The prophet Jeremiah, mourning his people in the city of Zion, spoke of the balm that could heal them. He foresaw the physician and he asked, "Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?" The message of Jesus has been in North America for centuries, yet past history with the first nations of the land has left many native people thinking they have to choose either to be an Indian or to believe in Jesus. Jeremiah said, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." How, then, do we bring the balm of Gilead to the most oppressed group on the continent where women and children are suffering the highest rates of violence? When Jesus forgave a prostitute, when he offered living waters to the woman at the well who had six failed relationships, and when he healed a crippled woman, he showed us how he would build his church from the brokenhearted among all people. Journey to the Edge of the Woods visits women sharing concern over the degradation of our daughters, sisters, mothers, and friends in a world of intensifying confusion of the creation of male and female identities.
