Even as someone who isn't in the authors' target audience, I got a lot out of Hermanas. It was fascinating to view so many biblical stories from the perspective of a person of color and I appreciated what the authors had to say.

As a Latina woman, I have found in the last few years that almost no Christian book specifically discusses us, relates to us, loves us. This book, wow! I loved the rawness of some of the stories, how I could relate to so many of them. How much these women love their communities and will definitely be purchasing a physical copy because I loved it so much. I loved their perspectives on the women, our hermanas, in the Bible. I loved reading one that focused on our unique culture within our faith.

I really and truly loved Hermanas: Deepening Our Identity and Growing our Influence. The word "hermana," is Spanish for "sister," and I wish that it were possible to reach through the screen and give all three of these ladies a HUGE HUG. 

As you may know, my name is Rebecca and I am a minister in the United Methodist Church. I love my church very, very much- but sadly, I am not personally acquainted with any other female member of the clergy that looks like me. During three years of seminary, I was the only young woman who looked like me in all of my classes. I have been very blessed in the fact that I my church has been very supportive of me and my ministry, but I will admit that it can be lonely sometimes.

Unlike the authors, I am not Latina; however, I can relate to many of the same struggles and insecurities addressed in this book regarding being a woman in ministry who looks different than her colleagues. I particularly appreciated the Natalia's perspective. In the forward, she states that "Growing up, I was the girl who would get the question, 'What are you?'" Like me, her appearance is racially ambiguous (I'm half-Filipino and half white). 

The authors are not afraid to wrestle with painful and complex issues such as domestic abuse, human trafficking, racism, xenophobia, and sexism. All the chapters of this book were excellent and well researched. I was delighted to hear my favorite Bible stories of Esther and Deborah interpreted from a Latina perspective. 

My favorite chapter in the book was the interpretation of the story of Syrophoenician woman whom Jesus healed from bleeding (Mark 7:25-30 & Matthew 15:21-28). In this text, Jesus seems to call a gentile woman a dog (Mark 7:27).

Every time this text shows up in the reactionary, I can't help but cringe. Preaching from this passage has always been a struggle for me. I will continue to struggle with this complex story, but the interpretation that the authors offer in Hermanas has definitely enriched my understanding of this pericope. 

As a pastor, I am fascinated by the interpretation of theology from the margins. Hermanas makes me think of two of my other favorite books, The Women's Bible Commentary and The Global Bible Commentary.  

In Hermanas, the authors invite all of us to come and sit at the table in order to share in a feast of God's love. The authors make it clear that this is a book for everyone and that we are all invited to come and share with them as we learn together. I would recommend this book to all of my sisters in ministry because there is something that we can all learn within these pages; however, I especially recommend this book for any woman in ministry who happens to be Latinx.

The book Hermanas is written by three Latina women taking leadership lessons from twelve women in the Bible. This book fills a need for devotional and theological books written from a Latina perspective, and the authors offer new insight into these women from the Bible based on their own experiences and cultures. Even though I am not Latina, I appreciated their deep insights and loved how they came up with different applications for each woman they wrote on. I hope that this will be even more meaningful for Latinas who need further encouragement in their faith and ministry. This could be a great book for a small group study on the Bible and leadership, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about women in leadership from a Biblical perspective.