stability.
Simultaneously, eforts were being made
by the organisaton which had its genesis
in 1985 to dispel racial myths that were
permeatng the society, and consequently,
causing a discomfortng ethnic divide.
With no litle efort on de Souzas part,
Red Thread is today closer than ever to
achieving its goal, one which is so designed
to have the survivors of domestc violence
verbally fght back in an efort to emphasize
that the unacceptable practce need not
persist, at least not aided by the silence
of women. Although it is headquartered
at the juncton of Princes and Adelaide
Streets in Georgetown, Red Thread has
a presence in several communites across the country, which according to
de Souza, serves as a means of enlightening women about their rights provided
under the law.
The indefatgable de Souza recently helped spearhead the formaton of a
Domestc Violence Survivors Group which holds forums for abused women
who are allowed to share their experiences. One of the missing elements
in the domestc violence public fght is that of survivors being able to speak
out and so that is the directon in which we want to go. So in additon to just
supportng women by going to the police and the hospital with them, we are
also discussing with them about the law; helping them to understand what
their rights are and what the various agencies are supposed to do.
This new introducton to the Red Thread agenda, according to de Souza, has
now taken women to a point where some of them are confdent enough to
support other abused women. And it is her expectaton that this development
will evolve further in the coming years whereby survivors will be seen and
heard even as programmes are modifed to further decentralise services and
informaton sharing.
We contnue to work as much as possible in communites where we already
have a presence to try to develop a unit of people, usually women, who have
informaton and who are prepared to go and negotate with the police and
the various authorites so that something can be done on the spot in the case
of an abuse, just so they dont have to wait on a call from Georgetown.

One of the missing elements
in the domestc violence
public fght is that of survivors
being able to speak out and
so that is the directon in
which we want to go. So in
additon to just supportng
women by going to the police
and the hospital with them,
we are also discussing with
them about the law; helping
them to understand what
their rights are and what
the various agencies are
supposed to do.
Womens rights actvist Karen De Souza is a special person
154
And the measures that are in place have served to help a number of abused
women despite the fact that Red Thread has been working with meagre
resources, de Souza related. We know that we do not have the resources
to deal with the actual percentage of abuse that arises on a daily basis. It is
unbelievable the level and the amount of abuse that surface in our local
societes, so any assistance to Red Thread is always welcomed. But was this
dedicated actvist abused into embracing this modus operandi of fghtng for
womens rights?
De Souza reveals she most defnitely was. And perhaps she is listed among the
worst of the abused having been deprived of employment, unjustly arrested
in 1979 and tried in a court of law, simply because of her afliaton with a
politcal party. Although she was arrested on suspicions of burning down a
public building, de Souza was charged and held for a few days for possession
of a Guyana Natonal Service kit. Though a very young woman then, she was
eventually able to adequately represent herself and even saw the case against
her being dismissed.
But it was not untl 1986 that the case would be dismissed, and by then her
name had become tarnished, causing every possible door of employment
opportunity to be slam shut in her face without even a crease for her slender
frame to slip through unnotced. No one would employ me. It was like
they were afraid of me. I had to depend on my sister and friends, too, for
support.
Prior to her arrest and subsequent court batle, she was employed as a
librarian at the then Prime Ministers Ofce. She was just 16 years old at the
tme, but was even then very ambitous and had plans of elevatng herself to
a higher ofce.
This saw her taking leave to join the Guyana Natonal Service and then the
University of Guyana to boost her academic eminence. At the insttute of
higher learning she studied English and Geography, and it was during this tme
that she became acquainted with Politcal Actvist, Rupert Roopnaraine, of the
Working Peoples Alliance (WPA). It was not expected that young Karen, who
was born to parents of middle class standing, Mary and Denis de Souza, would
have become politcally stmulated in her early days.
The second of three ofspring, she was born on January 19, 1958, in the city,
but grew up as a simple lass on the small island of Leguan, on the Essequibo
Coast. Her family would eventually move back to the city where she was able
to secure her frst and only employment which ended two years later. It was
dealing with that court trial which saw me defending myself and becoming
155
acquainted with the law that led me to become involved in demonstratons
Afer that frst arrest I was arrested frequently, maybe even for just being
alive.
The trial ended and the charges were dismissed, but out of just stubbornness I
contnued with demonstratons for any just cause, once the need arose. It was
clear that I was expected to beg pardon and not be involved with the WPA.
De Souza would remain a commited member of the WPA, up untl about six
years ago, although she stll maintains camaraderie with its existng members.
She recalled that although Red Thread was spawned by some of the women
folk from the party, it was from the incepton intended to be an independent
and separate body. According to her it was in 1985 that a number of women
from within the party held an earnest discussion about women in the society,
a move which was prompted by the problem of food shortage which was
prevailing at the tme.
A number of demonstratons were organised by the WPA, as a result, to
emphasise the need for essental items. However, following the demonstratons
some of the women, including de Souza, were arrested and incarcerated a
development which created much fear and confusion, according to de Souza.
The women had become frightened of the politcs business, they didnt want
to associate with party politcs, they simply wanted food and to be able to
take care of their family, de Souza noted.
It was in recogniton of this dilemma that the commited actvist with the
support of a number of other party women commenced discussion to
organise a meetng with women outside of the party. This would lead to the
formaton of Red Thread which had as its inital agenda to serve as an avenue
to foster income-earning actvites for women.
It was at frst referred to as the Womens Development Project and was even
able to atract the support of fnancial donors. But yet to some it remained
the womens arm of the WPA. When we started we were very clear that
our womens group was separate from the WPA; this was a woman thing and
it had nothing to do with the party. We met as party women, but when we
decided to start Red Thread at that point there was no womens organisaton
that was not an arm of some organisaton. All womens organisatons were
the arms of something, so we decided and dared to start Red Thread as an
independent body. It certainly did not receive the blessings of all the men of
the party at frst, recounted de Souza, who revealed that a lot of men in the
party were not very happy.
156
And why would they be? De Souza and some of the other women who formed
Red Thread were in fact among the centrally actve women in the party and
according to her this was pulling a whole lot of energy out of the party into
this other thing.
It was even expected that the grants that were awarded to Red Thread would
have been turned over to the party to help boost its capacity. In defance,
de Souza and her fellow members, all middle class women, would use the
acquired funds to initate embroidery projects in target communites on the
West and East Coasts of Demerara, and even in Linden.
Yet in an infantle state, the group contnued to subscribe to WPA principles,
which saw it working with women across race and against poverty, incorporatng
various money-making ventures for the women along the way. Although she
was determined to see the organisaton progress, de Souza revealed that she
had harboured some thoughts of uncertainty about delving completely into
the new arena.
I was quite reluctant to engage with Red
Thread to the exclusion of the overt party work,
but I think that afer working with the women
in the communites for a while it became clear
to me that that was the thing to do It is all
well and good for a party to say we are taking
on the grand, natonal agenda, but the fact
remains that there is no natonal agenda if you
do not address the agenda of the individual.
It was with this in mind that she was able to
shed all doubts and accepted her mission to
champion the rights of women in the society,
even though through a small organisaton.
Even if there was no way that the organisaton
was going to receive much needed support to
expand, de Souza was eager to see it become
efcient enough to bring about some measure of change in the lives of but a
few women.
I realised we were not going to claim any of the power relatons in the society,
except it was through the way individuals deal with their relatons, and that is
not something we can legislate. So I guess it made sense for me to be a part
of Red Thread.
Red Thread would gradually evolve over the years catering to other needs in the

But according to de
Souza, Red Threads
sustenance over the
years has hinged on the
enormous commitment of
the women who formed
the core of the entty and
have sought to not only
embrace the policy of
ant-racism and to work
against poverty, but also
to denounce abuse against
women and children.
157
society as directed by its membership which was drawn from all communites.
In creatng its distnct identty, Red Thread received much needed support from
Sistren, a vibrant womens group in Jamaica. There was support forthcoming
from other organisatons as the local womens organisaton tread the path to
maturity.
But according to de Souza, Red Threads sustenance over the years has hinged
on the enormous commitment of the women who formed the core of the
entty and have sought to not only embrace the policy of ant-racism and
to work against poverty, but also to denounce abuse against women and
children.
Perhaps the most important policy that de Souza has come to appreciate over
the years is that of respect for those at grass root level. She revealed that a
lot of what Red Thread has done was through the eforts of grass root women,
not women with high educaton. If we have proven anything it is that the
certfcates and so forth are not a measure of ability to make a diference.
It is for this very reason she believes that there are probably hundreds of
women throughout Guyana that identfy themselves with Red Thread and by
extension, a woman who dared to use her dauntng life experience to help
transform the lives of many.
158
DORCAS, AN AGENT OF
CHANGE AND
TRANSFORMATION
Rev. Doreen Wynter
Doreen Wynter is an ordained minister of the Jamaica Baptst Union (JBU).
She serves as the pastor of the Jones Town Circuit of Baptst Churches in
Kingston, Jamaica. She is also a trained teacher and holds a B.A (General),
B.A (Theology), MPhil (Theology) from the United Theological College of the
West Indies. Doreen also teaches Biblical Interpretaton and Preaching at the
JBU lay training programme.
The narratve in Acts 9.36-42 involving Dorcas or Tabitha is one of the few
Biblical stories highlightng the infuence and impact of women within the
believing community. The infrequency of such stories causes us to pay special
atenton to them, and to rediscover the role of women, especially in the early
church from these brief and occasional accounts.
Context of the story
What we discover as we analyse this account is that the story of Dorcas found
in Acts 9.36-42 is not really Dorcas story but that of the apostle Peter. Dorcas
is one of the characters in this story in which the main character and the plot
revolved around the apostle Peter. It was Peters story and the ministry of
Peter within the context of the spreading of the Gospel.
The raising of Dorcas from
the dead recorded in Acts
9.36-42 is part of a wider
secton from Acts 9.32-10.48
which deals with the spread
of the Gospel and its impact
on the life of the community
on Jews and Gentles. Within
this framework, Acts 9.32-
43 deals with Life-giving
and Life-healing miracles,
herein Aeneas was physically

The narratve in Acts 9.36-42 involving
Dorcas or Tabitha is one of the few Biblical
stories highlightng the infuence and
impact of women within the believing
community. The infrequency of such
stories causes us to pay special atenton to
them, and to rediscover the role of women,
especially in the early church from these
brief and occasional accounts.
159
healed and Dorcas was raised from the dead. As a result of both miracles, the
inhabitants of Lydda, Sharon and Joppa believed in the Lord. As we look at the
account of Dorcas; her life and her work, we fnd that this Life Transforming
theme evident in the life giving and life healing of the miracle stories are
refected in her story and impacts those around her.
Text: analysis and interpretaton
When we look at the text, Acts 9.36-42 does not lend many details about
Dorcas family history, fnancial status or her status in society. Ofentmes,
Scripture does not tell the whole story, thus, informaton is gathered from
what is implied and inferred in the text. So we gather informaton from the
silence or absence of data as well as what is writen. It is a miracle story with
the main character (Peter) performing a miracle in the traditon of Jesus, and
the Old Testament prophets who raised persons from the dead. It is within
this setng that we have some narratve about the woman Dorcas, along with
other supportng unnamed characters: the widows, and the wider community.
What then can we deduce about this woman Dorcas from the text when only
verses 36, 37 and 39b actually focused on her?
Dorcas, the name:
The passage uses interchangeably the name Dorcas or Tabitha. Dorcas is
the Greek equivalent of the Jewish name Tabitha. As both names are used it
would imply that Luke, the writer, is recording for both a Jewish and Gentle
community. We would infer from this that the community in which Dorcas
ministered was not homogenous but rather it was racially mixed and her work
was not racially exclusive but extended to all.
Dorcas was called a disciple:
This was signifcant for it was not common for the writer, Luke, to use this term
in associaton with women. Therefore, the author (Luke) was emphasizing the
work of this woman. The term disciple applied to Dorcas meant that she was
in the same category as the other disciples. Therefore, Lukes usage of her as
a disciple hinted at the re-imaging of women as able and capable of being
involved in the ministry of the early church. It was also signifcant as the role
of women in the New Testament era, a period stll governed by the system of
patriarchy was stll being defned. Therefore, Luke, calling her disciple was a
shif from the current paradigm/practce and what we glimpse here is a sign
of the re-imaging of women in the believing community of faith.
Dorcas, an agent of change and transformaton
160
Dorcas was devoted to good works and acts of charity:
She was a kind woman who was always doing good. Her acts of kindness were
not occasional, temperamental, or seasonal. She was devoted, it was a way
of life and she did not demonstrate a kindness of convenience. It is easy to
do good works and give generously when it is convenient so to do, for public
relatons and for ones image profle. This is a fact in the corporate sphere
where we fnd businesses competng for the purchasing power of consumers
do good works as a photo op and promotonal strategy. We can do good
without being commited to doing good, because of what is in it for us.
Devoted to doing good, calls into being a new way of life, an attude, and a
deliberate choosing of this path.
Dorcas made clothing and distributed them to the widows:
The widows showed the tunics that Dorcas had made for them. She had
the ability to sew and make clothes. This was a gif, a resource she drew on
to minister to others. There are no details as to the source of her sewing
materials, but there are some things that are necessary for this task: material,
needle and thread. Dorcas sourced these items with which she then made the
clothing, and she used her fnancial and creatve resources to serve others. It
is easy to forget that the call to living in community means that we share our
gifs with each other, and not become selfsh and self-centered.
Dorcas impact on the lives of others:
The widows wept at her death because of the impact she had on their lives.
She was an ordinary woman who saw a need and ministered to that need.
This is the stuf which heroines are made of, her awareness, her sensitvity and
her compassion. In present day, we see in our diferent contexts individuals
who are aware of the suferings and difculty others are experiencing (the
hungry child begging and the next door neighbour with no money to send
their children to school) but instead of assistng we turn a blind eye, we hope
that by pretending we dont see them that these situatons will go away.
Text in context: transforming the life of the economically needy
From the analysis of this miracle story with its Life Transforming theme,
we fnd that Dorcas was actvely involved in transforming the life of the
economically challenged. The main plot was Peter restoring life to Dorcas,
in the sub-plot we see Dorcas contnuing this theme of Life by ofering to
those around her a beter quality of life. She was a disciple following in the
footsteps of Jesus Christ, improving the quality of persons life. The women in
161
the story were in need, and in economic want. In the
Caribbean region many of our women are living below
the poverty line. We can become present day Dorcases
by providing what is needed for others to experience
a beter quality of life, startng with the women in
our communites. The specifcs of this would vary
depending on our respectve contexts; however, whether it is food, clothing,
or a liveable wage for domestc workers, we need to be actvely engaged in
improving the standard of living of others.
The women in the text were living fnancially challenged lives and Dorcas
made clothes and gave to them in their need. Dorcas was an example of the
sharing of ones resources so that others may experience a beter quality of
life. Earlier in Acts, we read of the disciples sharing what they have with each
other. This countered the actons of the man who built bigger barns to store his
resources rather than evenly distributng them to beneft others. The welfare
of the needy was important and Dorcas acton demonstrated an ethic of care
and neighbourly love. Because the widows were marginalized and overlooked
because they had no male to provide for them, the sharing was not confned
to those who already have, but to those who are economically in need.
She Purchased, Prepared, and Provided.
If Dorcas acton is modeled by Caribbean women it can be revolutonary,
and subversive. It can be counter culture to the view that women are non-
supportve of each other, and are always competng with each other. Such a
paradigm shif would require sisters from across the racial, economic and social
divide to embrace one another, to share their resources for the development
of the other and to demonstrate an ethic of care and love for the other.
Imitatng the Dorcas mindset
How conscious are we of those around us, their needs and quality of
life? Are there traits of narcissism, love of self to the exclusion of others?
Consider who a disciple is - follower of the way. How are our lives
modelling the Jesus way?
Are there ways in which we can infuence the programmes in our
community, country so the quality of life of the economically challenged
may improve?
How do you see yourself - insignifcant, small, nobody, not of any use in
your church? Is there a need to change that image?

She Purchased,
Prepared, and
Provided.
Dorcas, an agent of change and transformaton
162
MAMA JOY
Rev. Doreen Wynter
She has lived a life dedicated to the hundreds of children she has mothered
over the past three decades, and like most unsung heroes, did so without
much fanfare. But last Friday, 61-year-old Joy Marilyn Baker or Mama Joy,
was acknowledged for her sterling contributon to her Central Kingston
community by the First Caribbean Internatonal Bank under their Unsung
Heroes Programme.
Mama Joy, who was featured in All Woman in June of this year, was one of
three persons nominated by the bank for their selfess service to the country.
This was afer reviewing the contributons of scores of other nominees across
the island who had used their ofentmes limited resources to help the less
fortunate.
She takes care of a lot of children single-handedly. She is one of those
community persons, chairman of the Unsung Heroes Local Commitee, Glen
Lee, said of Mama Joy.
In explaining the concept of the programme which began seven years ago, the
chairman said: We look for persons who are doing extraordinary things or
ordinary things in an extraordinary way and are giving back to the community.
These people are volunteers who use their personal resources to do things or
they try to seek out funding to push the cause further.
In additon to the hundreds of children she has mothered, Mama Joy also has
six biological children. The Central
Kingston resident used her meagre
earnings as a street sweeper and
bar cleaner to pay school fees,
purchase books and atend to their
physical and mental well being.
I started caring for children when
I was 29 and I moved into this
community. I used to walk around
and peep through windows at
nights and when I saw the children
sleeping alone, I would take them
out and carry them to the police.
You dont know when a piece of

She has lived a life dedicated to
the hundreds of children she has
mothered over the past three
decades, and like most unsung
heroes, did so without much
fanfare. But last Friday, 61-year-old
Joy Marilyn Baker or Mama Joy,
was acknowledged for her sterling
contributon to her Central Kingston
community by the First Caribbean
Internatonal Bank under their
Unsung Heroes Programme.
163
candle can fall and the place catch fre with them, she told All Woman in her
interview.
Mama Joy said she was grateful for the award, but lavished praises on the
various individuals, church groups and organisatons that had also made
caring for the children much easier. She also had a great deal to say about her
children, some of whom did extremely well in their examinatons.
Apart from the award, the philanthropist also received personal gifs from the
bank and cash awards for her project. She now moves on to represent Jamaica
in the regional unsung heroes programme which will see her going up against
other unsung heroes in the 17 territories the bank operates in.
Mama Joy has also received awards from the Holy Family Primary and Infant
school for outstanding and dedicated service; the Central Kingston Peoples
Natonal Party Womens Movement and the Kingston Central Police, among
others, for the important role she has played in promotng law and order and
for her service to community.
Mama Joy Awarded, Nadine Wilson, All Woman writer, October 2010
For nearly 40 years, she has given trelessly, relentlessly of her tme, talent and
treasure to children who are of no relaton to her. Mama Joy, as she has been
afectonately called by her children and other members of the community
prides herself on taking care of the least of these by ofering much-needed
food, clothing and shelter to street children in the inner-cites of Jamaica.
Mama Joy epitomizes the Jamaican adage tun yuh han mek fashion as she is
one of the many women in this country who is able to send myriads of children
to school without the aid of a baby father and on limited meagre resources.
Working as a menial unskilled labourer has not fazed this indomitable woman
who simply gets to the task at hand, that of protectng her children from a life
of crime and violence by providing them with a place to call home and the
necessites for physical and intellectual survival.
She uses any resource made available to her and does not waste tme playing
politcs when Mama Joy is out seeking help for her children, she is as
aggressive as a terrier and as unrelentng as a pit bull. Mama Joy is ofen
quoted as saying, The Lord will provide, when asked how it is that she expects
to fend for her children.
This, as Mama Joy has never writen a project proposal, she has not done a
public broadcast or staged a grand concert to realize funds for her children.
Rather, she commits them to the care of the elected representatves as well
Mama Joy
164
as to the care of the more afuent churches in the corporate area, where she
solicits funds for meetng the needs of the children.
Their ages range from pre-school to high schoolers and the numbers vary
sometmes reaching in the high teens, but Mama Joys concern is not for
the numbers as she does not know how to turn back a child from her door.
In telling her story Mama Joy recounts that she was very concerned for the
physical well being of the children she would see sleeping on the streets at
night. And somewhere between taking them to the nearest police staton for
overnight protecton and watching out for them again and again, she became
their de facto guardian and protector.
Recognizing that one han cyan clap Mama Joy has sought to be the hand that
unites others in making the necessary provision for her children regardless
of race and status as she willingly dirtes her hands to meet her childrens
needs. Mama Joy can be seen many Sunday mornings in the front of a
Police jeep with her wards crammed in the same vehicle and ofentmes yet
another making their way to church, where they sometmes are provided with
refreshment and tangible contributon to the welfare of the children.
It has not always been easy for her, as her children are sometmes the recipients
of various types of abuse physical, sexual, verbal, etc. and their psyche is not
the easiest to restore, especially in the inner city neighbourhoods of Central
Kingston. But Mama Joy understands that someone has to take care of them
and make the necessary provisions for their future. It pains her to see her
children sufer, and this is independent of whether they were born of her loins
(she has 6 biological children) or simply mothered by her.
Should one expend the tme to fnd Mama Joys children, it is highly likely that
they each would extol her virtues for saving them from themselves and from
sure and certain ruin. Truly she has been a strong Caribbean woman who has
transformed the lives of many.
Points to ponder
What do you think is that litle something that makes Mama Joy and
Dorcas suitable agents of transformaton?
How might you and I become positve change agents in our world?
Would Mama Joys philanthropy make a diference if she had had the
wherewithal to help those children naturally? Why/not?
What then is the diference between philanthropy and loving our neighbour?
165
D
166
CASTING STONES
A BIBLE STUDY ON JOHN 8: 1 - 11
Rev. Nicole Ashwood, Rev. Dr. Gillian Wilson, Rev. Doreen Wynter
United Theological College of the West Indies, December 2010
The story of the woman caught in the act of adultery has ofen been misused
as the church wrestles with maters of sexual impropriety and gender
injustces. John 8.1-11 poses some difcultes, especially in the case of an
unwanted pregnancy the evidence of impropriety is present for the public
to see. The following Bible study was writen by three pastors (Baptst,
Methodist and Reformed) from Guyana and Jamaica, who, together studied
the text with a consciousness of the contextual and symbolic implicatons of
sexual impropriety and stoning, as they challenge traditonal interpretaton
and approaches to reading the text.
Invite the Bible study group to do a biblio-dramatc reading of John 8. 1-11.
The symbolism of adultery and implicatons of sexual impropriety in the
Caribbean
[Any] . . . man that commited adultery with another mans wife,
even he that commited adultery with his neighbours wife,
[BOTH] the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
Lev 20.10
22 If a man is found sleeping with another mans wife, both the man
who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil
from Israel.
23 If a man happens to meet in a town a virgin pledged to be married
and he sleeps with her, 24 (before) you shall take both of them to the gate
of that town and stone them to deaththe girl because she was in a town
and did not scream for help, and the man because he violated another
mans wife. You must purge the evil from among you.
Deut 22.22-24
Being versed in the details of the Mosaic Law, and, given the nature of her
actons, they brought the adulterous woman to Jesus. They claimed she was
caught in the act, yet the leter of the law was only applied by the educated,
right-seeking men to the woman who was caught in the act. What was the
167
aim of the men who sought to dispense with her in this humiliatng manner?
Was she not someones child? Why use a woman as their weapon in their
antagonism against Jesus?
In the Caribbean, as in many regions around the world, adultery is grounds
for divorce. However, ofen male adulterers are largely overlooked. In fact
a man (single or married) is ofen not only exonerated but applauded for
sleeping with several women. On the other hand, for the woman it is totally
unacceptable and punishable by the law (through divorce) and also by social
exclusion by her family, church and community. In many Caribbean churches
sexual sin or suspicion of such sin by a woman (unlike a man in the same
situaton) was seen as vile with the potental to desecrate the name of the
church.
In recent years the back bench was a substtute for stones of frst century
Israel, that is, women under suspicion of sexual impropriety were relegated
to the back bench. Yet, should it be one which may be covered up for the sake
of the mans reputaton, it just might be swept under the carpet or quietly
disposed of.
Adultery is no longer as serious a crime in many of our societes today, yet the
attude to single mothers or pregnant teenagers has not changed signifcantly.
In our schools, girls are expelled for teen pregnancy while the baby fadda
(father) remains in school or at work, and very litle punitve acton is applied
to him. And, while statutory rape is stll very much a criminal ofense, in many
instances, the girls who have been initated into the sex acts are advised to
be quiet for the sake of their familys survival. Further, there are occasions
when young girls are gifed to the local community head in a modernized
reinterpretaton of the feudal droit de seigneur. And if she becomes pregnant
. . .Hush babymodda! Things will be beter tomorrow.
One of the triumphs of the Caribbean male is of his ability to have several
babymoddas (baby mother) and other women all at once; hence the
abundance of songs about wifey and matey. A young girl is stll expected to
remain a virgin if she wishes to marry well, though she might be relegated
the role of trophy wife. It takes very litle efort to recall the messages stated
in Beenie Mans, Ole Dawg (1995), or Shabba Ranks, Trailer Load (1991),
or Shaggys, It Wasnt Me (2000). Yet litle efort was made to censor songs
which objectfed women who were simply to be available for sexual use and
abuse by the men who went from partner to partner on a regular basis. But
the same man would be ofended should another man disrespect him by
having sexual relatons with his property. A no nutn dat, call it bun f bun.
Castng stones
168
The Pauline writer in the leter to Timothy insists that an elder should be
husband of one wife, thus implying that there should be no other. Therein lies
scope for sexual equity and a move from the concept of women as property
to women being human with roles and responsibilites that may be of value
even to religious society.
In reading the text, the queston is asked: What value is placed upon women
by the men in our lives and by the social structures which govern us? And in
turn, of the leaders of our religious bodies: How does the Caribbean church
promote values and attudes which are counter to those of the popular
culture, where sexuality is strong currency and, in several places promiscuity
and adultery are the order of the day, and when our safe havens are homes to
the most ruthless sexual predators?
The symbolism of stoning
The Old and New Testament books are flled with instructons for right
living and makes several references to stoning as the punitve measure
for the infractons. On the other hand, stoning in the Caribbean context is
not a penalty for breach of law but is used in atack and/or defence and
in compettve games. Persons can be seen throwing stones at each other
either in anger in a fght at which tme innocent passersby could be injured
or in a game by boys hurtling stones at birds in a bid to see whose hand is
straighter and who can hit the target. This target could also be animals,
especially toads, dogs and cats. Mangoes and other fruits have their share of
being stoned as trees are stoned with a variety of objects in a bid to reach the
fruits on the highest limbs. Flat smooth stones are thrown into a small river
or canal of at an angle so that the stone skims the water touching the water
as many tmes as possible before sinking to the botom. The one whose stone
makes the most skims wins.
Biblical text
Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of commitng adultery. This
follows the instructon of the Law in the Hebrew canon, The hand of the
witness shall be the frst upon him to put him to death, and aferward the
hand of all the people Deut 17.7.
Jesus lived in tmes of patriarchy where the threat and exercise of force that
would have accompanied the bringing of the woman alone to Jesus atests
to the power of inequalites of gender. Stoning in this instance as writen in
the law is comparable to insttutonalized violence and was a form of capital
punishment. Death by stoning was the sentence for being caught in adultery.
169
Adultery that was not caught was not punished. More than likely it would
have been the poorer class of persons who would have been caught in the
act of adultery. Society ofen turns a blind eye to such wrong-doings of rich
people. The case of King David and Bathsheba (2 Sam 11-12) which speaks of
the legitmizaton of male power is one such example in the Old Testament.
How ofen have you seen instances
where rich and powerful persons
escape the law? How is this done
and what are the responses of
society? How is it diferent in your
church? Discuss.
Reading of the text of John 8.1-
11 gives hope that God is on
the side of the marginalised and
disenfranchised, as the woman
who no doubt is vulnerable for the
fact that she is a woman and most likely a poor woman, is set free from the
bondage of the society. Jesus sets her free from her sin and also from the
hypocrisy of the religious establishment, including its leaders.
Feminist theologians use critcal eyes to read scripture and queston religious
doctrine as a fnite social construct, intmately related to communal religious
practces and power structures. They seek to identfy missing voices, persons
and show the infuences of cultural traditons, norms and laws.
How do we reread the Bible with these tools and seek to reform doctrine?
Reforming doctrine involves several steps, including the following:
Critque of the patriarchal bias in doctrines about God, humanity, and
religious practce,
The recovery of neglected strands of traditon that challenge these
dominant doctrines, and
The reinterpretaton of sacred texts and doctrines so as to include the
perspectves and experiences of women.
Character assassinaton as a form of stoning
A man who is an excellent tenor and who is having an afair with a woman in
the church contnues to maintain his place in the choir stall, while the woman

Feminist theologians use critcal
eyes to read scripture and queston
religious doctrine as a fnite social
construct, intmately related to
communal religious practces and
power structures. They seek to
identfy missing voices, persons
and show the infuences of cultural
traditons, norms and laws.
Castng stones
170
with whom he has the afair is relegated to the back seat of the congregaton
and her infdelity is spoken of in undertones.
What are the experiences of women in the Caribbean who fnd themselves in
compromising positons with men and who have their characters assassinated
while those of the men remain unblemished or whose actons are described
as a man tng. This is in essence violence against women. What is astonishing
is that a lot of this violence is to be found in the church that uses its moral
authority to legitmize situatons of dominaton and exploitaton based on
class and gender. Women are also co-opted in this systemic injustce against
women and they also cast stones against other women, while turning a blind
eye to the mans actons. It is embarrassing that women are in the forefront of
those who propel these negatve energies and cast out their sisters from the
circle of fellowship and community.
Jesus sought to right the wrong against the vulnerable person and to restore
her to wholeness. The text speaks about how Jesus was able to move from
the law itself to the practce of the law. The story provides a good basis to
guide public policies on issues of morality. Here are a few questons for us to
consider:
What are some of the laws that have been changed recently that recognize
the worth of women outside that of home and family, children and educaton?
How do women infuence these laws? As women and men?
How do we cast stones?
What are the stones we cast?
What accusatons are made for stoning to take place?
Who must cast the frst stone? The response from Jesus was, the one
who is without sin.
What did Jesus do?
So ofen we hear this queston being raised among Christans, if Jesus were
here what would he do? In other words, one should ask what Jesus would
do in a partcular situaton before making ethical choices and decisions. I will
borrow these over used clichs and ask not so much what Jesus would do
but what Jesus did in John 8.1-11 and then what should we do as followers
of Jesus Christ. The Gospel according to John deals with the new community
emerging as a result of the ministry of Jesus (John 20:26) and the writer
speaks on two levels: there is the literal meaning and a deeper level to what
171
has been recorded. It is what we would call a
double entendre.
What did Jesus do and say? He spoke to those in
the crowd and to the woman. The core message
dealt with the issue of sin. Whom did he address
frst?
It was to the religious establishment of the day.
Considering that most persons in the crowd
were probably non-religious persons who had gathered out of curiosity. The
woman was brought to Jesus by the Scribes and Pharisees who were the
legitmized religious leaders. Their actons initated the discourse. The context
of what took place was within the religious establishment, which included
the church. Note that Jesus is addressing the religious establishment and its
leaders. He was speaking to those who were esteemed with moral authority.
When questoned by the Scribes and Pharisees, he responded by saying, Let
anyone among you who is without sin be the frst to throw a stone at her.
Jesus was dealing with both personal responsibility as well as the structural sin
within the congregaton. Sin is a wrong-doing against God, each other and the
community. In this case it was at all levels, including the religious system. This
is evident in the inability to remember ones vulnerability and past weakness
in the case of personal sin which leads to condemnaton of others; and on the
other hand structural sin which erects barriers - permitng some persons to be
insiders and others to be outsiders to the church community. It was a case of
them and us or the righteous and the adulterous. What does this mean for
us? That the law, the traditon of the faith, cultural practces, social standing,
rules and the statements of some congregatons
are potental barriers which exclude others
(such as the woman caught in adultery) from the
community of faith and ultmately a relatonship
with God.
This is a call for us to refect on the policies and
practces within our congregatons which exclude
others from becoming a part of the family of
God. Jesus exposed the barriers and in that
revelaton the religious leaders walked away
from a marvellous opportunity for renewal.
The second comment was addressed to the
woman. Again Jesus raised the issue of sin, that

What did Jesus do and
say? He spoke to those
in the crowd and to
the woman. The core
message dealt with the
issue of sin. Whom did
he address frst?

This is a call for us to
refect on the policies
and practces within our
congregatons which
exclude others from
becoming a part of the
family of God. Jesus
exposed the barriers and
in that revelaton the
religious leaders walked
away from a marvellous
opportunity for renewal.
Castng stones
172
is, her personal sin, restored and embraced her into the new community. The
symbolic walking away of the leaders and believers implied that the barriers
by the religious establishment were recognized to have been challenged. Jesus
intervened and broke the barriers, embracing the accused woman. He reached
out with love and compassion, ofering her forgiveness, healing, restoraton
and freedom from condemnaton. Jesus set the woman free: go your way,
get on with your life. The barriers have been torn down. He charged her that
the personal sin should no longer be part of her life that, which contributed
to her exclusion, should no longer be evident in her life. The new community
which Jesus was establishing was one that embraced those who were pushed
to the margins and outside the margins.
Jesus actons revealed the face of the new community of God. It is one in
which exclusion and embrace are under scrutny by the word spoken and
writen by Jesus. It calls into queston the ways in which exclusion is practced
in our respectve communites of faith and to what extent we seek to embrace
others.
What should we do now? How do we widen and erase the lines of demarcaton
which makes margins? How do we include those who are on the margins?
Identfy the existng and potental barriers to embracing others within
our faith communites
In what ways can we demonstrate healing, forgiveness and restoraton in
our communites?
How similar/dissimilar are our communites of faith from that which Jesus
demonstrated in the story?
When we ourselves compromised - whether by choice or circumstance - How
do we respond? Do we look the other way in the face of the HIV and AIDS
pandemic and its reality in our society? Do we punish the woman only and
once again objectfy her, despite Jesus eforts to afrm and validate her?
And what exactly should we be writng on the sand?
Points for consideraton, discussion and further acton:
What are your views on adultery, how should adultery be treated by the
church?
There is a school of thought that says there are two approaches to sexual
impropriety one for lay persons and the other for leaders and ordained.
173
What is the situaton in your context, especially regarding punitve
measures for young people?
When a teenager or young single woman is pregnant, she is sometmes
asked to step down from actve membership untl she apologizes to the
church or afer the baby is born. What is your denominatons view on
single parents and how does the aforementoned acton help to stem the
fow of promiscuity?
Arrange for an open and honest session with youth and adults on sexuality
and its implicatons for life. Look at this from health, emotonal and social
perspectves. Try to get youth and adults presenters. Avoid judgmental
approaches and try to be open to hearing the youths issues.
Remember, the youth ofen antcipate our judgment, even when it is not
present. Let us be willing to work with them, providing mentorship where
needed.
Look at ways in which interventon strategies and peer counselling may
help to improve the esteem of our youth in community. We dont only
need to reach our youth in church, but we need to be available for the
entre community.
Critcally assess the extent to which your church ofers recreatonal space
for youth. Is there space within that programme for counselling, not only
about sexuality, but other core maters such as fnance, employment, self
esteem and educaton. An empowered youth is less likely to be involved
in unhealthy relatonships.
Ensure that there is adequate support for single mothers and that the
fathers (especially those in the church) are involved in the lives of their
children in positve and wholesome ways.
(or join one) for HIV and AIDS interventon.
Explore ways in which this may provide a backdrop for men and women
condemned for their sexual impropriety.
Castng stones
174
WHEN HOME IS A
DANGEROUS PLACE
Rev. Robina Marie Winbush
Robina Winbush is an associate stated clerk for the Presbyterian Church
(USA). She serves as the director of the Department of Ecumenical and
Agency Relatons in the Ofce of the General Assembly. Robina has served
on several natonal and internatonal denominatonal and ecumenical
commitees and organizatons including the Natonal Council of Churches
of Christ, USA, the World Council of Churches and the World Alliance of
Reformed Churches. An ordained minister, she has served congregatons in
Harlem, Long Island, the Bronx, Queens, New York and Louisville, KY.
Read: Judges 11.29-40
Introductory comments
This Bible study was frst presented at a Mission Consultaton of the Caribbean
and North America Council for Mission (CANACOM) in Trinidad and Tobago in
November 2009. The theme for the consultaton was Restoring the Home
Front: Mission 2020 and its anchor verse, Mark 5.19: Go home to your
friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you. Which ofered a
hopeful promise to our call as Christans engaged in the mission and ministry
of the church. We began with rootng ourselves in our relatonship to the
created order and our calling as stewards of the earth on which we dwell.
This Bible study on Judges 11 focuses on the partcular dynamics of male and
female relatonships.
Invite partcipants to do a biblio-dramatc reading of Judges 11.29-40.
Background to the text
The book of Judges is writen in the early part
of Israels history as they atempted to build
a naton following centuries of living as an
enslaved people and then decades of wandering
in the wilderness trying to fnd their way to a
place no longer defned by enslavement, but
free to live as the people God had created

This Bible study on
Judges 11 focuses on
the partcular dynamics
of male and female
relatonships.
175
them to be. They have invaded
Canaanite land and waged war
against not only the Canaanites
but anyone who got in their way.
It was an era ruled by judges, who
were to govern according to the
commandments given to Moses
and the Deuteronomic leaders.
These judges were also warriors
and expected to lead Israel in its
various batles.
However, it was also an era in which the writers describe the Israelites as
contnuing in a cycle of faithlessness; repentance, faithfulness and then
faithlessness again. They were really in a struggle with their understanding
of God and a series of empty promises or self-serving vows. (You know the
childish vows Mommy I promise Ill never do that again Daddy, if you just
let me I promise)
The Israelites were in a season of seeking Gods favour and protecton. The
Ammonites have risen up against them and are threatening war. They are
in need of someone who can lead them in batle. Finally, God responds not
because God really believes their empty promises, but because according to
the writer of the text, God could not bear to see their sufering.
This is where our story begins and unfortunately, it will be the last tme the
narrator gives us a clue as to any perspectve God might have on the horrible
and unbelievable act that is about to unfold. This story has been used to teach
about religious integrity and radical obedience. Jephthah spares nothing to
honour a vow he has made to God and a child who submits herself dutfully
to her fathers will.
This story is flled with themes of power, gender identty formaton, subjugaton,
marginalizaton, misplaced loyaltes, trans-generatonal family dynamics and
destructve paterns of male/female relatons. Let us now refect on identty
formaton of the male and female through the lens of this painful story.
Jephthahs a mighty warrior BUT
Problems with labels: Labels about his mother reduced her to identfcaton
with one aspect of her life. She was a prosttute. (What does this tell you
about her?) Nothing about her dreams or sorrows or hopes. Nothing about her
love (or lack of love) for her son. Nothing about her illnesses or struggle. Simply

This story is flled with themes of
power, gender identty formaton,
subjugaton, marginalizaton, misplaced
loyaltes, trans-generatonal family
dynamics and destructve paterns
of male/female relatons. Let us now
refect on identty formaton of the
male and female through the lens of
this painful story.
When home is a dangerous place
176
she was a prosttute and therefore worthy of our judgment - dismissal.
We can only imagine how it must have been for Jephthah, growing up with
that label. (Hes a strong boy BUT Hes a handsome young man BUT He
has potental BUT) Do you know what it means to grow up with a BUT? BUT
creates a conditonality that negates everything that comes before it.
Jephthah is caught in a triangulated relatonship between his mother, his
father(s), and his fathers wife. He is held responsible for the actons of his
parents. His brothers had learnt to treat him like an outcast.
Home was not a sanctuary it was a dangerous
place for Jephthah.
He needed to belong to community/family.
He was from the land of Tob and Outlaws
and we can imagine him as one with a
posse of men who may very well have been
outcasts like himself. They were known for
their negatve reinforced behaviour.
He established himself as a mighty warrior.
A bad boy if you will. A thug in some circles.
He was also a leader but he stll carried that
identty thing. He had something to prove.
Think about how you learned what it means
to be a woman or man? What were the
primary lessons you learned as a girl or boy
that helped you decide the type of woman
or man you would like to be?
Jephthah enlists for batle and creates
danger for his household
When the elders of Gilead came to Jephthah
and begged him to come fght their batle
against the Ammonites, it didnt take long
for Jephthah to negotate a prety good deal for himself with the elders.
This was an opportunity he had probably been waitng for his whole life, an
opportunity to be accepted - to be valued - to have a respectable place in the
community - to prove to his brothers and all the other folk who had talked
smut about him throughout his life.

We can only imagine how
it must have been for
Jephthah, growing up with
that label. (Hes a strong
boy BUT Hes a handsome
young man BUT He has
potental BUT) Do you
know what it means to grow
up with a BUT? BUT creates
a conditonality that negates
everything that comes
before it.

Think about how you
learned what it means to
be a woman or man? What
were the primary lessons
you learned as a girl or boy
that helped you decide the
type of woman or man you
would like to be?
177
Jephthah agrees to go into batle on behalf
of the Gileadites. He implicates God in his
decision by saying, If the Lord gives the
Ammonites into my hand He understands,
as do many people, that they can do nothing
outside the help of God. Afer his diplomatc
eforts fail to reason with the Ammonite
king he prepares to wage war.
The biblical writer reports that the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah.
As Jephthah prepares to go to batle he stops and prays: If you will give the
Ammonites into my hand, then whoever (whatever) comes out of my house
to meet me, when I return victorious from the Ammonites shall be the Lords
to be ofered up as a burnt ofering.
What is wrong with this prayer?
First of all it is an unsolicited and unnecessary
bribe! Earlier in chapter 10 we had learned
that God was willing to help the Gileadites
because God was tred of seeing them
sufer. Their history is replete with Gods
movement on their behalf.
We dont have to bargain with God like this!
When do we learn to simply trust God for who God has already demonstrated
Gods to be.
This vow demonstrates a lack of faith on Jephthahs part. Gods spirit was
already upon Jephthah.
Do we walk in the confdence of the person that God has created and called us
to be? When are the divine gifs that God has already given to us enough?
Thirdly, Jephthah in that moment created a conditon in which his home is
now a DANGEROUS PLACE for everyone who dwells in it. Because he has
determined that everyone and everything in it is expendable for the sake of
his self-serving goals.
Finally, this vow implicates God in an unspeakable horror that is to come.
Jephthah returns home to face the consequences of his stupid vow
Jephthah wins the batle, he returns home and his loving daughter comes
running out of the house to welcome her father home. Can you see her?

We dont have to bargain
with God like this!When do
we learn to simply trust God
for who God has already
demonstrated Gods to be.

Do we walk in the
confdence of the person
that God has created and
called us to be? When are
the divine gifs that God has
already given to us enough?
178
Following in the traditon of Miriam and
generatons of women before her who
greeted their warrior heroes with singing
and dancing, excited to see her father return
home alive, she comes running out the
house. Can you see her? But when Jephthah
arrives home it is not with good news.
In a classic case of blaming the victm, her
father does not greet her with joy or love,
but holds her responsible for his decision to
kill whoever (whatever) greets him. It is stll
all about Jephthah (both in his words and
the words of the narrator).
Let me say there is something problematc in this text that the primary images
of women in this text is either as a prosttute or a virgin. I suspect the lives of
women are much more complicated than these two designatons. However, is
that not how women are ofen viewed in terms of their sexuality?
In this moment, the unnamed daughter does what I cannot imagine. She
submits to her fathers stupid vow and agrees to be killed. I wanted her to
scream, argue, kick, fght, runaway. I wanted her mother to come out and ask
him if he had lost his ever-loving mind. I wanted somebody to yell, scream and
object! But instead, there is only submission.
Refect for a few minutes: How did you learn what it means to be a woman
partcularly in relatonship to men? Who taught you the lessons? What are the
common lessons that are taught in our society about a womans relatonship?
How are lessons of power and self-determinaton taught?
The unnamed sacrifcial daughter is able to negotate the terms of her demise.
Give me two months so that I can go wander on the mountains and bewail
my virginity, my companions and I. She chose to spend her last days with her
sister-friends.
What does it mean that she bewailed her virginity?
For years, I thought this was a reference to her not having been with a man,
not having known the loving embrace and care of a man. However, I wonder
if it is more consistent with the rest of this story to suggest that the focus
on her virginity is really a focus on the fact that she had not given birth to a
child. Being the only child of her father, her premature death, means that this

In a classic case of blaming
the victm, her father
does not greet her with
joy or love, but holds her
responsible for his decision
to kill whoever (whatever)
greets him. It is stll all
about Jephthah (both in his
words and the words of the
narrator).
179
pathological family line will come to an end. Jephthah is not only killing his
daughter, he is destroying his future.
I wonder if while she was in the mountain with her friends, if anyone tried to
talk her out of going back to her fathers house. Did anyone ofer her sanctuary
in their homes? (But then maybe their homes were dangerous places also.)
Have you ever felt helpless in trying to
save a sister-friend? Sometmes being
present is the only thing you can do for
someone. Sometmes, your greatest gif
is accompaniment, promising that their
abuse and unspeakable horror will not be
forgoten. You dare to tell their story over
and over, so that no one forgets!
She returns home and her father fulfls his
foolish promise. Instead of negotatng with
the Gileadite elders, with the Ammonites,
could he not negotate with God?
Furthermore, where was the ram in the
bush? You remember Abraham and Isaac?
Why didnt God stop Jephthah and remind him this was not necessary.
Jephthahs vow implicates God in this unspeakable horror and creates
a problematc understanding of God. My dear friend and colleague, the
Rev. Dr. Randall Bailey, in refectng on the book of Judges notes that the
violence perpetuated against women and childrens bodies - from the sacrifce
of Jephthahs daughter, to the rape and murder of the unnamed woman from
Bethlehem, to and the mass rape of the daughters of Shiloh and the contnual
silence of God in the face of such violence is problematc to say the least. The
narrator of Judges presents a god whose primary concern is a self-possessed
jealousy and anger over the worship of some other deity that does not exist.
The narrator in Judges does not present a God who is concerned about the
treatment of women, the poor and the oppression of the stranger. In the face
of unbelievable horror, the narrator fails to record a mumbling word from
God. Dr. Bailey argues that such a portrayal of God is a betrayal of God!
1
1 Randal Bailey, This refecton comes from a March 11, 2009 interview with Dr. Bailey.

Have you ever felt helpless
in trying to save a sister-
friend? Sometmes being
present is the only thing
you can do for someone.
Sometmes, your greatest
gif is accompaniment,
promising that their abuse
and unspeakable horror will
not be forgoten. You dare
to tell their story over and
over, so that no one forgets!
180
Conclusion
If we are to take seriously the challenge to restore the home front, we must
give due efort to building homes that are not dangerous places for either our
boy children or our girl children. We need new defnitons of what it means to
be male created in the image of God and what it means to be female created
in the image of God. We need to recognise the divine potental in each child
that is born and seek to honour and protect it. We need to be the voice of God
that speaks out in compassionate objecton when stupidity dares to destroy
our families, our homes and yes our communites.
In the end, we are one. Let us listen to the words of Sweet Honey in the Rock
We Are
For each child thats born a morning rises and sings to the universe who we are
We are our grandmothers prayers
We are our grandfathers dreamings
We are the breath of the ancestors
We are the Spirit of God
We are mothers of courage
Fathers of tme
Were daughters of dust
Sons of great visions
Were sisters of mercy
Brothers of love
Were lovers of life
And builders of natons
Were seekers of truth
And keepers of faith
Makers of peace
And wisdom of ages
We are One.
Sweet Honey in the Rock, Sacred Ground
181
MISS GURTIS DAUGHTER
MEETS THE SAMARITAN
WOMAN
Ms Lillian Burgher
Lillian Burgher, born in Jamaica in 1936, daughter of Mildred, is the eldest
and only girl of four children. She atended the Cedar Valley Presbyterian
Primary School. She is mother of 10 children, (2 deceased). She has 26
grandchildren and 22 great grandchildren. In 2001, she graduated with
honours from the Lay Educaton course, Knox College and the Ewart Centre,
Toronto.
From me to you girlfriends, never give up!
In life, there are situatons that confront families of all kinds, and these
situatons may cause families to be devastated. This story helps us to consider
another way of understanding both the scripture text and the realites of
many women in the Caribbean context.
There was a lady who had one daughter and three sons. She worked hard
tlling the soil. She did odd jobs to send her children to school. Ms Gurt was
very proud of her daughter. Ms Gurt was a Christan, happy in her church. She
sent her daughter to the Presbyterian Primary School in the village. The joy
ended abruptly. Daughter was pregnant at age 16.
Disgrace, disappointment, shame, pain! Ms Gurt took her positon at the
back bench of the church. Worst trouble! Secret boyfriend disowned the
pregnancy! Ms Gurt took on the shame and
disgrace in her body and in her soul.
Daughter could no longer go to the village
pipe to fetch water at the same tme as
everyone else. Girlfriends, women and
men picked on her, cursed her and laughed
her to scorn. An older woman decided she
would go with Ms Gurts daughter to fetch
the water afer midnight when no one goes
to fetch water. This older woman became
Daughters friend.

In life, there are situatons
that confront families of all
kinds, and these situatons
may cause families to be
devastated. This story helps
us to consider another
way of understanding both
the scripture text and the
realites of many women in
the Caribbean context.
Miss Gurts daugher meets the Samaritan woman
182
The shame was so great that Ms Gurt decided to send her daughter away
from the village to a remote, distant village, where the story was not known,
and where there was a nana who delivered babies. She stayed with the nana
for two months. Thank God, she delivered the baby safely. It was a baby
girl. Ms Gurt was glad that her daughter got-over and would be able to do
evening classes at school. She could not atend day-tme school with the other
children.
But Ms Gurts happiness was short lived. Before long her daughter was
pregnant again, by another guy. This baby was born and went back to heaven
at the age of fve months. Everything went downhill. Boyfriend number three,
number four, number fve, and number six. Ms Gurt was worn out. In the
midst of hardship, tears and poverty, she also became the village laughing
stock. Daughter decided to go to the city to get a job.
In the city Daughter picked up life again. She met a city man who treated her
good. She was able to send money home to Ms Gurt. She felt that this was
Mr Right. He wanted a baby. Afer the baby came, things went downhill and
Mr Right got married to another woman. Daughter turned to her girlfriends
and they hugged and cried together. One girlfriend, an older woman, said,
Girl you have no luck! I am going to help you to go to foreign (abroad). The
plans worked well. She went to foreign.
When she came to foreign, she met a guy who helped out, took her to places
and supported her in a strange land. She ended up with the same story, all
over again. This tme, there was no mama to send this baby to. But thanks
be to God for looking beyond our faults and seeing our needs. In spite of a
tough life, she was able to take care of her mother, all her children, and turn
a new page.
John 4 says that, Jesus had a need to go through Samaria. Instead of simply
passing by Samaria he went into Samaria. Jesus arrived in Samaria at the sixth
hour of the day. Samaritan Sister Girlfriend came to fetch water. She could
not go to the well in the cool of the day. She was a lone ranger. Jesus was at
the well. The disciples went to the city to buy food and Jesus was there alone
with the Sister Girlfriend. Other women were probably at home taking care of
their husbands business or children or general housework. Jesus met Sister
Girlfriend while she was alone, before the others came. Sometmes for us to
get a miracle in our lives, we have to be alone with God.
Sister Girlfriend from Samaria was not a novice. She knew what it meant for
men to pick a conversaton at the well. She also knew her peoples history.
She engaged Jesus in a conversaton. She explained to Jesus why she could
183
not give him a drink of water. When Jesus explained who he was, she said Sir,
give me to drink! I can hear her saying to herself, Deliverance has come for
me today.
Then came the hotest part of the story, it was also the hotest tme of the
day when Jesus asked Samaritan Sister Girlfriend about her husband. She said
she had none. Jesus told her that she had fve, and the one that she was with,
was not her husband. What does Jesus mean when he says the husband she
had was not her own? Many people understand this as saying that she was
fooling around with a married man. But Jesus said husband. This part about
six husbands does not make much sense. Many pieces are missing from the
story.
This is where we need our detectve hats! We do not get the opportunity to
understand this part of the story as the writer skipped over the details. Why
does the writer skip over the details? Where are the fve husbands? Does
she have children at home? Could she be like Ms Gurts daughter who kept
expectng that each husband would be Mr Right? Are the previous husbands
dead? Or did each of them pronounce twice, I divorce you, since this was how
men would divorce women, and no woman could divorce her husband. A man
could divorce his wife by going to the appropriate authorites and declaring
twice, I divorce you. If she was a divorced woman, was she divorced because
she could not have children?
But what is also absent is the Sister Girlfriends personal stories of life. What
was life like with these men? What were her hopes and dreams? Was she like
Ms Gurts daughter with dreams and hopes that kept going downhill? Was
she like Ms Gurts daughter who started life thinking that a womans future
lies in a mans hand but as life moves on, realized that she could not be more
wrong about this? Did she trust any of these men with her heart and life like
Ms Gurts daughter did?
But Jesus had a need to go to Samaria; he was not simply passing through.
The need was twofold, Jesus had a need to be challenged about the problems
between two sets of cousins, who worshipped the one God but do not even
relate to each other. She challenged him. Sister Girlfriend had a need to meet
someone who could look beyond the stories about her in the village and see
her gifs. She is a bodacious woman who can hold a conversaton. Remember
how she took on Jesus about coming to her as if he does not know the history
between Jews and Samaritans. She debated well. So Jesus sent her to use her
gifedness in speaking to spread the good news to even those who considered
her over and done with. She ran to the village with a message, Come and
see! Is not this the Christ?
184
We do not know what happened to her afer she puts down the water bucket
and ran. We used to sing a song at church, which goes like this, The woman
of Samaria, the woman, yes, she put down her water bucket and gaan. In this
Bible study, Ms Gurts daughter meets the Sister Girlfriend of Samaria and
shares stories of how they both met Jesus and were able to put down their
water buckets and gaan.
Sometmes women are so trapped in their stories of failures in their lives and
bad relatonships with men that they lose their song and their voice. They are
unable to improve their educaton, even when the opportunites are right in
front of them. They confuse their wants with their needs, and sometmes it
takes a special touch from God to enable them to see clearly.
A womans life story can be such that she confuses her needs with her wants.
For a long tme she might be living in a conditon where she cannot even
identfy her needs and only a special encounter with Jesus can help her to
change her life. A woman can be such that she chooses to either bury herself
in pity, anger and regret, or she can allow her life experiences to help her to
pull up another sister on the road to claim life.
Living water is a symbol of the spirit of God, received by the Sister Girlfriend
from Samaria. When you receive this water, you can never be the same again.
You can discover gifs and talents that you never used and begin to use them.
You can get rid of the burden of shame, and like Ms Gurts daughter, you can
even go back to your accusers and invite them to experience life. You can look
back at your own life and put the dots and the commas where they belong.
Chorus:
Im so glad that Jesus rescued me (3x)
Singing glory hallelujah, glory hallelujah, glory hallelujah, Jesus rescued me!
Im so glad that Jesus set me free (3x)
Singing glory hallelujah, Jesus set me free.
Refectons
The church has to fnd a way to talk about sex and womens bodies in the
context where mothers/women are afraid to say the word.
We need to talk openly about how women treat their bodies and how
young girls can negotate life by not sacrifcing their bodies and commitng
themselves and their children to a life of poverty.
The church needs to empower women to tell their stories for their own
185
healing and also that of the church.
The church needs to teach young boys to be partners with the women in
their lives for the children they have conceived, to take responsibility and
break the cycle of running away and leaving their children in a perpetual
cycle of poverty.
The church should provide spaces to enable young women to beter
understand their bodies and spiritual needs.
Young women need space to talk about the diference between love and
addicton to abusive living.
All women, both young and older need a safe place to talk about their
stories and share strategies of overcoming.
BLUES OF A MIGRANT
Think Im leaving this country and all its woes behind
Cause its hard to survive in this wretched land of mine
Its so hard to survive in this wretched land of mine
Ive given up trying Im getng on that plane
Going to make a new life in a land thats more humane
Yes, make a new life in a land thats more humane
Have to fnd me a country somewhere in the West
Some folks say over there opportunites are best
Though the future seems uncertain Ill put it to the test.
Ripe Ill fy with expectaton
Realise dreams of higher educaton
A life of material acquisiton
No thoughts of cultural dislocaton
Success my only motvaton
Well its harder to survive in the land of abundance
Yes, its harder to survive in the land of abundance
Just working like a mules my present circumstance
Many long years have gone all my expectatons fade
Many years have gone and all my expectatons fade
Im all worn out and weary of this charade.
Mrs. Maureen Weekes-Gumbe
186
WOMEN IN THE DELIVERY
ROOM
Rev. Nicole Ashwood
Nicole Ashwood is an ordained minister of the United Church in Jamaica
and the Cayman Islands. She currently serves as the educaton in mission
secretary for the Caribbean and North America Council for Mission
(CANACOM). Nicole who is popularly called Nicqi enjoys creatve writng and
uses those skills to prepare liturgies to create awareness on issues such as
gender based violence and also for regular worship services.
Read Exodus 1.1521
Have you ever had a moment when you notce something is amiss in a context,
and you are not entrely certain what your next move should be? Or have you
been urged to stay out of a situaton because it did not concern you?
For some tme, mothering has been understood as a communal actvity.
Recently, this has undergone some change in the region, wherein people have
taken a singular approach to the shaping of our children and youth. Here is
another perspectve on mothering and an invitaton to join others in the
delivery room.
Background to the Caribbean context
In the past Caribbean peoples have
been very preoccupied with raising and
nurturing children into model citzens.
This has typically been a communal actvity,
with special responsibility being placed
with birth mothers and designated as
community caregivers ofen referred to as
nanas or tantes (grandmothers or aunts).
Their primary, secondary and sometmes
tertary roles were centred on bringing
life into existence (in the delivery rooms)
and the follow-up details of maintaining,
preserving and defending life, and restoring
life to somewhat dead situatons. In many
instances, this role of midwifery and

For some tme, mothering
has been understood as a
communal actvity. Recently,
this has undergone some
change in the region,
wherein people have taken
a singular approach to the
shaping of our children
and youth. Here is another
perspectve on mothering
and an invitaton to join
others in the delivery room.
187
contnuing nurture has existed almost to the total exclusion of men, whose
roles have been marginalized (un)intentonally by conscious and subliminal
social structures.
It is important to note that in the typical Caribbean society there is usually
status and value placed on the mother role and young women and men from
early childhood are prepared economically, emotonally and developmentally
for parental responsibilites.
During the era of African Slavery in the Caribbean many older women on the
plantatons were responsible for the care of infants and toddlers. This was
especially popular when the mothers served as wet-nurse for the children of
the planters, and also when the mothers resumed dutes in the house or feld.
Older women in the community, including grandmothers, aunts, older siblings
and other respected women in the community were the ones to fulfl those
roles. Along with the school teachers (who were predominantly women),
they were also fully involved in shaping the childrens minds and providing
protecton, and ensuring that their precious charges remained protected from
harm or threat to their physical, social or spiritual development. Those care
giving roles stll existed in Jamaica during the 1970s. For, as a child in Jamaica,
my thinking was shaped by my stay-at-home grandmother along with several
trusted family friends who ofered extra pairs of eyes to my working-class
parents.
Are there persons who helped to take care of you as infants? Who were they
and what are some of the memories you have of their care? Did it make a
diference in how you view life at this point in your life? In Jamaica, the rising
trend of teenage pregnancy has resulted in a decrease in the average age
of grandparents. When this is coupled with the contnuously rising cost of
living, one fnds that there are fewer grandmothers staying at home to tend
the grandchildren. This has resulted in many children being lef on their own
to raise themselves. In the Caribbean society, grandmothers used to serve
as mother and father surrogates when the need arose. Today grandmothers
themselves are young enough to want to seek new avenues of employment
and livelihood elsewhere and therefore migrate. They are no longer available
to play surrogate mothers. With the decline in the distnctve maintenance
of the care giving and nurture role of our women one fnds that the identty,
values and attudes of our children are at severe risk of being permanently
destroyed. The increasing number of migrants to the north in the quest for
beter opportunites has resulted in several children being lef with family,
friends or on their own. Thus creatng an ever-widening gap in the nurture
and care aforded our children. These days many of our children are being
nurtured by MTV, Disney, Jonas Brothers, Barney, Dora and other media
Women in the delivery room
188
icons who are not necessarily connected to the Caribbean social and cultural
milieu.
In light of the absence of parental fgures, one realizes that the inherent
dangers pertaining to the absence of positve role models and protectors - in
much of the Jamaican society, children are raising themselves, creatng worry
among concerned citzens and agencies regarding the high increase in sexual
abuse, incest, drug use and other aspects of gender-based violence in Jamaica.
In any society, these dangers can be perceived as a threat to the future of its
peoples. And it is this threat which invites us to explore the biblical text placed
before us in our study.
Before exploring the text, it is perhaps helpful to consider the number of
reported incidences of child abuse in your context and also look at the impact
of the broadcast media on our teenagers. Do you see a link/connecton
between the involvement of the older women in our childrens lives and the
degree of ethically sound values? How so?
The biblical context (Ex 1.1-21)
The Hebrews descendants of Abraham via his son Isaac had long been
inhabitants in a strange land, Egypt. Over 400 years had passed, and the
pharaohs no longer remembered Joseph or his infuence on the Egyptan
economy. The new pharaoh, saw the potental threat of the Hebrew to
his economy and the potental for gain, rode roughshod on their heads
(Ex 1. 8-11, Ps 66.12) to access a critcal labour force to build the naton. The
Hebrew people not only resisted (as is the case of many peoples under threat
of genocide), but their populaton also exploded (Ex 1.7). And as the Hebrew
populaton exploded, the pharaoh knew that his only opton was to wipe
out their numbers, beginning with the children. For he was well aware that
the less Hebrew peoples he had to contend with, the easier it would be to
maintain control.
Can you see any parallels to our Caribbean legacy? Would you say that this is a
systemic way of treatng people in bondage
by the ones in power?
Because of the nature of their work, the
pharaoh entrusted this task of populaton
control to the midwives. These were the
very persons whose responsibility it was
to usher in new lives. The World Health
Organisaton defnes midwifery as that

Can you see any parallels
to our Caribbean legacy?
Would you say that this is
a systemic ways of treatng
people in bondage by the
ones in power?
189
which encompasses care of women during
pregnancy, labour, and the postpartum
period, as well as care of the newborn. It
includes measures aimed at preventng
health problems in pregnancy, the detecton
of abnormal conditons, the procurement
of medical assistance when necessary, and
the executon of emergency measures in the
absence of medical help (WHO Midwifery
defniton e-dictonary 29/09/10). Yet the
text indicates that the pharaoh insisted that
the midwives should kill all newborn boys (v.15). The midwives were being
asked to halt the care of the women who already were trying to cope with
their postpartum issues, and to care for the newborn by establishing them as
dead on arrival.
Can you imagine this - the midwives, the nannies, the tantes and the other
caregivers in the society being invited to serve as co-conspirators for the
exterminaton of our Caribbean sons and daughters from birth, despite the
other (real and perceived) obstacles to their lifes worth and expectancy? The
idea seems ludicrous, absurd, way out and unthinkable. This reminds us of the
genocide of Amerindians and slavery of Africans in the region. And yet today,
so many of our children are at risk perhaps not all at birth, although it seems
that many are marked for death the day they enter this world.
Who are the pharaohs in your society? What are the issues which you perceive
as threats to the lives of young men and women today? To what extent is this
perceived as perpetuaton of our plantaton heritage?
On another note, there is a school of thought which argues that the midwives
were not necessarily Hebrews, because the text says that the midwives were
outsmarted by the Hebrew mothers at delivery.
The fact is - it is not their natonality which is the mater under queston.
Rather, it is their defance of the pharaoh and what he represents which
establishes them as women of compassion and valour. One can see that the
midwives of the text justfably represent a critcal type for the much-needed
Caribbean caregiver one who stares in the face of danger and adversity and
uses the very leter of the law to defend and sustain life. In other words, dem
stay pon crooked an cut straight. Sometmes, they are integrally involved in
the delivery room, seeing the breech birth rescuing the young people from
themselves and the condemnaton which heralded death, even before they
understood their calling.

Who are the pharaohs in
your society? What are the
issues which you perceive as
threats to the lives of young
men and women today? To
what extent is this perceived
as perpetuaton of our
plantaton heritage?
190
It is noteworthy that the pharaoh appeals for the death of the boys in the
Hebrew society and not the girls. Since it was understood that males carried
the necessary child-creatng equipment, removing the males from the picture
should immediately kill the populaton growth. And it should have worked. But
these midwives faced the pharaoh, conspired against his death-dealing plan
and saved the lives of Hebrew boy children. This seems to be the crux of the
mater, in the face of imminent danger to our children; we have to act in the
interest of life. Truly, we are called upon to nourish and protect systems and
structures which enhance and save lives. The story of the midwives reminds
us that there is need today for women and men to be in the delivery rooms
of life. Our children, our youth, our regions future, are at risk. We must make
that diference.
Identfy three systems/structures which necessitate the interventon of the
midwife-nurturer. Who are the women and men that worked within the
systems to critque and subvert them? We ofen advise our children to tek kin
teeth cova heart bun, how might we use the culture and the leter of the law
to make provision for our childrens sake? In short, what are the ways in which
Caribbean women identfy with Beres Hammonds Putng Up Resistance in
our role as caregivers?
No I never can understand it
The way the system plan
Theres no hope, no chance
No loophole, no escape for a sufering (person)
Cause every tme I leave my head above water
And try to save myself from drown
Theres an overnight scheme all worked out
Designed to keep ah me down
Stll Im (putng up a resistance)
Im ah gonna work it out
You know Im (putng up a resistance)
Ive got to work it out
We are also conscious that the salvaton of the Hebrew boys by the midwives
also represents the salvaton of a newly-emergent naton. According to the
online Mathew Henrys Commentary, Egyptans tried to destroy Israel by the
murder of their children. It is the quick thinking of the women that saves the
children, and the naton. Consequently, it is only afer their liberaton from
Egypt that the Hebrew people began to grasp the essence of their common
identty and heritage as traced through their common ancestors Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. Although the midwives were given a marginal role in the
191
meta-narratve, their contributon to the life of the naton was signifcant.
What, we wonder, would have happened to the Israelite naton if the midwives
had opted to let the infant boys die? If they had not recognized that kairos
moment, what would the annals of biblical narratve have recorded?
Linking text with context
The Caribbean has a shared experience of the pharaoh-colonizer of European
empires (England, Portugal, Spain, France and the Netherlands). The Caribbean
islands and coastlands are identfed by the
sea which unites and divides. The divide and
conquer mechanism used by the pharaoh
has ofen been applied in the region as
a means for prohibitng naton growth,
regional integraton and collaboraton. This
is evident in the racial tensions and also
cultural and identty separatons between
the countries based on linguistc groups. It is
there in the economic arrogance of the more
developed toward economically dependent
or less buoyant economies and natonal pride which run counter to a desire
to build up rather than tear down during the season of naton-building and
early governance. Perhaps it is critcal for us to re-examine the womens acts
of defant resistance, so that we no longer remain satsfed with winning short
term batles, without winning the war against our shared history, identty and
humanity.
Caribbean midwives who have played signifcant leadership roles include Dame
Eugenia Charles, Nita Barrows, Janet Jagan, Kamla Bissessar, Porta Simpson,
Hannah More, Edna Manley, Nanny of the Maroons, Mary Prince and several
other nameless heroines whose sacrifces and acts of subversion have been
signifcant to naton building and development. Through their determinaton,
resilience and resistance these women have earned the right to be numbered
among the many whose stories are celebrated in folk tales and proverbs.
Although the stories and achievements of many of these women have escaped
the annals of history, we need to recognise that our heritage is marked by such
women. Regardless of race, class, natonality or culture, we need to research
them and seek to highlight their work. Many aspects of our heritage have
been salvaged/retained because of the selfessness of our women. For too
long we have downplayed the value of their work.
How have our modern midwives conspired to protect our children at the most

How have our modern
midwives conspired to
protect our children at the
most critcal points in our
natons histories? How do
we honour the legacy of
these women?
192
critcal points in our natons histories? How do we honour the legacy of these
women?
The midwives were women of faith who had courage to stand up to the
pharaoh. When faced with a choice between saving the lives of the babies and
actng counter to the dictates of the leadership of the country, the women
opted to commit treason. They were willing to risk being exposed for their lies
and possibly even lose their lives for the sake of the sanctty of lives. Many of
us are not willing to risk leaving our comfort zones for the sake of our faith,
especially when the children to be supported are not our own. We may be
inclined to mouth the plattudes of prayer during a special service to help the
poor unfortunate children but we are not always willing to put ourselves out.
We are being called upon to live our faith in practcal ways, by enhancing the
lives of our youth, rescuing one or two from the rivers of teenage pregnancy,
drug/substance abuse and the socially outcast. The church in the Caribbean
faces a challenge to be a prophetc voice with relevance for people. We are
called as women of faith to be caregivers and nurturers life-giving, life-
sustaining and life-restoring.
Points for further refecton and acton:
Can you identfy with the Hebrew midwives in your church/community?
Identfy a Shiphrah and/or a Puah in your community today and remind
her of her importance to the perpetuaton of life in your country.
Retell this story through poetry, dance or song and use the proceeds to
support a ministry to the at-risk in your community.
What are the new oppressions faced by Caribbean peoples, how does the
role of nurturer and caregiver realize/efect change in context? How can
biblical text help in this move for change?
What is being birthed and who will usher the new season in?
193
FOR MOSES MOTHER
Found . . .
. . . lying amidst the bulrushes
Unaware of the dangers which surrounded you!
Death, discovery, even dismemberment
Removed . . . from the ones who brought you into this world
Reshaped into the one you had to be
Renamed as a litle part of me!
Rekindling a memory of human frailty
Restoring. . . hope in myself as a compassionate being
Revealing my ability to love anew, to laugh anew, to live anew
Found . . .
A new aspect of my persona
Unaware of the potental loss of status -
Death to the old me,
Defance of my fathers edict,
Disregarding the status quo!
Removing . . . the old self unafected by human sufering
Restoring hope for your peoples future
Reignitng their passion for justce and equality
Remoulding assumptons of power and femininity
Revealed in a few lines with no name, no history
. . . save for that of
Mother
I couldnt have loved you more if I had given birth to you myself
I couldnt ask for more in a son than the loyalty you gave to me
I couldnt expect you to be other than who we both raised you to be
Child of her loins;
Son of my dry and thirsty soul!
Our hands rocked your cradle
God gave you wings to rule the world!
Rev. Nicole Ashwood
194
BRAWTA MOSES
(A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA)
Rev. Nicole Ashwood
An alternatve view of women in the delivery room is for us to explore from a
practcal stand point, ways in which we may get involved. Rev. Nicqi Ashwoods
fcttous Caribbean approach to the story of Moses in the Nile, invites us to
contextualize the actons of Moses mother and sister as they negotated the
issue of unwanted children or foundlings. How do we respond in situatons
such as these?
Moses at the Police Post
But what is this in Jamaica these days eh? P, you never read the headlines
this morning? Miss Jane asked Miss P the same queston every morning when
they met at the river, knowing full well that Miss Pearl never bought the
newspaper and relied on her, Miss Jane, for the days news.
So what is this news today Sister Janey? It not usual for you to be so upset
bout the headlines. Is what happen, it cant be murder, for that almost
normal these days. Sista Janey! Sista Janey! Catch up yourself now, and read
the something or pass the paper to me. You trembling like a leaf! Is what so?
Miss P asked again.
Miss Jane breathed heavily, a litle louder than a sigh, wiped her eyes and
read the headlines out loud for Miss Pearl and the seven or eight other
women who were laundering their linens at the Comsi River. The Comsi River,
located in rural Jamaica, was one of the Radiks communitys popular meetng
spots. It was the village laundromat, the puisne court, the bank (for women
who met to pay their partner or collect their draw), provided a romantc
backdrop some evenings around the bend for young couples, and perhaps
most importantly, the main source of water as they were not yet blessed with
indoor plumbing. And it was the source for hearing the natonal news, as Miss
Jane was faithful in reading the news to all present at the river each morning.
And so she began.
Three day old baby found outside backdoor of Riverview Police Post. (This
story is based on a few stories which have made it to the actual headlines in
Jamaica. The place names and characters are all invented.)
195
Sources say that two boys who were playing went to the rear entrance of
the Police Post to retrieve a ball which had rolled in that directon. Upon
hearing a cry, the older of the two boys saw a medium sized packing box with
some cloth stcking out and went to investgate. They discovered the baby
and sounded the alarm. Medical examiners have determined that the baby,
who was approximately three days old, had sufered no severe damages from
being at the back of the Police Post. Sources connected to the Close-by Public
Hospital have stated that the baby seems to have been a home delivery and
revealed that there is no record of a baby being born and discharged from the
hospital. The Radiks police are investgatng and are appealing to the public
for help in fnding the birth mother.
She stood and walked around with the picture of the baby, afording all the
washer-women an opportunity to see the baby for themselves and then
exclaimed, Lawd look what we come to!
Strong Girl, a woman in her late thirtes known for her passion on several
maters, proclaimed; All I want to know is this how that mother goin to
face her God afer she lef the baby for dead. Why she have the baby and then
leave it behind a Police Post? Hmmn, hmmn? Somebody explain that to me?
Washing had come to a halt and there were several indistnct murmurs coming
from the women. Ms Pearl opened her mouth to speak twice and went silent.
Finally she said, Two things. Just two things I want to put before we, and afer
that, we all can cast we judgment:
ONE why she put the baby at the Police Post? Look how many place is near
that Post, she could gone all about; but she went there. We ever fgure that
she know that somebody must fnd the baby there or that perhaps one o the
police boy know about that baby? Hmmn, hmmn? Before we cast judgment
on the babymother . . .
TWO hold on for a second there, let me fnd my Bible. Yes, right here, Come
on Cute, fnd Exodus 2 for me. Cute Pie read from verse 1 through to verse 10,
before Miss P stopped her. Ms Pearl was a lay pastor in the community church
and prided herself on her understanding and interpretaton of the Bible.
Everyone knew that a sermon was coming and Miss P did not disappoint.
What really is the diference between Moses birth modda (mother) and
di lil girl who leave her baby by the Police Post? Three days, three months
by how we was all murmuring an abandoned baby is an abandoned baby, yes?
But the Bible tell us in verse 2, that when she see how the baby nice, Moses
Brawta Moses (A litle something extra)
196
mother put him in a basket and send him sister to watch him while he was
placed on the river.
Now you look into it if that was a Jamaican woman, when she realise the
hardship of the pharaoh killing of her boy-child, she ban her belly long before
the baby even start to show. And plenty of us know about that. Anyways, she
had the baby and realize that if she keep the baby, she going lose it, so afer
three months you hear me - afer three long months of hiding that baby and
keeping him quiet, she realize that something have to give. Desperate means
require desperate measures.
Think about how the baby could have died if the basket overturned in di Nile,
even if the basket botom was fat. But she cast him in the very same river that
the pharaoh was drowning the boy babies in. So you see, the woman work the
system. She ban her belly for a few months, and when he born, she hide him
for at least two more months. Den when she realise that she couldnt do any
more for him, she let him go. We celebrate Moses mother for her wisdom
and cunning, yet we ready to condemn the mother of the three-day-old baby?
Why? You notce that the paper said the baby had not come to any harm in
the tme behind the Police Post; who to say that the mother wasnt watching
her baby like a hawk, just like Miriam watched over Moses? She paused to
ensure her queston struck a chord.
For me, the queston is not what a wicked mother, no siree! My queston is
what we can do to help? For if Moses mother had not received help from God
through the pharaohs daughter, where would we be now? Somebody tell me?
Dyou realise that the pharaohs daughter may not have been the only one to
notce the child in the river, a river just as busy as Comsi River, or even busier.
(Oonu (you) never read the Good Samaritan? Eh) But its she, the pharaoh
daughter, yes the pharaoh daughter dem seh, who come to the the lil baby
rescue, without knowing the fact. She never had a word of condemnaton for
the mother. Because she understood.
She understood pain and sufering and desperaton that will cause a woman
to do crazy and stupid things for the sake of her child. She understood that
if she never got involved, that baby would certainly die. She understood that
sometmes the system is just too much for some of us, and that we have
to take maters in our own hands. How many of us haf tek kin teet cova
heart bun and simply do what we have to do, regardless? How many of us
as women have had to take desperate measures when trouble start to brew?
How many of us have had to depend on our granny or the baby granny to help
us out when we couldnt help wiself? Hmmn I tell you my dear, is not always
about what we see, nuf tme its bout what we dont see or know. For I know,
197
beyond a shadow of a doubt its the Good Lord provision why the poor litle
baby never sufered at all.
Moses grew up in a stranger house, eat out of stranger pot just as if he was
one of them. That is like dish cloth turn table towel, yes? But is so the story
go. I not worried whether Moses real mother was right or wrong to do what
she do. Moses done dead and gone already! I simply want to make sure that
we do right by the ones who pass our way. Suppose is you or me, God calling
to be the pharaoh daughter in this partcular situaton. Mind we make holy
righteousness (judgmental attude) block we blessing.
Radiks Police Post is hour and a half from Comsi River, give or take a few
minutes. Yet nobody saw the mother, nobody knows the mother?! Steups.
How that? Where were we when the mother was desperate for help? How
did we manage to miss such an opportunity? And even if she came from town
or cross the other side of the River, you mean to say that NOBODY saw her to
realize that something was strange? Wid how f wi people faas, NOBODY neva
see har or hear di baby? How dat? As women, what are we going to do bout
that now?
I personally think we should go by the police staton and see what the litle
baby needs. Some of us dont have children, and we might even have the
means . . .
Miss P looked at each woman for a long moment. Her eyes seemed to delve
deep into their souls. Some even remembered other children who never made
it to the light of birth. They squirmed, they hung their heads a cool breeze
passed over the Comsi River. Nothing further was said. Nothing needed to be
said.
An hour later, the washing was done, and all nine or ten ladies began their
journey pondering the headlines and Miss Pearls sermonete.
The follow-up story in the newspaper revealed that the baby had found a
new home. There was no menton of who the adoptve mother was, nor of
the goodly women of Comsi. It didnt mater, for the worst was past and the
women each knew the part they had played in facilitatng the babys survival.
Points for refecton/acton
Why do you think the mother lef the baby at the Police Post? Do you
think her actons were justfed?
What would you have done if you were in the washing group?
Brawta Moses (A litle something extra)
198
Are there such cases in your context, how are foundlings treated?
Plan a visit with your church auxiliary to a womens shelter or childrens
home.
Organise a campaign to highlight some of the problems faced by single
parents, and the threat to the social survival of our street children.
Get involved in the care programme at your church, or help to start one.
There are always persons in need of food, clothes or shelter.
Investgate the laws of your land regarding foundlings and adopton. While
you may not have the means to adopt, there are always other ways to be their
advocates.
199
200
WOMEN AS CHANNELS OF
GRACE, HEALING AND SERVICE
Rev. Dr. Margaret Roberts
Margaret Roberts is a Guyanese Lutheran living and working in Canada
as a minister with the United Church of Canada. She was ordained by the
Lutheran Church in Guyana and served as a Lutheran pastor in Guyana from
1992 to 2006. Margaret studied Theology at the United Theological College
of the West Indies, Jamaica, afer which, she atended the Lutheran School of
Theology, Chicago, U.S.A. where she graduated with a Doctor of
Ministry Degree.
Read Luke 13.10-17
There is an ancient Hindu story from the Mahabharatha that speaks about
a group of men on a journey to paradise. On the way all died except for one
man, Yudhishtra, and a dog who had joined them on the way and came to
be a member of their team. Yudhishtra and his dog fnally arrived at the
door of paradise. The doorkeeper told Yudhishtra that he was welcome into
paradise but not his dog. Yudhishtra looked at paradise and then at his dog.
He remembered the difcultes of their journey together, the mountains they
climbed, the rivers they crossed, the valleys they went through and thought
that paradise is not worth it without his
companion. So he and his dog returned down
the mountain. On the way down, the dog
revealed himself to be the God, Dharma.
God is our companion on the journey we call
life and Dharma is the practce of our daily
spiritual values - the embodiment of the
dignity of life. What are some of our daily
spiritual practces? How do we live out these
values in relaton to all of creaton in our
mult-cultural society?
I will engage our conversaton refectng
on the text, Luke 13.10-17 with a focus on
women as channels of grace, healing and service.
Luke tells the story that Jesus healed a woman on the Sabbath who was bent

God is our companion on
the journey we call life and
Dharma is the practce of
our daily spiritual values
- the embodiment of the
dignity of life. What are
some of our daily spiritual
practces? How do we live
out these values in relaton
to all of creaton in our
mult-cultural society?
201
over for eighteen years. Can you imagine a person kept in a single posture for
such a long tme? Being bent over meant she could not sit or stand upright.
This physical posture denied her the opportunity to enjoy the quality of life
God intended for her. It inhibited her balance and gracefulness. Her ailment
is described literally as a spirit of weakness. Her disability is caused by a
physical problem, an illness. The pronouncement Jesus gave to the woman
is, You have been set free from your weakness/sickness. The perfect tense
implies an acton, with contnuous efects in the present. Gods grace healed
her and that grace is sufcient for us too.
Everything about this woman, her plight, and her healing, can be understood
in a fguratve sense. Do we know of women/people who are in any kind of
bondage? What are some of the ways our society, churches, or legal systems
bind them? How are congregatons in bondage to past successes? (This
is the way weve always done it.) Can our critcisms of what is new and
unexpected keep us from praising God for the new possibilites in our midst?
Is the insttutonal church in bondage? How intentonal are we in listening to
the voices of those on the margins? How can we contribute to the liberaton
of people and communites from the negatve aspects of culture, systems,
structures, policies and norms and the undergirding powers?
Through the gif of forgiving those who have sinned against us, Gods grace
frees us from bondage, resentment and revenge. By forgiving ourselves,
we are released from contnually beatng up on ourselves for not taking full
responsibility for our actons. Our story is not limited to physical healing; it is
more about renewing and transforming relatonships with one another, God
and creaton.
In this drama the characters are the bent-over woman, Jesus, the community
and the religious leaders. Do you know of women who are bent over due
to osteoporosis arthrits, lack of economic power, sexual, domestc violence
and psychological abuse among others? Do you remember praying for one
of them in your community? This bent over womans story in our text is our
story too.
Jesus understood it all, her pain, loss of self-esteem, being ridiculed, ostracized
by the community and being kept on the margins of her community. On the
margins, she encountered Jesus who initated the process of transforming
her, her community and society. She experiences Gods love and she knows
that she is worth infnitely more than her community communicated to her.
Through her healing she became precisely who God intended her to be - a
witness, a channel of grace to the religious leadership who themselves were
also bent-over by the very laws they had inficted upon her. They too were
Women as channels of grace, healing and service
202
held in a posture that was in oppositon to the new possibilites God has for
an inclusive community. Her healing enables her to become of service to
others. While refectng on this text with my womens network, I identfed
that this was my story too, a posture on the margins. However, God ofers
new possibilites and Gods grace is a channel to us. Gods acton towards us is
always wholeness - liberaton for both those on the margins as well as for the
elements of oppression/oppressors in church and society.
Most, if not all of us have heard messages
about ourselves, endured actons and
attudes, which have resulted in broken
relatonships; causing us to experience
hopelessness and disappointment in
ourselves, and fnally causing our shoulders
to physically and psychologically stoop under
the pressures of life. Usually, it is only then
that we become aware of our lost grace.
Jesus ofers us that same healing power, and
it is as transforming as it was to the woman
who was restored to health and wholeness.
It is the unconditonal love of Jesus for all of creaton that gives us hope and
new possibilites to fulfl our calling to be of service to our communites and
neighbours. We promote this message of Jesus as we open ourselves and take
a leap of faith. The process of transformaton empowers us to be channels of
grace, healing and service.
What made the religious leadership condemn Jesus for healing her? The
insttutonal religious leadership needs to engage in the evolving contextual
theological perspectves. Such conversatons will be efected through the
lens of social science. For the social sciences help us to examine the webs of
structural systems that are in need of transformaton. When religious leadership
allows authority to be the norm, rather than the voice of compassion, there is
the suspicion of religion being an exclusive community.
What is the focus of Jesus atenton and acton in this story? Jesus calls
us to take our stories and become a blessing to someone else. In our call
to discipleship we have a commitment to practce daily spiritual values.
Following Jesus practces we do not engage in ministry with theories of sin
management, rather in our approach we identfy the gifs and goodness in
each human being. Through our service to others we become Gods channels
of grace, leading people into right relatonships with God and their community
of faith. Gods will is never for people to be bent-over in the name of the law
nor to stand outside the circle of Gods love in a single posture.

An anecdote reads, Do you
think a leopard can change
his spots? All the students
in the class said, No,
except for one litle girl.
Asked to explain, she said,
If a leopard doesnt like the
spot s/hes in, I dont see
why s/he cant change it.
203
An anecdote reads, Do you think a leopard can change his spots? All the
students in the class said, No, except for one litle girl. Asked to explain, she
said, If a leopard doesnt like the spot s/hes in, I dont see why s/he cant
change it.
How might we bring others from the margins to the centre?
Among our daily spiritual practces is the daily reading and interpretaton of
the scriptures. Is our interpretaton of the scripture inclusive of those who
sit on the margins in our society/church? I speak of people who are excluded
because of poverty, sexual orientaton, language, ethnicity, abused victms/
survivors, accent, culture, classism, racism, and politcal persuasion, among
others. The church has a communal responsibility to bring people from the
margins into the centre by ofering them Gods grace. We are not to be
judgmental; rather we become channels of grace through our words and
actons towards others. The Word of God is signifcant in growing in Gods
grace and being an instrument of change.
We learn to read the Bible through new lens - re-interpretng the scriptures,
re-imagining a community living in unity, eliminatng boundaries, reconstructng
our faith stories and re-visioning the church. These are some ways of widening
the circle and making connectons. Through us people can feel, touch, hear
and smell the sweetness of Gods grace. As we experience Gods forgiveness
in our lives we are converted and transformed. We become a new community
of believers, we want to sing, dance and share the joy, love, hope and peace.
We are forgiven and we learn to name the sin and face the challenges to bring
about change. We become a forgiving people as Christ expects of us. As Saint
Paul writes, All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ,
and has given us the ministry of reconciliaton (2 Cor 5.18).
We become Gods channels of grace, healing and service towards change by
engaging in ministry with the hope, courage and boldness that the Spirit is
working through us transforming elements in the insttutonal church and
society.
Points for further refecton/acton
Name women from your congregaton and communites who are channels
of grace, healing and service. How are they recognised in your church?
Share some of your bent-over experiences and the gifs of healing and
wholeness?
Women as channels of grace, healing and service
204
Who are the persons on the margins of our communites? What on-going
conversatons are we engaging in to eliminate the margins that exclude
persons from our community?
What are the elements in our culture that need to be addressed in order
to bring about transformaton?
How do we understand our spiritual journey in relaton to other religions
in our context?
What emerging theological trends can we develop for our mult-cultural
context?
GODS GRACE IN THE INNER-
CITY - A STORY OF REV. DOREEN
WYNTERS MINISTRY IN THE
JONES TOWN COMMUNITY
Rev. Nicole Ashwood
I frst heard of Rev. Doreen Wynters ministry several years ago, and had the
opportunity to visit the Jones Town Baptst Church for myself. Nestled in the
heart of Jamaicas inner-city, the church was a humble dwelling and though
central to its locaton, formed a backdrop to the ministries it housed.
The place was a hubbub of actvity, with staf and general personnel atending
to their routnes. They were alert and atentve, yet paused for a few moments
to say hi to Rev., and her guests, sharing in those moments their mission and
presence in and around the complex. We also spoke with persons nearby and
the comments were similar.
Rev Doreen Wynter is the one who facilitated my current positon. I heard
that she made the necessary steps for establishing this facility several years
ago when she saw the number of pregnant girls in this community. These were
girls who were not willing or in some cases not able to utlise the services of
the Womens Centre in Half Way Tree. We are now an adjunct of the womens
Centre, although we maintain some autonomy. Our numbers have grown
205
from approximately 15 to 31 young ladies says Mrs. Lewis, administrator of
the Womens Centre.
Rev. Wynter conducted a survey to ascertain the communitys needs. The
end product is the farm. She is a wealth of creatvity and innovatve ideas.
Hence, we approached the Jamaica Baptst Union (JBU) for funding through
the JBU Mission Agency, and they subsidized the costs. When we identfed
a potental locaton for the farm, we spoke to the representatves at the
Ministry of Water and Housing with the purpose of leasing the land (which
had been earmarked for a housing project). We drafed a project proposal
which secured us assistance from the United Way and the Rural Agricultural
Developmental Agency (RADA).
Sitng on two acres of prime real estate, the farm is subdivided into smaller
plots, ofered to community members free of charge. Start-up capital was
provided for the farmers free of cost (including equipment and seeds), a
hand-up towards self-sufciency. Interested persons simply had to sign the
contract indicatng their willingness to work their ground for a stpulated
period or accept loss of space to others. Currently there are six working farms,
yielding produce to support the
families of the 3 men and 3 women
who proudly display their goods:
scallion, cabbage, letuce, cassava,
sweet peppers, sorrel, tomatoes,
and greens. At the ofcial launch in
2010, the Minister of Agriculture,
Christopher Tufon assigned them
a RADA ofcer to assist with the
technical aspects and contnues to
ofer support.
Doreen sees the entre community
as her parish, although she is
aware that many will never seek
membership in her congregaton or any other for that mater. She is all too
aware of the experiences of rejecton by members of the community. Many have
been rejected by a naton, too troubled and busy with local and internatonal
issues to invest quality tme and resources to address these issues and crises.
They have been rejected by several politcians who ofer short-lived and well-
intentoned interventon strategies, without the necessary infrastructure to
facilitate sustainability.
And, in the most painful of self-fulflling prophecies, many have rejected

And, in the most painful of self-
fulflling prophecies, many have
rejected themselves, having
internalized the refrain: You have no
future, no possibilites, because your
social locaton has predetermined
your moral and personal mobility
and integrity. Rev. Wynter, however,
seeks to shif that paradigm, ofering
a space for transformaton, for the
individual as well as the community.
Gods grace in the inner-city - A story of Rev. Doreen Wynter
206
themselves, having internalized the refrain: You have no future, no
possibilites, because your social locaton has predetermined your moral
and personal mobility and integrity. Rev. Wynter, however, seeks to shif that
paradigm, ofering a space for transformaton, for the individual as well as the
community.
She is not averse to hard work, and does not believe in half-measures. Doreens
determinaton is contagious and she motvates and encourages her team ofen
beyond their perceived capabilites. Her negotatng and persuasive skills
have borne fruit as the farming project met with some obstacles which she
helped her team to overcome. The land which was leased from the Ministry
of Water and Housing had been fted with pipes and sewage lines. These
were unsuitable for food beds and had to be removed before the soil would
be ready for plantng. The soluton was soon identfed. The project secured
a front-end loader which was loaned to them by a Chinese businessman and
this was used to remove the pipes and ftngs from the soil.
In another instance, the church hosted a health fair for the community. The
fair was scheduled to end at 16:00. The church was flled to capacity and
there were several patents who stll needed access to the medical team.
One partcipant recollects that the clinic fnally closed its doors to the public
at approximately 19:00. This made an impact on the residents, who stated
passionately that Rev. Wynters concern for her community transcends
denominatonalism. The residents have come to recognise this as one of her
traits; she cares for people in need and makes every efort to be a change
agent wherever she goes.
She does not take herself too seriously, but is instead concerned with shifing
the percepton both internally and externally that persons from the inner
cites of Jamaica have neither hope nor a future. She has taken the mantra
from Jeremiah 29.11, which afrms, For I know the plans I have for you,
declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give
you hope and a future and has embodied it for her parishioners.
In acceptng Gods call to pastoral ministry, Doreen virtually disrupted the
status quo. She was ofen chided by friends and well-intentoned persons for
expressing a desire to candidate for ordained ministry, obviously she didnt
know that the Bible says that women are to be silent in church. She was
advised that her call to ministry must have been a call to become a pastors
wife; because women are not ministers. In those days, the church was
completely bent over, huddled in a web of traditonalism and complacency.
There was need for Gods equalizing and restoratve grace. And so, as she
paved the way for Baptst women to candidate for pastoral ministry, Doreen
207
ensured that she impacted the lives
of those with whom she connected
in a positve way.
I do not see what I do as being
extremely diferent or special. God
has called all of us to a ministry
which is both proclamaton and
demonstraton. I cannot just teach
and preach. I must match it with
social acton, especially in the
contexts where I have been placed.
My ministry spans both urban and
rural contexts, and what I say (preach or teach) must resonate with the lives
of the people whom I serve right there in their circumstances. This is what
Jesus taught. This is what Jesus lived and if the church is to be credible in our
witness, this is what we must live.
She began with what already existed, and improved on the solid foundaton
established by her antecedents. In speaking healing over the socially
deformed and marginalized, Rev. Wynter connected her home congregaton
to denominatonal and ecumenical partners to formulate a diferent reality
for her adopted community.
Hers is a ministry touching every stage of human life from the cradle to the
grave. She prays for them there is need for prayer in an area marked (and
marred) by much loss of lives and provides the community with actvites
that give them reason to stand tall, extending grace in graceless voids. Now,
the soup kitchen has expanded beyond those 30 to 70 persons. This was
facilitated through networking with the Kiwanis Club of North St. Andrew.
Doreen was not content with the ofering of the soup kitchen that of a
weekly hot meal. She is in the process of upgrading the service to facilitate a
Senior Citzens Care Centre.
Her passion for youth saw her serving as Natonal Chaplain for the Girls
Brigade and with the branch at Jones Town Baptst and birthing the Womens
Centre for pregnant teens. Concern for the babies and toddlers led to
the incepton of the Rotary-assisted nursery/day care centre for working
mothers, also providing employment for qualifed community members. We
are government-recognized. So we are cognizant of all the regulatons and
new Educaton Acts to ensure that we maintain our status, the Day Care
Administrator, Ms Hanson, informs us.

She began with what already
existed, and improved on the
solid foundaton established by
her antecedents. In speaking
healing over the socially deformed
and marginalized, Rev. Wynter
connected her home congregaton
to denominatonal and ecumenical
partners to formulate a diferent
reality for her adopted community.
Gods grace in the inner-city - A story of Rev. Doreen Wynter
208
The programmes at Jones Town Baptst Church are beacons of hope in a
wilderness of despair. Through its life-giving ministries, young mothers
fnd room for restoraton and reintegraton in school and society; potental
employees fnd a space to house and nurture their children, seniors fnd a place
to call their own and men and women fnd a source for gainful sustainable
employment. There is no doubt of Gods grace and the community is engaged
for life in fullness. There was no doubt in our minds that Doreen embodies
what she preaches. There was no doubt her work challenged us to partner
in the healing and restoratve work of bringing those from the margins to the
centre, enabling those in the centre to share at table with those who are bent-
over by lifes circumstances to stand upright.
We lef, overwhelmed by the work of a woman whose indomitable spirit and
abiding faith in God invites others to taste and see that God is good. Our tme
at Doreens church ended and we departed, flled with a renewed sense of
call and hope for Jamaicas future. May we, in our ministries seek to empower
persons within our parishes and beyond, as we ofer grace to all, once and
for all.
Questons to ponder:
In what ways might we engender grace to those outside the social
boundaries?
How can we rise above traditonalism to open doors for change in our
communites?
209
WOMEN CRITIQUING CULTURE:
THE STORY OF ABIGAIL AND A
GUERILLA
Rev. Anna Joycelyn Shrikisson-Sharma
Anna Joycelyn Shrikisson-Sharma is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian
Church of Trinidad & Tobago. She is the pastor of fve congregatons and
serves as chaplain of four primary schools, one girls high school, and the
University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT). She is also an Associate Lecturer of
Christan Educaton at St. Andrews Theological College (SATC).
Read 1 Samuel 25
Introducton
The World Alliance of Reformed Churches, gender manual, Created in Gods
Image: From Hierarchy to Partnership
1
defnes culture as the set of commonly
held atributes, (spiritual, material, intellectual, emotonal, ritualistc, historical,
linguistc, geographical, etc.), which characterize a society and/or a community
or group. It is referred to as the accepted way of life and the accepted norm, in
a society and relates to the means of communicaton (language, art, material
things) that a society has in common and ways of life shared by a partcular
group.
In biblical tmes, most women especially in the Jewish culture were looked upon
as inferior to men. Women were not granted politcal rights and furthermore they
were not permited credibility in the public domain. Instead they were counted
as part of the property of the men. According to the historian, Flavian Josephus
whose writngs are of the New Testament tmes, the practce of the exclusion
of women in the Jewish government as legal witness was as such: But let not a
single witness be credited, but three, or two at the least, and those such whose
testmony is confrmed by their good lives. But let not the testmony of women
be admited, on account of the levity and boldness of the sex.
2
During those days, the accepted norm was, though the woman is subject to the
1 SHERATTAN-BISNAUTH, Patricia (Ed), Created in Gods Image: From Hierarchy to Partnership,
A Church Manual on Gender, Awareness and Leadership Development (Geneva: WARC, 2003).
2 JOSEPHUS, Flavian, Antquites of the Jews, Bk. IV. Ch. Vlll. 15
Women critquing culture: the story of Abigail and a guerilla
210
commandments, she is disqualifed from
giving evidence.
3
Probably, we can fnd
such rules refected in the book of Sirach
or Ecclesiastcus, for example, beter is the
wickedness of a man than a woman who
does good (Sirach, 42:14). This patriarchal
culture with its injustces and lack of human
rights refected the situaton of that tme. The
Bible refects Gods people in various cultural
encounters from Genesis to Revelaton. I
now invite you to read 1 Sam 25 as we look
at the story of a woman named Abigail.
Abigail as a subversive woman who
defed cultural norms
The biblical text shows that Abigail was a woman beset by trials, ignorance and
aggravaton. But her bravery, courage and leadership skills are displayed in this
passage and serve as a lens from which we may choose to interrogate cultural
practces which are restrictve and oppressive to women and which perpetrate
injustce.
Although we are not told for certain that Abigails marriage had been arranged,
the history of the tmes indicated that this would have been the common
practce, for it was thought that a girls father was more capable of deciding the
future of his daughters. Sometmes it did not mater whether the man was kind
or considerate, as long as he was rich and lived what was considered a stable and
comfortable life. Abigails frst husband, Nabal, had inherited land, houses and
livestock from his father. He was wealthy but was neither kind nor considerate
rather he may be considered as a bully.
In the Caribbean context today, though the traditon of arranged marriages is
rare, many women stll seek to marry men with money or with possibilites to
migrate to North America. In some cases, marriages are arranged as a business
transacton for migraton to the United States and Canada. There are many cases
where women endure harsh treatment by their domineering partners, mainly
partners of their own choice. Long ago, it was felt that abuse was more prevalent
in traditonally arranged marriages where women felt trapped with litle optons
of leaving such abusive marriages. These days, it is clear that domestc violence
is prevalent in many households, across, ethnicites, classes, religions and social
status.
3 Jewish Talmud, Baba Kamma 88a

The biblical text shows that
Abigail was a woman beset
by trials, ignorance and
aggravaton. But her bravery,
courage and leadership skills
are displayed in this passage
and serve as a lens from which
we may choose to interrogate
cultural practces which are
restrictve and oppressive to
women and which perpetrate
injustce.
211
What are new forms of arranged marriages and match-making in your
society? How many women do you know who feel trapped in their marriages?
What is the situaton of domestc and sexual violence in your community and
what is the response of your church? What cultural elements determine the
responses?
Nabal had a bad temper and this was worse
when he drank. People ofen avoided
him. Life was safer that way, including
Abigails. In those days it was accepted that
a womans place was in the private sphere of
the home. She was expected to be obedient
to her husband. With Nabals bad temper,
Abigail constantly had to make amends with
people in their community, fnding creatve
ways to mend relatonships.
No one should tolerate such behaviour in
any relatonship. Women should not accept
abusive and bad behaviour in marriages.
They should not be forced or encouraged to stay in such relatonships, rather they
need to be supported by family, friends, the church and society to be free of such
abusive relatonships or home.
Understanding the text of 1 Sam 25
The incident involving the characters of Abigail, Nabal and David, occurred at
a tme when David, the future King of Israel, was on the run from King Saul
who was bent on killing him. Surrounded by men faithful to him, David moved
from hideout to hideout, with his centre at
Adullam in the Shephelah hills. The story
of 1 Sam chapter 25 does not further the
cause of David in any material way; neither
does it enhance his relatonship with King
Saul who seemed to be always in pursuit of
him. But the story does throw some light
on Davids character; it raises him above
the ordinary levels of life, partcularly in his
response to, and treatment of the woman
of the story: Abigail.
Abigail distnguishes herself in this episode.
She is quite the hero(ine). She stands out

No one should tolerate such
behaviour in any relatonship.
Women should not accept
abusive and bad behaviour in
marriages. They should not be
forced or encouraged to stay in
such relatonships, rather they
need to be supported by family,
friends, the church and society
to be free of such abusive
relatonships or home.

Abigail distnguishes herself in
this episode. She is quite the
hero(ine). She stands out in
sharp contrast to her husband
Nabal who is churlish in
name and nature. She was
an intelligent and beautful
woman, but her husband, a
Calebite, was surly and mean
in his dealings. Nabal means
churl.
212
in sharp contrast to her husband Nabal who is churlish in name and nature.
She was an intelligent and beautful woman, but her husband, a Calebite,
was surly and mean in his dealings. Nabal means churl.
Whatever the cultural protocols of those tmes, which regulated the
relatonships between husband and wife, and the encounter between men
and women in public, Abigail behaved to David with such courtesy, astuteness
and tact that she commanded the atenton of David, and averted the
shedding of much blood, including that of her husband. She is deserving
of such compliments as have been heaped on her, including that which the
future king paid her when he accepted the gifs from her hand, and her hand
in marriage later. In modern tmes, she has been characterised as a model
wife and good woman (Adele Berlin), a woman of good sense (Athalya
Brenner).
Her prophetc words of 1 Sam 25.28-51 present her as Gods chosen prophet
intermediary and something of a subversive character given that the words
were spoken to a guerrilla rebel against King Saul. There is much to be learnt
from Abigails character and the way she was subversive and challenging to
the culture of her society.
Questons to ponder:
What are some of the characteristcs you admire most about Abigail?
Does your culture permit women to behave in the manner Abigail did to
David and Nabal?
How justfed are the descriptons of Abigail as prophetc (subversive), a
woman of good sense, a model wife? Discuss.
The Caribbean situaton
In the Caribbean today there are many women who can identfy with Abigail
regarding having male partners with similar characteristcs as Nabal. Many
women fee their homes because of abusive partners. In some cases women
are encouraged to stck out the abuse, hoping for change in their husbands
behaviour. Fortunately, today, some women have the economic means to leave
abusive marriages and move on with their lives. Churches tend to turn a blind
eye to male abuse of women, and sometmes put pressure on women to return
to the abusive home. In some societes, a woman who is separated or divorced
is looked down upon. She may be denied roles as elder and other leadership
positons in the church.
213
It is important for us to examine the cultural factors which would cause women
to stay in an abusive relatonship or marriage, whether it is an arranged marriage
of any kind or partners by choice. In so doing, we need to critcally examine the
causes, forms and efects of such violence and fnd ways of responding to these
situatons of abuse, with support for the women and children and actons to bring
justce and also measures of reform for the perpetrators. Also very importantly,
the culture which sustains and maintains situatons of abuse must be examined
and critqued with correctve acton to transform the culture.
How can the church support women who are constrained by culture to
remain in abusive and unhealthy situatons/marriages?
How does your church regard women who are divorced? Is it the same for
divorced men?
What aspects of your culture allow and sometmes serve as agents to
perpetuate unjust gender relatons?
Abigails life-changing opportunity
Finally, a life-changing opportunity presented itself to Abigail. One of the servants
from the feld came to the house with a message. David had run out of provisions
for his men and they were hungry, thirsty and tred. They asked Nabal for food,
water and a place to rest for the night. Do you know what Nabal did? He sent back
word that he would in no way make provision for an outlaw and thief.
Nabal answered Davids servants, Who is the David? Who is this son of Jesse?
Many servants are breaking away from their masters these days. Why should I
take my bread and water, and the meat I have slaughtered for my shearers, and
give it to men coming from who knows where? (1 Sam 25.10-11)
When Abigail heard what had happened, she explained to Nabal that David
and his men were their protectors and had been refused what was, for them,
a small request. She saw the present danger and began to plan around Nabals
decision even as she moved through the house.
Abigail lost no tme. She took two hundred loaves of bread, two skins of wine,
fve dressed sheep, fve seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of raisins and two
hundred cakes of pressed fgs, and loaded them on donkeys. Then she told her
servants, Go on ahead; Ill follow you. But she did not tell her husband Nabal. As
she came riding her donkey into a mountain ravine, there was David and his men
descending toward her, and she met them. David had just said. Its been useless -
all my watching over this fellows property in the desert so that nothing of his was
missing. He had paid me back evil for good. (1 Sam 25.18-20)
214
How would you have responded were you in Abigails shoes? How do we as
women circumvent traditons when we need to act urgently?
David looked over to the small caravan of supplies that Abigail brought to him
and appraised it. Then he looked back to her. David had an eye for beauty, and
with her dark hair and eyes, she knew that he was looking at her with admiraton
and fondness. What is your name? he asked. She replied, Abigail, sir. (1 Sam
25.32-34)
David said to Abigail, Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you
today to meet me, May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping
me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands.
Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from
harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to
Nabal would have been lef alive by daybreak.
Had Nabal known that she went to David, there would have been serious trouble
for her. Yet, had it not been for her, Nabal and all his people, especially the males,
would have been killed. Ten days later, Nabal died of a stroke. Two sad facts about
Nabals life were that nobody loved him while he lived and nobody grieved for
him when he died.
Life contnued for Abigail. But it was not business as usual. David heard about
her being widowed and, with a priest at his side, went to her. Abigail and
David were married in a small ceremony, atended only by his men and the
members of her household. Later David was crowned as the second and
greatest King that Israel ever had.
Conclusion
In many cultural situatons, whether north or south, and even where arranged
marriages do not exist, the cultural expectaton remains the same in varying
degrees. Women are expected to be silent on most issues that are other than
household and obedient to their husbands, even in circumstances where they
experience physical/sexual, emotonal or mental abuse. Within the church, the
Bible is ofen cited, as a means of ensuring that women know their place. When
women decide that they have had enough, they are sometmes told to remain
with the husband, or are accused of being the ofensive party and cause of a
family break-up. Relatonships are stll negotated primarily by the men, and overt
actons by women are ofen seen as aggressive or mannish.
215
Questons to ponder
Have you been or know of someone in a similar situaton as that of
Abigail?
In what ways does Abigail serve as a means of empowering women
who are living in culturally oppressive situatons which deny them life in
fullness?
How does the church perpetuate or challenge harmful cultural
practces?
Actvity
Use your Womens Group to help vulnerable women through Bible study,
prayer and gender workshops.
Organise projects skills training, including life skills for physical, social,
cultural and spiritual development.
A GRIEVING MOM
(Luke 7.11-17)
A heart that grieves for a child,
Who God has called to His land;
The childs love was with a smile,
The life that praised God and went a second mile.
With eyes full with tears,
I see friends and relatves here,
Support was given, love expressed,
Yet, the grieving heart was not addressed.
Untl, I walked the street of town,
The Lord Jesus arrived and looked down.
With compassion He was moved,
When He saw my face and mood,
Approaching me He sweetly said: Do not weep.
216
With his gentle hand, he touched the cofn,
All bearers and others stop to see,
A miracle that was about to happen.
Young man, I say to you, arise, He remarked.
My son woke up and started to speak in surprise,
The Lord, presented him to me at last,
While fear came upon all who passed.
Glory to God, we all sang the praise,
A great prophet has risen in this place,
And certainly, God has visited his people,
The Good News was told throughout the region.
Rev. Anna J. S. Sharma
TELLING MY STORY - A WOMAN
OF COURAGE, DETERMINATION
AND HOPE
Ms Denise Shrikissoon
Denise Shrikissoon is a Trinidadian and works as a school teacher. She is on a
government scholarship reading for a Bachelor of Educaton at the University
of Trinidad & Tobago. She serves as a member of the St. Julien Presbyterian
Churchs Local Board and is the mother of two wonderful children.
Where it all began
There were two families who were very good friends. Upon their approval their
children got married. One of the marriage partners was me. Similarly, Abigail
belonged to a family and was a partner in what was likely an arranged marriage. At
the age of twenty-two I was married to an atractve young man, who came from
a respectable family and who worked at a commercial bank. For my family and
me this arrangement gave a sense of stability and hope. Surely, the circumstance
resembles that of Nabal, which was one of the reasons for marriage.
217
A quick step from wonderful to ugly
In the frst few weeks of my marriage my life seemed to be the beginning of
something wonderful. As the weeks passed, yes, the weeks, I started to notce
a change in the man I married. The happy and kind man suddenly turned into a
verbally abusive man. Not only was he verbally abusive, he also began to drink
heavily and I was totally neglected. Afer the birth of our daughter, we were
happy for a short while, but then he began to drink heavily again. He condemned
everything I did and said. He constantly abused me and my daughter verbally and
psychologically. This could be Nabal.
When I was pregnant with my son, things did not get beter, instead it
worsened. Late one night, my husband came home from drinking and decided
that as pregnant as I was, he would lock me in the bathroom and leave me
there untl morning. I slept on the foor and this incident was the straw that
broke the camels back!
I decided to leave this man and return to my mothers home with my daughter
and also pregnant with my son. I was unemployed. I had no money, no property,
nothing to sustain me and my children. With the help of my mother, her sister,
my sister and cousins, I was supported and able to have my baby, without any
help from my husband.
A miracle from God
I was moved from the hospital where my husbands girl friend was working and
sent to another medical facility (Mt. Hope Hospital) where I bore my handsome,
but ill son. He was hospitalised for several weeks. I was informed that the stress
of my broken marriage and abuse had caused this illness. During this period, I
spent most of my tme praying for my sons healing. I was determined that I will
not let this situaton contnue as it was. I had to take care of my children and
make some changes.
As I had not done too well at high school, I decided to take the advice of my
cousin and her husband, to repeat mathematcs and a science subject. I added
fve more subjects and was successful, ataining seven subjects in the Caribbean
Examinaton Council (CXE). The same relatves saw to it that I applied for a positon
as a teacher. I got an appointment with a school. I was successful and did well.
Later I received two government scholarships, one in Early Childhood Educaton
and a Bachelor of Educaton, which I am presently pursuing, with full salary.
Conclusion
I am proud of myself - moving from no salary to a full salary and fulflling my
dream as well. I must say that my self-esteem has been signifcantly lifed.
Telling my story - a woman of courage, determinaton and hope
218
I see myself as a woman, who took chances
to change my life, and be a good mother,
caring for my two wonderful children. I see
my future with a male companion, who is
kind, considerate and loving.
In conclusion, I thank my God every day,
for empowering me to get out of a terrible
situaton, to something that is life fulflling.
I also say thanks to all relatves, friends,
family members and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for assistng me in
making my dream a reality. Thanks to the Caribbean Women for giving me this
opportunity, to tell my story in order that other women may be encouraged to
follow their kind heart and DREAMS with prayer and hope. I am happy. You can
be happy as well fellow sisters.
Next steps:
Can you get out of such abusive situatons? Think about it.
Do you have a dream?
Do you have that faith in God; Jesus Christ in whom everything is
possible?
You must make the frst step. Be brave like Abigail and me, you can do it. God
Bless.

I see myself as a woman, who
took chances to change my
life, and be a good mother,
caring for my two wonderful
children. I see my future with
a male companion, who is
kind, considerate and loving.
219
THE GIFT OF A GARMENT
A BIBLE STUDY ON ACTS 9.36-43
Read Acts 9.36-43
The Jamaican artst Dawn Scot died towards the end of 2010 and I was asked
to ofciate at her funeral. My strongest memory of Dawn was around the
purchasing of a garment made in her exquisite batk work with complementary
te dye accents. Dawn had arrived in Kingston from her home in the rural area
one weekend and just called to say she was in town and had a few things.
Every garment was a work of art.
I went to look at her garments and there was one piece that when I put it
on it felt at home, as if it were already mine, waitng for me to claim it. On
the face of it, it was really a size or two, too big for me, but once on, it was
defnitely mine. I decided to make the purchase and Dawn said to me, Do
you know what the name of this piece is? It is Surplice. I was surprised.
Dawn was not a Churchy person as I remarked in the service, yet an artst
who was not involved in the Church, who had explored Rastafari but whose
spirituality could not be contained in any religious box had designed a
garment called Surplice that eventually found a home on a woman in the
Christan ministry.
It was preparing the sermon for Dawns funeral that brought to me the
signifcance of this encounter. A gifed artst of uncertain religious allegiance
had created a garment that became an afrmaton of the ministry of a woman
in ministry who had wrestled with her pastoral identty.
It reminded me of the story of Dorcas (Tabitha), recorded in Acts 9.3643.
Dorcas was also a woman who made garments for others. She exercised a
priestly functon, the only woman in the New Testament to whom the female
form of disciple is atributed.
Although her work is not expressly described as ministry she mediated Gods
presence to poor, outcast widows through her creatvity and labour, making
garments just for them. In so doing, she tacitly afrmed that these widows
matered, were important, had value, and are not just statstcs. God had heard
their cry, seen their plight and responded through the atentve Dorcas.
The gif of a garment
220
Perhaps Dorcas had found a way to deal with her own loss as a widow herself,
by having compassion on and reaching out to others who sufered similar
adversity and points to a way to experience meaning from lifes reverses.
Perhaps Dorcas knew that our sermons and service in the name of God can
be expressed in ordinary experiences like sewing clothes and quietly reaching
out to others. God ofen comes with no fanfare, but if we are atentve, we
can see the hand of God in ordinary, mundane encounters and hear the sound
of the stll small voice calling us to service.
Dr. Carolyn Cooper in an artcle in the Jamaica Gleaner of September 26, 2010
refected on Dawn Scots work, in part, with these words: The name of Jesus
is summoned by many of us in a variety of circumstances whose religious
signifcance is not immediately apparent In any case, great art does inspire
a sense of reverental wonder at the magical process of creaton. In the
beginning there is nothing. Out of the void the blank canvas or in Dawns
case, a length of plain white cloth come light and vision.
Like Dawn Scots garment, Dorcas gif remained not only as a physical item,
but also as inspired and treasured memory of an ordinary encounter where
gods presence was experienced long afer death.
For refecton
How can you pass on the gif of Gods grace in ordinary, everyday
actvites?
How can you be more atentve to the ways in which God is blessing you
through encounters with others?
For meditaton
Jesus, where can we fnd you
In our world today?
Jesus, where can we fnd you,
Incarnate Word today?
Chorus
Look at your brother beside you;
Look at your sister beside you;
Look! Listen! Care!
Doreen Poter, Jamaica
221
222
TAKE ACTION TO END VIOLENCE
AGAINST WOMEN AND
CHILDREN
For change to happen people must stop thinking of violence against women
as something that is just the way things are or that it is the womans fault.
Talking about the abuse is the frst step in changing it for example, fnding
other women who have the same problems with violent and abusive men
and sharing ideas with each other, fnding men who also believe that violence
is wrong, making violence something that people talk about and think is
wrong.
There is no excuse for abuse. No one has the right to abuse anyone. Women,
children and men have the right to live in safety and security and be free of
fear.
Look out for the following signs of danger and entrapment:
(Training Workshop For the Counselling Services of Help and Shelter, Guyana, Faith A.
Harding, January 2009 htp://www.hands.org.gy/fles/ManualforDVCounsellingWork
shopJanuary2009.doc)
223
AS A RELIGIOUS LEADER YOU CAN HELP
Be supportve to women who have been abused and are seeking help.
Remind families and the community that no religion accepts violence
against women and children.
Develop a personal understanding of the issue of violence against
women.
Encourage relatonships of respect, cooperaton and partnership
in families, and discourage relatonships of power and control over
women.
Believe a woman who tells you about abuse. Too many people do not
understand that a problem exists. Tell her it is not her fault, and that no
one has the right to hurt her in any way. This will help her gain some self-
confdence to take whatever steps she needs to deal with the abuse.
Deal with the issue of abuse of women in your sermons and teachings.
Speak out against violence in marriage. Let it be known in the community
that you are a person an abused woman can trust.
Watch out for signs that a woman may
be living with violence and her abuser
may be keeping her away from the
church.
Ask direct questons when you suspect
that there is abuse going on.
Do not discuss confdental informaton with the husband or partner. This
could be a real danger for the womans safety, even if she does not think
so.
Make sure the message that violence is always unacceptable is part of
any premarital and marital counselling.
Be informed about the spiritual needs of women who are in, are leaving,
or have lef abusive relatonships.
Support interfaith dialogue on the issue. Allow space in your church
for womens groups and others dealing with the issue of gender-based
violence.

There is no excuse for abuse.
No one has the right to abuse
anyone. Women, children and
men have the right to live in
safety and security and be
free of fear.
Take acton to end violence against women and children
224
Unhelpful responses:
Blaming the woman for the abuse or suggestng that if she just tried
harder, or was more supportve to her husband, the abuse would end.
Making excuses for her abusive partner, such as he is under stress, or it is
due to his alcohol or drug use.
Trying to take control of the situaton and telling her what she must do.
Minimizing the abuse, and telling her to be grateful that it is not worse.
Discountng the abuse by saying that it is part of the culture.
Quotng biblical texts out of context to justfy the actons of the abuser.
YWCA of Canada Theres No Excuse for Abuse, Community Acton on Violence Against
Women, 1994
Training Workshop For the Counseling Services of Help and Shelter, Guyana, Faith A.
Harding, January 2009 htp://www.hands.org.gy/fles/ManualforDVCounsellingWork
shopJanuary2009.doc
225
Ll1u8ClCAL
8LSCu8CLS
226
INTRODUCTION
Rev. Nicole Ashwood
The gathered community in worship can also be a powerful space which
enables transformaton and change. It is the responsibility of the worship team
(planners, liturgists, worship leaders, musicians, choir, poets and dancers)
to ensure that the fow of the worship is smooth, especially at transiton
points, and easily followed by the congregaton. What is also important
is the commitment of the liturgical crafers to balance theology, creatvity,
aesthetcs and enactment. Sometmes, there is a need for liturgies to mark
special occasions and creatve resources are not readily available.
It is important to:
identfy the important issues which need to be refected in the liturgy
source relevant and appropriate material for use by the partcipants
prepare the congregants for the shif in the worship format
ensure that the songs/poetry are accessible and appropriate for the
congregaton
provide sufcient material for use by the worshipping community
As one who enjoys working with various resources for use in the preparaton
of liturgies in my home context (Jamaica) and beyond, I have found that
there is a dearth of material for use in services which are related to women
or contextual issues such as gender based violence. The liturgies below have
been specifcally prepared with this in mind and it is my prayer that you will fnd
them useful for your community. Each liturgy is preceded by an introducton
and brief notes on preparaton required in the hope that this will assist you in
your preparatons whether or not you are a trained worship leader/planning
team member.
A SERVICE OF HEALING AND
RECONCILIATION
There is a school of thought, which says that the best way to bring about
healing is for the aficted and the perpetrator to agree on the actual wrong
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that has been done. In many instances, this requires a naming of the series of
events which sometmes is very hard for listeners to hear or for the ofended
to recount.
One could atempt to restore relatonships by creatng awareness through
testmonies and stories. Rituals for healing in the Caribbean are not readily
available and so many persons would seek to bring about healing in the
traditonal folk expressions of religion. While this service seeks to refect the
element of the folk, it is not to be confused with a traditonal healing service.
Rather, this seeks to ofer a way of confrontng the issues and beginning the
process toward life-giving awareness, forgiveness, healing and wholeness.
Preparaton
Prior to the service, the worship team needs to assemble a team to prepare
crosses from palm fronds, secure rods/staf, a large cross, towels/blankets, a
large box and bags (to discard ones burdens). The team should also determine
whether there are persons willing to share their stories or if printed testmonies
will be used. The readers must be familiarised with the testmonies a week in
advance.
Processional Chant/Chorus
A come wi dis a come,
a come wi dis a come
an we no waan no bodderaton oh (x3)
Opening sentences
Liturgist : Give thanks unto God
Women : For Gods mercies are everlastng
Liturgist : Come give thanks unto God
Men : For Gods mercies are everlastng
Liturgist : Come let us give thanks to our God
All : We will worship and praise Gods name for ever
Liturgist : God lifs up the poor and the lowly and raises them to higher
heights
Men: God walks with the oppressed and abused and redeems them
out of their misery
Women : When they cast whips and trampled upon our backs, when we
journeyed through fre and food
All : It is you, O God who brought us through, to a place of great
abundance!
Liturgist : So we lif oferings of prayers and praises to Your name
All : Giving thanks to our God whose mercies and grace endures
forever! Come lets praise our God.
Liturgical resources
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Hymn
Prayers of adoraton and thanksgiving
Chorus: God is a good God
Responsive Reading: Psalm 66
Welcome and Invitaton - the Minister/Liturgist welcomes the congregaton
and adds the following:
There are so many wrongs that have been administered against our women
and our children. And we as the church, as Gods representatves have not
been as vocal in our involvement. We have kept silent while those who ofen
are considered the weakest in our societes have been batered, raped,
emotonally, verbally and psychologically assaulted and lef for dead. We have
been too busy minding our own business or saving our own lives or making
excuses for those who have contnued the cycle of abuse, that we have not
goten involved. But no longer.
As the people of God, who serve a living and compassionate God, we declare
that today we are standing as advocates for those who are not able to speak
for themselves, who no longer have tears lef for them to cry, whose scars are
found deep within and those who are not yet scarred.
We begin by confessing our complicity in the acts of violence for even if we
did not actually partcipate in deed; our silence is just as much an ofense to
God as what the others have done.
Afer the period of silence where we examine our actons, I invite you - as you
are led - to join in the prayer of confession:
Prayer of Confession
Holy God, God of love and compassion:
You have created us to share your love with each other,
We recognise that in our haste to atend to our own issues.
Neglectng our sisters and brothers who sufer and whose voices are not
heard.
Many of us have opted for non-involvement in maters of gender-based
violence,
Or any form of oppression, because of our own self-protecton.
Yet you call us to go to the highways and byways to seek the lost and
wounded.
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Healing God, you have called us to bind the wounds of the hurtng.
We have been crippled by the principalites and powers at work around us,
And ofen fail to realise the power there is in solidarity.
We have made assumptons about peoples lives and lifestyles and ofen fail
to advocate for change.
Some of us have been perpetrators of abuse in various forms emotonal,
psychological, verbal, sexual or physical, and yet we dare to throw stones
round about us.
You call us to go to the highways and byways to seek the lost and wounded.
Healing God, you have called us to bind the wounds of the hurtng.
Forgive us and heal us of our abusive ways;
Restore us to our rightul minds as we become the change we want to see.
Have mercy upon us O God we pray, in Jesus name. Amen.
Chorus/Hymn Search Me O God
The Lords Prayer (Kumbaya version)
Act of Healing and Reconciliaton
Dance Black Mother Prays (Jimmy Riley)
Chorus Hear My Cry O Lord
Prayers of empowerment for advocates and actvists
Liturgist: Sisters and brothers, we have heard the cries, seen the bruises,
some of us been wounded also, and unless we do something, untl we say
something everything will remain the same, and change will never come.
We partcipate in the healing of memories by listening, crying and pouring the
balm on the wounded hearts and lives as we hear the testmonies of survivors
1
.
And, if their story sounds similar to one you know, please come forward and
stand in the gap as we ofer prayers at the end of each testmony.
Chorus: There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole
1 N.B. The testmonies included here are suggestons, which have been adapted from the real
life stories of survivors and should not be included in the printed liturgy. It is quite feasible to
select persons from the context to share their own testmonies.
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Testmony 1
I lef him, moved from one locaton to a place far away. I went to work and
when I got home, he had paid a truck to move my furniture, paid my rent in
full and told my landlady to give me the taxi-fare (which he had given to her)
for me to return home. Two days later, the abuse started all over again. I lost
everything. The children, my litle sister and my daughter, later told me how
hurt they were and how badly they felt that they couldnt do anything to help.
God has been good to me though, for I fnally escaped when I relocated to the
United States. Life was hard, but I am stll alive and even ended up helping to
bury him.
(The person who shared the testmony moves to the foot of the large wooden
cross which is in the centre of the room. Two persons from the congregaton
take the bag, which represents the burden shared and places it at the base.
Someone is invited to pray for the abused.)
Testmony 2
Everybody was intmidated by him. He abused everyone in the house. Son,
daughter, step-children, wife/sweetheart, everybody. We were crippled by
fear! We felt that we couldnt do anything to help. And he cheated on her in
the midst of it all. And she couldnt do anything about it. For if she tried, he
would simply beat her again, and again, and again. It was abuse in all forms
mental, sexual and physical.
I wasnt raised totally by him. And I was not used to that kind of behaviour.
So I decided from early that I would not marry an abuser. The boys became
abusers themselves and that is what hurt me so badly. There were women in
the community who warned her that he was like that. But she took up with
him anyway. I dont believe that she could help it . . . Remember women that
are abused tend to select other abusers as their partners. So interventon is
critcal at an early stage.
We cant ask the church to intervene unless there is a relatonship. For the man
can simply insist that the church representatve leave, and they would have
to leave! Just like that. But an abused woman needs a friend, a confdante,
someone who is authoritatve enough to confront the man and provide an
alternatve space for the woman to be. And of course, we also need to make
certain that the abuser gets some serious counselling.
Chorus: Its me, its me, its me O Lord
(The person who shared the testmony is escorted to the foot of the cross. As
the baggage is taken others who have been exposed to abuse of their parents
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or guardians join in the circle. As the stones/baggage is placed at the cross, a
prayer is raised.)
Prayer for children who are caught in the cycle
Reading: Isa 53:3-5,7
Testmony 3
The beatngs got to the point where I had a restraining order out on him,
even though we had children together. One night he had our big son come
forward and knock on the door. The moment I opened it to save my son,
he rushed through, machete sailing chopping me and everything in his path.
When I came to, my second son was dead and I was on the path to months
of rehabilitaton and surgery. They soon stopped giving me the meds to stop
the pain probably because the pain was not just across my back which was
scarred, nor my right hand (which only had a thumb remaining); it was deeply
embedded in my heart. And no liquor, no stuf could really change that. Im
glad that the folks at the halfway house rescued me. Its been 27 months since
I been sober, but nothing, brings my baby back to me.
(As she enters the circle, someone ofers her a rag and a staf. Her burden is
taken, others come to the centre and prayers are ofered)
Prayers for those caught in the cross-fre
Testmony 4
He brought us sweets and nice treats every day. We were happy to be getng
food in our stomachs we thought he was like a god. I remember clearly
when he found out that I was interested in the boy down the road. He boxed
me and said that he cant be paying down on the goods and another man
beneftng. I was to stop talking to the boy. When my mother asked him about
it, he said I was lying, and he was only trying to protect me.
A few days later, he was in my room waitng on me when I got home from
school. I tried to run, but he blocked the exit. I screamed out and bit him. He
boxed me twice so tll my face feel as if it twist. I hear a rip and is my skirt him
tear of. I tried to scream again, but I didnt have no strength lef. When he
saw me fall to the ground, he think I faint and so he swear and lef me there
for dead I guess. When I start to feel beter, I never wait to tell my mother,
I know him going tell her all sort of story anyways, but I wait tll night come,
an I creep out under the cover of dark and I jus run way. My only worry is
for my two litle sister them, for they of age now, and I sure that unless they
run way too, he going rape them, for him not making deposit without getng
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something for him troubles. Have mercy pon dem lawd.
(She is draped with a shawl and taken to the centre. The bag is also placed at
the foot of the cross while the chorus is sung):
Chorus: Lord, listen to your children praying
Lord we need your Spirit in this place
Lord, listen to your children praying
Send us love, send us power, send us grace!
[In the background a voice cries out Mighty God, forgive them, forgive us!]
Prayers for perpetrators of gender based violence
Testmony 5
I cant remember too much, for you see, I am not too bright. In fact, everybody
knows I dunce long tme. My mother know it, she know I ugly too at least
thats what them tell me why she run away and leave me. Say she couldnt
cope with a big-head bud like me. When I do go to school, nobody talk to me,
nobody want anything to do with me. That hurt, but the worst part is when
I hear them calling me all sort of names and saying things about me. That is
when it feel as if they tek a wire brush and trying to strip my insides of. The
words just eat out my inside tll I feel so bad is like I going vomit.
Granny, she say is because I am a girl, and a ugly one to boot. But she say I am
a hard worker. I dont really like to work hard yknow, but when I work hard
they give me money and they dont curse me so much unless I do the work
wrong. Sometmes I wonder why God bother to mek me born, cause they say I
ugly like sin. I guess I should be happy that they never bother to kill me of, but
I not too sure that this is not worse than death. I like when I go by the church
though. They give me food sometmes and they dont scorn me or laugh at
me. I wish, I wish - ha boy!
Reading Mat 11:28-30
Hymn The Servant Song
[As the song is played, all persons gathered are invited to place their own palm
crosses at the base of the larger cross. S/he selects a note of encouragement
from the table beside the cross and hands it to the next person in the line.
When all persons have received, the fnal prayer to end GBV is ofered by the
minister, selected intercessor or liturgist.]
A brief refecton
Cl.
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Hymn Let us Talents or The Right Hand of God
2
(with appended fnal
verse)
The right hand of God is working in our lands,
Restoring relatonships gone sour
God calls the church to stand
And start working in all lands
To combat violence and abusing of power!
Benedicton
SERVICE FOR ENCOUNTER
Preparaton
This service works best with an intentonal move towards informality. However,
if the congregaton is not very open to lots of change, create the diference
with candles or by repositoning the altar so that it is not only in a prominent
space, but also at the centre of the gathered worshippers. In any case, ensure
that the worshipping community knows what the order is, before they enter
the worship area.
There are three poems which set the stage for the divine encounters, and
so it would be ftng to have four persons to read or perform the same (the
third is beter with two readers). It is most helpful if the persons are given an
opportunity to familiarize themselves with the texts prior to the worship, so
that they may read without promptng. Do not print the words of the poems
for everyone, thus invitng them to experience the encounters with their
senses and not just by reading the texts.
Call to Worship
Liturgist : In the beginning was the Word
And the word was God
And the word was with God
Liturgist 2 : The same was in the beginning, now is and always will be with
God . . .
He came unto us all . . . and to those who believe, to all those
who receive
This Word is given the power
To be!
All : And so we are . . .
Come now liberatng Word and dwell with us!
2 Noel Dexter (music) Patrick Prescod (lyrics) 1981. Additonal verse appended by Rev. Nicole
Ashwood for Bible Study Manual, 2010.
234
Invitaton to Prayers: God will make a way/Be Thou my Vision
Reading: Ps 103, Eph 3.14-21
Prayer of approach
Loving God, you meet us in the highways and byways of life, and call us into
relatonship with you. Today we pause to recognize you in our midst and ask
that you to reveal yourself to us as we seek your face in this moment. Guide
our thoughts we pray. Amen.
Invitaton to encounters (Texts for the three encounters are included at the
end of the liturgy.)
The liturgist introduces the encounters by saying: As you connect with each
character, we invite you to your own personal encounter with our God who is
with us in the midst of all our experiences.
Song Come Just as You Are
Encounter 1 Envisioned
Chorus Open my Eyes Lord/ Open the eyes of my Heart Lord
Encounter 2 On the cusp of becoming
Chorus Let the power
Silent Refecton
Encounter 3 Just as you are
Refecton and response
Prayers of intercession
(For this tme of prayer, there are several optons: Invite specially selected
persons to pray or have extemporaneous prayers which cover the gamut of
needs refected in the gathered community. Persons may also be asked to
place their prayer needs in a specially marked container and these prayers are
lifed up at this tme, or the minister/liturgist may opt to bless all congregants
at this tme.)
Closing Song: Take Home the Good News
3
/You shall go out with Joy
Benedicton
3 Kimberly Ramlochan and TIM 2007. (Used with permission).
235
Encounter 1 Envisioned
I guess I should be happy that
He had the decency to give me his name
Valour, hmmph!
More like like unclean or son of a worthless, good-for-nothing piece of dirt
At least, thats how I was treated mostly, normally.
But there was nothing normal about that day, nothing, nothing at all.
I was restve, dreaming dreams as one who had sight
Having visions of being worthwhile, of amountng to something of doing more
than sitng in this same spot day afer day, begging for ridicule, scorn, bread
and small change.
And suddenly, I sensed the rumbling,
A change in the wind, an urgency and poignancy in the movement of the
people on the street!
What is going on, I asked myself.
Then I heard it the Teacher is in town. Hes headed this way. Maybe, he will
heal my daughter
like he did the soldiers servant. Maybe hell feed us again like he did at that
wedding they talked about.
Maybe he will perform some great feat or give us new ideas for freedom
Maybe . . .
I did not wait to hear more.
I knew this was what was behind my visions.
I knew my destny was about to change.
I threw of my coat it was a hindrance to my jerky, sightless movements.
I ran as much as possible for one with my conditon.
A sound came up from the bowels of my need as I cried out:
Son to Son, created to Creator!
He heard me. No words of scorn or disdain, no sarcasm or disgust
He simply asked me what I sought from him my night was turned to day. My
vision to reality.
I was fnally worthwhile, Son of valour!
Removed from the guters of unseeing squalor, into the streets of worth and
gain
O the possibilites! Imagine my joy that at last put end to shame!
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Encounter 2 - On the Cusp of Becoming
I stood there trembling
Half kneeling, half stooping, knowing
Death was certain.
My fate sealed with the unwanted caress...
Knowing touch - knowing his actons were never questoned,
never subject to their judgment.
Only mine.
Teacher, they said, we caught her good and proper.
Well improper, really.
What would you have us do to her?
We are fguring youd wish to observe the law a man of your stature and
all.
I waited not a sound, tll fnally he said,
Sure, lets apply the law.
I was a goner for certain. I really thought he would have understood.
But if were applying the law, the person who initates the process must be
above the long hand of the law. So lets begin. On with it he demanded.
I thought about that self-righteous bigot.
Standing in the crowd as if he was innocent.
And of the Neanderthal, whose interests I had spurned
Yep! They may not have been innocent,
(But according to their laws, neither was I) I was a goner . . .
I felt the peltng, the hurled imprecatons. Insults and curses
I waited for more... nothing came. Silence.
He sent me away without even allowing me to thank him
In my own special way
For saving me, setng me free, giving me wings to simply be.
Never again,
Bound by the whims and fancies of the pious crew
Restored. Renewed. Revealed. Released. Resurrected. Redeemed.
Once again, Free!
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Just As Yuh Are, Girl
4
Come just as yuh are girl,
Jus come as yuh are
I done justfy yuh by My grace -
As if yuh never sinned
Or been bruised by her or him.
Come, cause yuh put a smile upside Ma face!

Leave the sink an come, Lawd?
Who gon mix di drink, Lawd?
what about the cleanin an the beds?
Plus the kids dont have no fatha -
Im a single motha
Wont comin jus bring worries to ma head?

Jus come as yuh are

Me can mek You smile?
All ma choices are futle
Everytng I touch jus turn to mush.
Blind to consequence
All Ill bring Yuh is a stench
How could Yuh really love me all dat much?

Jus come as yuh are
Im bleeding and Im sore
I jus dont have no more
Abandonment and biterness know me.
The church dont need my pain
4 2010 Rainbow Ashwood Jamaican (Used with permission).
238
Or to pray for me agen.
When Ive sorted all this out, well then well see.

Jus come as yuh are.
Cause I have justfed yuh by My grace
Or been bruised by her or him
MOTHERS/WOMENS DAY
SERVICE
Preparaton required
This is intended to be an inter-generatonal service with children and youth
being integral to the service. It would be helpful to begin rehearsals and
preparatons a month before the actual service, especially for the movements/
dance, ring game and drama. Invitatons to the various community personnel
should also be extended in advance, and members urged to invite as many
women as possible to the service. If refreshments or tokens are being
provided, the organising team should confrm the numbers at least two weeks
before the service.
For the act of confession, sufcient safety, common and diaper pins are to be
in place in the printed copies of the liturgy (or distributed before the beginning
of the service). Likewise, the collecton baskets for the pins should be in place
before the service begins, unless ushers are named for the task. The youth
group may wish to make the brooches, corsages and boutonnieres or they
may be ordered in advance.
The worship should fow as follows:
Dramatc Prelude
Children proceed to the altar, and weave their way around the chancel
singing the adaptaton of the ring game Thread O or a chorus familiar to the
congregaton. At the end of the second verse, they hand fowers to several
women in the pews, pausing to kiss them on the cheek and honour them.
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Chorus
Thank you, bless you
Women of strength
We love you, need you
You give us nuf help
Aunty, mother, granny, sister
Women of strength
In our trouble, joy or sorrow
You give we nuf help
Village lawyer, counsellor, teacher
Women of strength
Chorus
If we ever need to talk
You listen to we
No mater how you long you face
You naah lef we
When other people turn them back
You there for we
Chorus
Invitaton to Worship
Liturgist I was glad when they invited me
All To enter into Gods house of praise
Liturgist I was glad when they ofered us
Men A chance to celebrate our women for their special ways
Liturgist Come one, come all let us sing praises
To our God, to our creator
Children For the gif of women
All Big and small, we bless God for you all!
Liturgist We are gathered in Gods house come let us worship!
Processional Enter Into Jerusalem
Prayers of Adoraton and thanksgiving
Liturgist Creatng God, everyone wants to fnd a real Caribbean jewel -
For they know her true worth.
She is far more valuable than gold, or diamonds, bauxite, oil,
or pitch.
Men Her smile is more compelling than mist rising in Grand Etang
Her warmth hoter than the ash fowing down from Soufriere
Hills
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Her beauty outshines the wonders of all our coral reefs
Thank you God for the gems found in these islands of the
Caribbean Sea.
All Her generosity fows deeper than the waters of Kaieteur Falls
In tmes of trouble or danger she will answer our call
Love never ending like the vastness of Pitch Lake.
God she gives so willingly and we just take and take!
Liturgist So precious and true, she is a gem most rare,
Lord we love her, to the very last strand of her hair.
All Mother, sister, lover, friend
Stranger to none, compassionate to the end
Youve blessed us with these gifs
Our diamonds in the rough.
Liturgist For our precious Caribbean gems dear God, we thank you ever
so much!
Youhaveflledourliveswithmagnifcentwomeninthisregion
O Lord.
All Hallelujahs we raise in one accord
Act of Confession
Liturgist: the pins you have received today have several uses they hold
our babies nappies in place, provide quick repairs for our hemlines, they
guideourseamstressesandtailorsinmakingbeautfulclothingforusall.But
pinsalsohavebeenusedtopierceandwoundandinfictpain.Weallhave
been guilty of abusing others, especially our women with the pinpricks of
ourwords,ofourattudes,ouractons,ourmusic,ourblowsandevenour
thoughts.
Iurgeustodaytoidentfyoneactonwehavepartcipatedinwhichcouldbe
considered as evil against a sister or brother. And as we confess our wrongs,
letusdropthepinsoftorment,strifeandhurtnginthebasketattheend
of the pew, symbolising our repentance from the old ways. Let us now each
takeabroochaswemovetoaddingbeautyandcreatvityinthelivesof
those around us. May God help us to be instruments of peace.
The Lords Prayer
Poem Caribbean Woman (see page 130)
Scripture: Genesis 38; Mark 14:1-9
Drama/special item orca song dedicated to women
241
Sermon
Hymn
Prayers of intercession (writen by Patricia Sheeratan-Bisnauth)
Almighty and everlastng God
born in pain, struggling towards life,
We pray for our world.
Our pain at what we have done to creaton.
Our wonder yet at the beauty of that which we have not spoilt.
Our concerns for justce and peace.
We place these prayers in your open hands,
Trustng that your love is enough.
We pray for women who have demonstrated their commitment,
To working for renewal and transformaton within church and society,
May their faith be strengthened to love and serve you,
Especially in difcult tmes when we are so easily overwhelmed by
bureaucracies, systems and anxiety in fulflling our day tasks,
May all of us bear faithful witness in word and work to your way of being
with us.
We pray for those who known to us personally,
And for those whose pain we read between the lines of media reports and
statstcs;
for societes torn apart by violence, poverty,
for those who are hungry;
for batered wives and abused children;
for the homeless, for the lonely and broken-hearted;
Strengthen us, we pray for what lies ahead to do what we can
to work for peace and plenty for all people,
peace on the earth; peace with the Earth.
Aaronic Blessing of women in service and ministry
Recessional A Prophet-woman broke a Jar
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A SERVICE FOR WOMENS
SUNDAY
(Adapted from a liturgy used for Internatonal Womens Day at the
Ecumenical Centre, Geneva, 2009)
WOMEN AS WELLS OF NOURISH AND HOPE
Introit: For those tears I died (verse 1 and chorus)
Introducton
Worship recalls the past, but that is not all; Worship creates our future. Let
us rejoice in our faith heritage and tend the fame of leadership. In sovereign
love God created the world and made everyone equally in Gods image, male
and female, of every race, to live as one community.
We recall our foremothers: Sarah, Miriam, Shiphrah and Puah, Huldah the
prophet, Judith, and other brave women... many of whose names are lost to
us. We honour Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the other Marys, and women
who helped form the early Christan community.
The same Spirit who inspired the prophets and apostles rules our faith and
lives in Christ through Scripture, engages us through the Word proclaimed...
and calls women and men to all ministries of the Church.
Call to worship
As many of you as were baptzed into Christ have clothed yourselves with
Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there
is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. (Gal.
3.27-28)
Litany:
Voice 1 Through the waters of the womb, we entered this world as our
mothers laboured to give birth to us.
Voice 2 Through the waters of the deep sea, our grandmothers in faith
travelled before us, as God made a way before them.
Voice 3 Through the waters of baptsm, we have been reborn as Christs
sons and daughters, for Gods own Holy Spirit has bathed us.

243
Congregaton: We speak as one to thank God for our beginnings in life
and in faith.
We are here to praise God, from whom all lifes blessings
fow and who promises us life in fullness.
Song: Fill my cup Lord
Prayer
Leader: Loving and merciful God, you create each of us in your image.
You grace us generously with a variety of gifs.
You prepare each of us for unique ways of loving you by serving each other.
Yet, we tarnish your image, we waste our gifs,
We run from your call to follow, we fail to live in peace with others,
And to partcipate in your transformatve works of healing and reconciliaton.
Assurance of pardon
Leader: Hear the good news!
Christ died for us, Christ rose for us,
Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us.
Anyone who is in Christ is a new creaton.
The old life has gone; a new life has begun.
Know that you are forgiven and be at peace. Amen.
Renewing Our Baptsmal Covenant
Leader Sisters and brothers, do you renounce all evil, and all powers
in this world which defy Gods righteousness, justce,
equality, and peace?
Congregaton We renounce them.
Leader Do you renounce the ways of sin that separate you from the
love of God and that keep you serving your community?
Congregaton We renounce them.
Leader: Brothers, do you commit yourselves to respect, support and
nurture women of this congregaton and in your homes and
communites?
Men We do, with Gods help.
Leader Sisters, will you be Christs faithful disciples, obeying Christs
Word and showing Christs love, always?
Women: We do, with Gods help.
Leader God of our fore-mothers and fathers, You are Living Water, a
River of Mercy, our Source of Life! You quench our thirstng;
You refresh our weariness; You bathe our wounds. Be for
us an Eternal Fountain of Life. Be for the world a River of
Hope, bubbling up in the desert of despair. To You be honour,
blessing, glory and praise forever! Amen.
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The Lords prayer
Scripture readings: Organise to do a biblio-dramatc reading of:
John 4.1-15, Isaiah 12.2-4
Hymn:
Announcement:
Ofering:
Message:
Song: Go tell it on the mountain (Womens Day version)
Prayers of intercession (done with diferent voices, singing a brief prayer
chorus in between)
Creator God, giver of life, mother and father of us all:
We pray for women and men, who struggle for life on a daily basis,
For those who are hungry,
For women from countries torn by war and confict who live daily with
violence and terror,
For batered women and abused children,
For the lonely and broken-hearted,
We pray for those who are known to us personally, and for those whose pain
we read between the lines from media reports and statstcs. (silence as we
lif up their names)
Response: Chorus
We pray for children in Guyana and every corner of this world who are
hungry for food and hungry for love,
For children abused by their families and tossed aside by society,
And for those far away from their homes, alone and afraid,
For those who are denied opportunites to dream and for those who feel
hopeless.
Response: Chorus
We pray for women and men, who work to bring hope to people,
Those who work for renewal and transformaton within the church and
society,
May their faith be strengthened to love and serve you especially in tmes
of difculty when they can be overwhelmed by bureaucracies, systems and
245
daily anxietes,
Grant them courage as they trouble the water and make waves to bring for
transformaton and reconciliaton.
Response: Chorus
God of our foremothers and fathers, you are living water, a river of mercy,
and our source of life!
You quench our thirst; you refresh our weariness; you bathe our wounds.
Be for us an eternal fountain of life.
Be for the world a river of hope, bubbling up in the desert of despair.
To you be honour, blessing, glory and praise forever!
(We light a candle and pray together):
Congregaton: God, our peace and our hope,
You have made us human beings to need each other.
Help us to listen to each other, to play our parts, and to
recognize that we need to learn from others.
And as Mary, earthly mother, common woman sang to her
son of a changing world,
May we, too, learn to listen and delve to the deep human
source of her heavenly music.
So we say in Jesus name:
Women: My soul praises God,
my spirit rejoices in the one who has raised me up and has
remembered me in my humiliaton.
Men: All those to come will honour me because of the great things
God has achieved with this small life.
Congregaton: The name of God is not like any other name!
Women: Throughout all tme, God has shown compassion upon the
dispossessed poor, overturning the armies and the arrogance
of the powerful with one sweep of the hand,
Men: Lifing up the litle ones, the invisible, flling the hungry with
good things and sending the rich away with nothing.
Congregaton: Gods promise to our mothers and fathers stll lives. It will
be made good.
Bless God, O my soul. Amen.
Song: We shall go out with hope of resurrecton
Blessing
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Go with us, Spirit of Wisdom, as we leave this place of refreshment;
Baptze us with the water of peace;
Anoint us with the oil of justce;
Feed us with the manna of solidarity.
Go in peace. Serve the Lord.
Song: Fill my cup Lord
A SERVICE TO CELEBRATE
EMANCIPATION
(This liturgy was prepared for the World Alliance of Reformed Churches
Executve Commitee
Pilgrimage to Nelson Island, Trinidad, October 24, 2007
Rev. Robina Winbush
Gathering of the Community
Choral Invocaton Wa wa wa Emimimo
Call to Worship
By the waters of Babylonthere we sat down and there we wept when we
remembered Zion,.
On the willows there we hung up our harps. For there our captors asked us
for songs, and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
Sing us one of the songs of Zion!
How could we sing the Lords song in a foreign land?
(Psalm 137: 1- 4)
Song of Lamentaton Senzenina
1
Senzenina, Senzenina, Senzenina
Remembering Resistance
For the millions
For the millions of Africans chained to the slave ships,
For the millions of scars on the backs and faces by the
bullwhip
1 Senzenina is a Zulu word that is translated What have we done to deserve this?
247
For the millions who jumped overboard
For the blood that poured on the shores of
the Caribbean, North America, South America,
Central America, Europe
each ripple in the ocean
is a grave to an African
who refused to be a slave!
Response Senzenina
Re-Membering Hebrews 12.1a
Afer the frst two refectons, Senzenina is sung as a community response.
Afer the third refecton, the community is silent as the drumming speaks.
Prayer:
God of our ancestors unknown, God of our mothers and our fathers, God
who has so graciously made yourself known in the liberatng life and work of
Jesus, we come with heavy hearts as we remember the horror of millions of
Africans stolen and forced onto ships in the horrifc middle passage where
many died and survivors were brought to the Caribbean and the Americas as
enslaved people. The agony of people in chains, being bought and sold and
use to build the wealth of Europe and the Americas stll terrorizes us today.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, sanctfy our memories that pain and guilt
might be transformed into power and redemptve acton for our generaton
and generatons to come. Grant us a glimpse of the shalom you desire for all
of creaton and make us agents of transformatve and healing justce for the
world you created and love.
Hebrews 12.1b-2
Response Oh Freedom
Oh Freedom, Oh Freedom, Oh, Freedom over me
And before Ill be a slave, Ill be buried in my grave
And go home to my Lord and be free.
Readings
Hebrew Scripture Amos 5.21-24
Contemporary Refecton
At the Elmina Castle in Ghana, the Dutch merchants, soldiers, and Governor
lived on the upper level, while the slaves were held in captvity one level
below. We entered a room used as a church, with words from Psalm 132
on a sign stll hanging above the door (For the Lord has chosen Zion).
248
And we imagined Reformed Christans worshipping their God while directly
below them, right under their feet, those being sold into slavery languished
in the chains and horror of those dungeons. For more than two centuries
in that place this went on. In angry bewilderment we thought, How could
their faith be so divided from life? How could they separate their spiritual
experience from the torturous physical sufering directly beneath their feet?
How could their faith be so blind?
WARC 24
th
General Council (2004) Leter from Accra
(Silent Refecton)
Epistle Philemon 8-16

Our focus is on Onesimus, the subject mater of this leter, a voiceless and
powerless slave who ran away from his enslaver and was converted to the
Christan faith by the Apostle Paul. By running away he initated a debate
between Paul and Philemon, leaders in the early church who before
taken an ambivalent attude towards the insttuton. Indeed, Philemon
house was the meetng place for the church in Colosse and he had slaves in
his household like many other well to do citzens.
They saw nothing morally wrong with it because it was legal. At least, so
he thought untl Onesimus became converted! His conversion forced Paul
to rethink his views about slavery. How can a slave who became converted
enter into just relatonship with his enslaver? Does ones relatonship in
Christ fundamentally alter his or her social and economic relatonship with
others who confess to be in Christ?
By running away Onesimus placed the issue of liberaton at the centre of
the churchs deliberaton. The church was faced with a crisis of conscience!
No more could it fold its arms with a kind of innocent neutrality. That was
unacceptable. Onesimus acton awakened a new consciousness.
Roderick Hewit, Lest We Forget
(Silent Refecton)
Gospel Mathew 26.17-25
249
Insttutonalized rejecton of diference is an absolute necessity in a proft
economy which needs outsiders as surplus people. As members of such an
economy, we have all been programmed to respond to the human diferences
between us with fear and loathing and to handle that diference in one of three
ways: ignore it, and if that is not possible, copy it if we think it is dominant,
or destroy it if we think it is subordinate. But we have no paterns for relatng
across our human diferences as equals. As a result, those diferences have
been misnamed and misused in the service of separaton and confusion.
Audre Lourde, Sister Outsider
(Silent Refecton)
Prayer of Confession
One : We confess that so much of our standard of living lies on the
foundatons of a system of slavery
a system that held human life cheap, destroyed families,
transported human beings as cargo, and condemned millions
to a shortened life of hopeless misery.
All : God help us to acknowledge our past and forgive us
One : We confess that this system was conveniently accepted as
commercial necessity and justfed for centuries by Christans
who were also benefciaries.
All : As churches and individuals, we were silent as the power of
personal and insttutonal racism grew and expanded. Today,
we confess our complicity in the atrocites of slavery and
racism. Too ofen we have been silent when we should have
spoken, we have been indiferent when we needed to show
concern and we have blamed others rather than ourselves for
what has happened.
One : Open our hearts and minds to recognize the ways in which
we have partcipated in the systems that separate us from us
- sisters and brothers and from you. With your overwhelming
love, forgive us.
All : Turn us around so that we will challenge racism and
oppression wherever we encounter them. Teach us the
250
ways of dismantling racism in this day and tme. Lead us in
the ways of reconciliaton, reparaton and restoring dignity.
May the commitments of our lives and the commitments
of our churches make a diference as we seek to be your
transforming and transformed people. In the name of Jesus
Christ we pray. Amen.
An Ofering of Ourselves Im Gonna Live So God Can Use Me
Invitaton to the Lords Table
On the night of his arrest, Jesus gathered his disciples to celebrate the Passover
meala meal that recalled Gods liberatng work for an enslaved people. As
we have commited ourselves to work for a world in which none are enslaved
and all have access to the fullness of life promised in Jesus the Christ, we
gather at the table following his example, taking the bread of life and the cup
of salvaton, knowing that in Christ we are set free, we are made whole and
we are one. In celebraton of Gods liberatng workin Jesus the Christ, let us
come and give thanks.
One : Lif up your hearts
All : We lif them up unto the Lord
One : Let us give God thanks and praise
All : It is right to give God thanks and praise.
Great Prayer of Thanksgiving
Mother, Father, God, Creator of the universe; Who has been known to us as
Amen Ra, Oludamare, and Onyame;
It is truly right and our greatest joy to give you thanks and praise
You, O God, being life, are the source of all life.
Creaton is united by the harmony of your Spirit.
You created the universe by the power of your Word.
In the beginning, O Lord, You created our ancestors in your image,
forming them from the dust of Alkebu-lan,
which the Greeks later named Africa.
You gave us your Spirit, thus, making us children of God.
You spoke to our consciousness giving us divine wisdom.
We built powerful civilizatons:
Kemet, Timbuktu, Ghana, Mali, and Songhai.
We became proud and did not return your love.
We strayed from your holy ways, and began to exult ourselves to the level of
divinity.
251
Your prophets called us to return to your ways.
We did not, so you dispersed us throughout the earth.
Slavers came against us,
frst Arabs, then Europeans.
You sent Jeshua Ben Joseph, whom the Greeks called Jesus,
to show us the way to eternal life, and to redeem us through the example of
his life.
Through him, our Great Ancestor, we have been made into a new family; a
people washed and purifed in the waters of transformaton:
the Nile, Congo, Atlantc, Caribbean,Black River, Essequibo, Mississippi,
Potomac, and Chatahoochee.
Your grace extends like the gif of a million years.
Blessed are you, O God.
Our genius was stolen, people exploited, and culture destroyed
But, in your faithfulness you did not forget us.
In communion,
joining with those who have come before us,
and now live with you in eternity,
we lif up praises to your name.
All: Heaven and earth praise your name!
Let the elders praise your name!
Let the youth praise your name!
Let the children praise your name!
Let our childrens children, and all generatons that follow
praise your name!
Blessed are you, O God Most High,
for wrapping yourself in African fesh,
and living with us, in our joys, our pains,
our sorrows, and our struggles.
for giving us the sign of the cross;
a symbol of powerful transformaton from death to life,
from mental bondage to intellectual freedom,
and from disunity to unity.
Like the sun rising from the east,
you got up from the grave conquering death, and crushing all evil.
252
for the gif of your Spirit that
revives, renews, and unites all of your children;
the living dead, the living, and the yet to be born. AMEN.
Blessing the Bread and the Cup
We give thanks that on the night before Jesus died,
He took bread.
Afer giving thanks to you, he broke it,
and gave it to his disciples, saying,
Take, eat. This is my body, given for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.
In the same way he took the cup, saying,
This cup is the new covenant sealed in my blood,
shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this in remembrance of me.
In remembrance of your mighty act in Jesus, the Christ,
we take from your creaton this bread and this cup
and celebrate his death and resurrecton,
as we await the day of his coming.
Accept this our sacrifce of praise and thanksgiving,
as a living and holy ofering of ourselves,
dedicated to your service,
that our lives may proclaim the mystery of faith.
Gracious God,
pour out your Spirit upon us,
and upon these your gifs of bread and fruit of the vine,
that the bread we break and the cup we bless
may be the communion of the body and blood of Christ.
By your Spirit make us one with Christ,
and one with each other as we share this meal,
untl we eat together in the joy of your eternal kingdom. AMEN
Friends, this is the joyful feast of the people of God. This is the Lords Table.
Our Liberator invites those who trust him to share the feast, which he has
prepared.
Sharing the Bread and the Cup
(The Bread and Cup are shared and received by intncton)
253
The Passing of the Peace Halle, Halle, Hallelujah
Prayers of Intercession
One : Let us pray for communites and individuals that are held in
bondage by human trafcking,
economic exploitaton, military occupaton and intmidaton,
gender based violence and other systems that seek to deny the
fullness of life for all of Gods creaton..
One : Let us pray for churches, communites and individuals who
actvely resist imperial powers of oppression and who live as
agents of light and liberaton that Gods reign may be realized
throughout this world.
One : Let us pray us for churches, communites and individuals who
either passively or intentonally betray the Christ and work to
uphold systems of oppression and exploitaton
One : Let us pray for what only the Spirit can give us uterance to
pray
One : Let us join in the family prayer that Jesus taught his disciples,
each praying in their own language.
The Lords Prayer
Closing Song The Right Hand of God
Blessing
God of power,
may the boldness of your Spirit transform us,
may the gentleness of your Spirit lead us,
may the gifs of your Spirit
equip us to serve and worship you
as agents of transformaton and liberaton
now and always,
Through Jesus Christ our Liberator and Lord. AMEN
Departng Song Slavery Chain
Resources: For the Millions excerpted from a poem by the Last Poets; Prayer
of Confession from 30 July 2007 Worship Service at the Ecumenical Centre
254
led by Rev. Patricia Sheeratan-Bisnauth; Great Prayer of Thanksgiving by Rev.
Dr. Mark Lomax, pastor of First Afrikan Presbyterian Church in Lithonia, GA;
Benedicton adapted from In Spirit and In Truth; Worship Resouces for the 7
th

Assembly of the World Council of Churches.
255
GLOSSARY OF WORDS AND
TERMS
Androgynous biologically being both male and female.
Bodyself our entre self/being -- body, soul and spirit.
Biblical resistant reading - takes the view that biblical hermeneutcs within
a Caribbean context needs to focus more on the meaning of biblical texts
for lived realites and less on the Bible as historically and contextually
conditoned and thereby ideological. Further, the work outlines the difcultes
of combining biblical hermeneutcs and social praxis within the context of the
Caribbean and partcularly within Christan communites that descend from a
long history of slavery.
Conscientzaton refers to a type of learning which is focused on perceiving
and exposing social and politcal contradictons. Conscientzaton also
includes taking acton against oppressive elements in ones life as part of that
learning.
Dalits refer to those communites that were considered untouchable in the
Indian caste system.
Dehumanizaton treatment of persons as if they were less than human.
Discriminaton various types of social prejudices (i.e. racism, sexism, and
classism) are contained within and enacted from positons of power, within
society, against the ofended groups.
Double entendre fgure of speech in which the meaning of the phrase can
be understood in either of two ways, with the second meaning ofen being
risqu. This device is ofen employed in Dancehall and Calypso, e.g., Saltish
is sweeter than meat.
Eisegesis (a Greek word) is the process of misinterpretng a text in such a way
that it introduces ones own ideas, reading into the text. This is best understood
when contrasted with exegesis. While exegesis draws out the meaning from
the text, eisegesis occurs when a reader reads his/her interpretaton into the
text. As a result, exegesis tends to be objectve when employed efectvely
while eisegesis is regarded as highly subjectve.
Glossary of words and terms
256
Exegesis relates to correct Biblical understanding. It means literally to lead
out. In the context of Bible study it means to get out of the text what the
text is saying. This may include a number of things to aid the process such
as reading the context in the chapter, cultural awareness of the tme of the
writng, and identfying the author and even the target audience.
Emancipatory theology is rooted in the idea that theology is not neutral. It
can either support the status quo or oppose it. Emancipatory theology then
refers to that theology that opposes the status quo in order to propose a new
social order.
Gender describes socially constructed (and ofen unequal) roles,
responsibilites and expectatons culturally and socio-politcally assigned to
women and men and the insttutonal structures that support them. Unlike
biological sex, gender is learned and can be transformed. Throughout history
gender roles and expectatons have been changing.
Gender analysis is a tool that seeks to understand social, religious and
cultural processes that create and maintain gender diferences in order to
design informed responses of equitable optons. It involves the examining the
diferent roles women and men play in society and the diferental impacts
of policies related to politcs, economy, social relatons and religion on these
roles. Extending from the idea that gender diferences are based more on
social, cultural and religious defned values, than on biology, this type of
analysis recognizes and challenges the value systems which are responsible
for the diferent (and unequal) impacts and benefts experienced by women
and men of any given society.
Hegemony refers to dominance over another with the aim to control.
Hermeneutcs is the science or art of interpretaton and includes the
entre framework of the interpretve process, encompassing all forms of
communicaton writen, verbal and nonverbal and also experiental.
Homophobia is a term used to describe irratonal fear of, aversion to, or
discriminaton against homosexuals.
Idiom common way of speaking.
Immaculate concepton is, according to Roman Catholic doctrine, the
concepton of the Virgin Mary without any stain (immacula in Latn) of
original sin. The core belief is that Jesus was conceived by Mary through the
Holy Spirit and not through sexual intercourse with another human being.
257
Immutability refers to unchanging over tme or being unable to be
changed.
Marginalizaton is the social process of becoming or being made marginal
- to relegate or confne to a lower social standing or outer limit or edge, as of
social standing.
Masculinity pertains to males and is used to speak of the roles and behaviour
that are traditonally assigned to men and sometmes of the propertes or
characteristcs of men.
Metonymy a fgure of speech in which something is not called by its
own name but by the name of something intmately related to it, e.g., the
government of Jamaica is referred to as Gordon House, the place where the
parliament meets.
Mutuality as is directed and received by each toward the other; reciprocal.
Nana is a midwife; nanny or nurse.
Nannyish theology as proposed by Marjorie Lewis is a contextualized
womanist theology. It is interfaith and mult-faith, and based on a consensus
in the Jamaican society about the signifcance of natonal heroine, Nanny of
the Maroons, as the quintessental Jamaican woman. Nanny was a leader of
the Maroons - Africans who fed to the interior of Jamaica in 1655 when the
Britsh captured the island from the Spanish. The Maroons waged a successful
guerrilla campaign against the Britsh to remain free. They eventually signed a
peace treaty with the Britsh in 1739, gaining self-government before slavery
was abolished. Nanny, a renowned Maroon guerrilla leader, represents women
who are empowered to safeguard the freedom of the community.
Omnipotence is the quality of having unlimited or very great power.
Omniscience is the quality of knowing everything.
Parenthetcal is inserted into a passage as if not essental, and marked of,
usually by brackets.
Patriarchy is a word used to describe the situaton where womens stories
and thereby, their experiences, have been ignored, forgoten, misinterpreted
and devalued, while stories about men and thereby their experiences have
been elevated, remembered, emphasized and overvalued. Patriarchy also
refers to systemic societal structures that insttutonalize male physical,
politcal, economic and social power over women.
258
Platonic dualism rooted in the metaphysics of Plato, it is the belief in
the existence of two radically diferent substances, categories of things or
principles, e.g., mind and body, good versus evil, material versus physical.
Post-colonial is the act of reclamaton and reafrmaton against the
past colonial and current neo-colonizing tendencies which contnue to
exert infuence even afer territorial and politcal independence has been
accomplished, it is the analysis and critcism of the cultural legacy of colonialism
from the perspectve of the excluded.
Poverty is a state of insufcient resources necessary to maintain a basic and
sustainable standard of living. It includes the lack of access to food, shelter,
clothing and social services, i.e. health, educaton, water, sanitaton, peace
and security.
Procreaton the bringing forth of children.
Racism is an ideology whereby individuals or groups of a partcular race are
discriminated against and become the target of unfair assumptons and/or
unfair or unjust treatment because of their race.
Redemptve masculinites is the belief that there are certain aspects of
traditonal male behaviour that can contribute positvely to the building
of community and society. That not all male behaviour is necessarily
destructve.
Sex is the biologically determined and physical diferences between women
and men.
Sexism refers to attudes, conditons, or behaviour that promotes
stereotyping of social roles based on gender.
Socialisaton is a process through which people are consciously or
subconsciously instructed by the values, beliefs and mores of a partcular
society. It refers to an educatonal process which informs persons and makes
them ft in and functon as a member of society.
Stoicism Ancient Greek philosophical traditon which highlights indiference
to pleasure or to pain.
Synoptcists refers to the authors of Mathew, Mark and Luke.
Tante is an aunty or aunt.
259
Tribalism is the organisaton, culture, or beliefs of a tribe.
Violence is an act of aggression causing physical or psychological harm.
Womanist and feminist are ideological, theological and ethical perspectves
and liberatve practces which have as their goal emancipaton, wholeness
and fullness of life for all of Gods creaton. While feminist theology frst arose
among white women in the North Atlantc, these terms are used in many
locatons globally. Womanist theology speaks from the depths of African
American womens lives and communites. Caribbean women identfy with
the womanist concept.
Xenophobia is an abnormal fear or hatred of foreigners and strange things.
260
REFERENCES AND FURTHER
RESOURCES
ANGELOU, Maya, Maya Angelou Poems (New York: Bantam Books, 1986),
pp.154-155.
ANTROBUS, Peggy, The Global Womens Movement: Origins, Issues and
Strategies (Zed Books Ltd., 2004).
AUSTIN-BROOS, Diane J., Religion and the Politcs of Moral Orders
(Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1997).
BARRITEAU, Eudine Confrontng Power, Theorizing Gender: Interdisciplinary
Perspectves in the Caribbean (Kingston, Jamaica: University Press of the
West Indies, 2003).
BERGANT, Dianne, Israels Wisdom Literature (Minneapolis: Augsburg
Fortress, 1997).
BISNAUTH, Dale, History of Religions in the Caribbean (Trenton, NJ: African
World Press, Inc., 1996).
BISNAUTH, Dale, The Setlement of Indians in Guyana 1890 to 1930
(London: Peepal Tree Press, 2000).
BRENT, Linda, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: An Authentc Historical
Narratve Describing the Horrors of Slavery as Experienced by Black Women
(New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973).
CARTER, Warren, Mathew and the Margins: A Sociopolitcal and Religious
Reading (NY: Orbis Books, 2005), p.279.
CLARKE, Sathianathan, MANCHALA, Deenabandhu & PEACOCK, Philip
V., (Eds.), Dalit Theology in the Twenty First Century: Discordant Voices,
Discerning Pathways (Delhi/Geneva: Oxford University Press and WCC
Publicatons, 2010).
COONAN, Michael D., (Ed.), The New Oxford Annotated Bible New Revised
Standard Version with the Apocrypha Third Editon (Oxford & New York:
Oxford University Press, 2007), pp.64-65.
DAVIDAR, David, The House of Blue Mangoes (New Delhi: Penguin Books
India Ltd., 2002), pp.298-299.
DAVIDSON, Richard M., Theology of Sexuality In The Song Of Songs: Return
261
To Eden (Andrews University Seminary Studies, Spring 1989, Vol. 27, No. 1,
1-19, Andrews University Press), p.5.
DAVIS, Ellen, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs (Louisville: Kentucky,
Westminster John Knox, 2000).
DIETRICH, Gabriele, Beyond Patriarchy, Caste and Capitalism, Seeds of Hope,
(Arasaradi, Tamilnadu: Tamilnadu Theological Seminary, 2009), p.13.
DUBE, Musa, Postcolonial Feminist Spaces and Religion, Postcolonialism,
Feminism and Religious Discourse (Eds.) DONALDSON Laura E. and LAN Kwok
Pui (New York and London: Routledge, 2002) p.106.
DUBE, Musa, Postcolonial Feminist Interpretaton of the Bible (St.Louis,
Missouri: Chalice Press 2000), p.119.
DVORIN, Dani, Parallelisms and Diferences: Rastafarianism and Judaism
(The Dread Library. April 20, 1998), htp://debate.uvm.edu/dreadlibrary/
dvorin.html.
ELLIS, Patricia (Ed.), Women of the Caribbean (N.J., USA : Zed Books, 1986).
ERSKIN, Noel Leo, Black Theology and Pedagogy, Black Religion/Womanist
Thought/Social Justce (Palgrave: Macmillan, 2008).
ERSKIN, Noel Leo, Decolonizing Theology: A Caribbean Perspectve (Africa
Research & Publicatons, New editon, 1998).
FARMER, Kathleen A., Who Knows What is Good? A Commentary on the
Books of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1991).
GNANADASON, Joy, A Forgoten History: The Story of the Missionary
Movement and the Liberaton of the People in South Tranvancore (Chennai:
Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Insttute, 1994).
GREGORY, Howard (Ed.),Caribbean Theology: Preparing for the Challenges
Ahead (Kingston, Jamaica: Canoe Press, University of the West Indies, 1995).
HARE, Douglas R.A., Mathew, in Interpretaton: A Bible Commentary for
Preaching and Teaching, (Louisville: John Knox Press,1993), p.145.
HODGE, Merle, We Kind of Family, in Gendered Realites: Essays in
Caribbean Feminist Thought (Ed.) Patricia Mohammed (Trinidad and Tobago:
University of the West Indies Press, 2002), p.480.
JEAN-BAPTISTE, Alfred, Caribbean English and the Literacy Tutor: A manual
(Toronto: The Toronto ALFA Centre, 1995), htp://www.nald.ca/library/
research/caribb/cover.htm.
References and further sources
262
JEFFERS, James S., Jewish and Christan Families in First Century Rome, in
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263
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References and further sources
264
CALLED TO COMMUNION, COMMITTED TO JUSTICE
Who we are
We are a communion of Protestant churches in 108 countries. Our
230 member churches are Presbyterian, Congregatonal, Reformed,
Waldensian, United, and Unitng. The combined membership of
these churches is an estmated 80 million people.
What we do
WCRC coordinates joint church initatves for economic, ecological
and gender justce based on the member churches common
theology and beliefs.
Our objectves are to foster unity among our member churches
and promote economic, social and ecological justce.
Why
WCRCs member churches believe that Christan faith is based on
actons which respond to the spiritual needs and economic and
social rights of all people in society and that this includes ensuring
responsible use of natural resources.
How
WCRC is commited to collaboratng with other church movements
on issues of common concern such as climate change, gender
justce and theological dialogue.
WCRC is supported principally by membership contributons of
fnances and human resources. It also seeks funding for specifc
projects.
WCRC is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland.
For more go to www.wcrc.ch
World Communion
of Reformed Churches
World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC)
150 route de Ferney, PO Box 2100
1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Website: www.wcrc.ch
It is necessary for women and men to learn to read the
Bible in the context of their economic, social, political and
cultural reality... Churches need to encourage openness
to womens interpretations of Scripture and ensure their
voices are heard in theological seminaries and in local
parishes If the language of the Bible is not understood
in todays terms, some passages can be used to allow
excluding women from church leadership.
World Communion of Reformed Churches
News Release, March 8, 2011
is a Bible study book on women which provides refreshing ways to
read the Bible, enabling women and men to rediscover its richness
and its ability to help them refect theologically on their faith and
experience. It has twenty Bible studies with stories of women, a Bible
study training guide, poems and liturgies.
A variety of popular approaches and methodologies for contextual
Bible study is used. It is an excitng journey of discovering new
insights and ways of reading the Bible from a gender lens with a
critcal consciousness of ones contextual reality. The book serves
as an instrument for transformatve educaton, conscientzaton and
enabling change.
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