Prayer without Hands tells the story of a young boy who survived torment and abuse with will and determination. When he was a small child, his grandfather protected him from the wrong doing and abuse of his parents and gave him the inspiration to survive. As he grew older, the boy planned his own life and set his own goals. He discovered what life was supposed to be, what it meant to him, and what the future would hold for him. Author Gloria Carroll incorporates her poetry into this powerful story, exploring the intense emotions it inspires: Young Wounds Who will wipe the tears away hold and kiss all the day take my hand secure my heart no hugs for sorrows, torn apart Who will make my spirit rise and erase my weary eyes help will come to set me free unbind the bitterness holding me This story offers a ray of hope to those who see no hope in their own circumstances and perhaps encourages them to find the future they were meant to live. Carroll believes that God writes a picture on the wall each and every day and watches over us always.
Impelled by a call to share their gifts through service, Russian Mennonite women immigrating to Canada organized their own church societies (Vereine) as avenues of mission and spiritual strengthening. For women who were restricted from leadership positions within the church, these societies became the primary avenue of church involvement. Through them they contributed vast amounts of energy, time and financial resources to the mission activity of the church. The societies thus became a context in which women could speak, pray and creatively give expression to their own understanding of the biblical message. Using primary sources such as reports, letters, minutes, etc., as well as society histories, interviews and survey data, Redekop charts the development of these societies, from the establishment of the earliest ones in the 1870s to their flowering in the fifties and sixties and their decline in the eighties and nineties. The Work of Their Hands elucidates the context in which Mennonite women lived their identity as Christian women, one considered appropriate by themselves and the institutional church. It also shows how changes to the societies, including declining membership and a shift in their primary focus from sewing and baking to one of spiritual fellowship, reflect the changing roles of women within the church, the home and the wider society. The Work of Their Hands is an important book in the history of Mennonite women’s spirituality and will be a valuable resource for religious studies, women’s studies and Canadian history.
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