Elaine A. Heath, Ph.D.
Brazos Press, 2011, 196 pp., $19.99
According to RAINN, the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, every two minutes, someone in the United States is sexually assaulted. Each year there are about 213,000 victims of sexual assault in this country. RAINN’s research indicates 60 percent of sexual assaults are not reported to police—startling statistics for ministry opportunity. With stats such as these, it would appear obvious that ministry leaders should be trained in caring well for this population group. In her outstanding book We Were the Least of These, author Elaine Heath, a professor, pastor, theologian and sexual abuse survivor, first reminds us often the church has not been a safe, redemptive place for the survivors of sexual abuse:
“Often they (survivors of sexual abuse) are internally if not outwardly disconnected from Christianity, the church, the Bible, and clergy. Much of their alienation has to do with how the Bible is read and interpreted in the church. The church’s obsession with sexual sin coupled with its poorly developed theology of sexuality only compound the alienation” (p. 4).
Heath does not loiter here. Instead, with beauty, she invites the reader to an ancient method of helping the survivors of sexual abuse. She teaches us to search Scripture with the lenses of those who have been abused. She believes in the transforming, healing power of the biblical text:
“We survivors read the healing stories of Luke 8 with a different set of lenses. In these stories we see the consequences of our abuse played out in a lifetime of suffering. We see the isolation, the labeling, the exclusion, and the sin. But larger than all the wounds we see redemption. For the same Jesus who got into a boat and crossed over to the other side, the same Jesus who called a bleeding woman ‘daughter,’ the same Jesus who said, ‘Talitha cum! Little girl, arise!’ has come to us. He has given us back our lives. And we will never agree to participate in our own subjugation again. Christ has set us free” (p. 107).
This book is a great resource. It challenges the reader on issues central to ministry: the gospel and helping people. It invites us to be better ministry leaders. We Were the Least of These teaches us how to read Scripture from the perspective of those with a different story than our own. It also invites us into more of our own healing. Heath includes a thorough resource section, which suggests articles and papers, books, movies and websites for additional helps.
