Wealth, Women, and God

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Wealth, Women, and God

How to Flourish Spiritually and Economically in Tough Places

by: Miriam Adeney (Author), Sadiri Joy Tira (Author)

The Arabian Gulf—the wealthiest country in the world is located here, as is the world’s busiest airport. Not many citizens are Christians. Not much religious conversion is allowed. Yet God's grace is at work through migrant women who share God's love with some of the country's most powerful people. In this book, you will find:

• primary research not available anywhere else, narrated in a highly readable style
• globalization, diasporas, and massive culture change
• Jesus women—maids, nurses, pastors—experiencing rape, jail, and the opportunity to mentor hundreds
• a guide for group Bible study and reflection at the end of each chapter These Gulf women’s stories, like those in the Bible, teach lessons that apply to us in many countries.

Endorsements

This book surfaces for us the hidden stories of suffering and deliverance that are being lived out in the Arab world and other centers of mass migration. With deft storytelling, Miriam Adeney and Sadiri Joy Tira paint moving portraits of women abroad struggling to wrest a future out of poverty and misfortune, and finding in the process the gracious hand of God at work in their lives. Seldom do we get stories from what the Latin Americans call “the underside of history”—those submerged voices tossed to and fro by the tidal forces of globalization. The authors do a great service in making us aware of the human plight and also of the sovereign God who goes ahead and accompanies peoples on the move.

Melba Padilla Maggay, PhDfounder of the Institute for the Study of Asian Church and Culture Philippines
These stories will touch you deeply. Some will move you to tears. They are records of women who leave home, many not by choice, wandering into faraway lands in search of money to feed their families and to build a better future. In the midst of the difficulties they face, sometimes seemingly insurmountable, we read of the amazing grace of God reaching out to each one—giving hope, strength, and perseverance to carry on. Ultimately, these stories testify to God’s unfailing and faithful love.

Wong Siew Lideputy director, Iclif Leadership and Governance Centre Malaysia
Compelling vignettes coupled with vibrant portraits of contemporary and historic life in the Arabian Gulf make this slim volume a rich resource. From stories of women marred by unscrupulous labor contractors to women who work with dignity, the multilayered lives of diaspora workers are illuminated. Probing questions conclude each chapter, creating a valuable tool for individuals and groups. Evidence of persistence, hope, and resilience across the “deep trench between the wealthy and the poor” speak to us of God’s presence in all places. The text concludes with “next steps” that nudge us toward concrete, practical outreach.

Evvy Hay Campbell, PhDchair of the board, World Hope International
A totally engaging book. We feel the textures and see the colors of life, faith, and work intersecting in Middle Eastern cultures. We are moved to think about how we ourselves can live as creative minorities in our own cities. I could not put it down. I highly recommend Wealth, Women, and God.

Samuel E. Chiang, PhDpresident and CEO, Seed Company
When cultures and governments close the doors to missionaries, send in housemaids. And nurses, nannies, and clerks. Millions of mobile women with a mighty loyalty to faith and family. This book describes the most transglobal migration at work in the world today. It is a female migration, with gripping stories of danger, blood, bruises, hopes, and heartbreak. Yet these women are leaving indelible fingerprints of faith. I could not stop reading. The individual stories point to the big story of God’s mission pulsing in the southern hemispheres between India and the Philippines and the Arabian Gulf region, between oil-rich nations and poor lands. Until now, few Westerners have noticed. Thank you, Miriam Adeney and Sadiri Joy Tira, for opening our eyes and our hearts.

Catherine B. Allen, PhDadvocate for women in missions and ministry
Expert guides, Miriam and Joy take us “snorkeling” deep into the often unseen world of diaspora women in the Middle East. From their introductory “dive” onward, they convey in 3-D reality diverse glimpses of living, serving, and working as foreigners surrounded by the grace and sovereignty of God. Eye-opening and inspiring.

Leiton Chinnsenior associate, Lausanne International Student Ministry
A great guide to stewarding the impossible situations of life. “My word shall not return void” is the constant theme in Wealth, Women, and God. Even in places where it would seem impossible to thrive and minister, God has his children. When they allow his light to shine through them, there is hope.

Dwight Gibsonchief explorer, The Exploration Group
The women in this book challenge and encourage readers to look up and see who God is, look around and see what he is doing, and look inside to reflect and then take action on what he wants each of us to do for his kingdom.

Cheri Pierson, PhDassociate professor of intercultural studies Wheaton College Graduate School
Approaching charged topics with the grace and curiosity of wellinformed guests, the authors examine broad geopolitical and economic structures, then zoom in on the intimate realities of individual women’s stories. Their friendly, down-to-earth tone guides us on a tour of God’s work among immigrant women in the Middle East.

Hannah Rasmusseneditorial assistant, Africa Study Bible
“Come, see a man who told me everything I did. Can this be the Christ?” An unnamed woman in the first century asked that question. Miriam Adeney and Sadiri Joy Tira show, through a series of deceptively simple stories, how women in the Middle East today are meeting Christ, then introducing others to him, just like that first-century seeker did. To marginalized women Christ still offers living water, especially guest workers from the Philippines, Africa, and India. This is happening in an improbable place: the wealthy, orthodox Muslim Arabian Peninsula. Told with characteristic grace and understated insight, these accounts exude the warmth of testimonies shared around a fire on the last night of camp.

David Marshall, PhD