Understanding Modern-Day Christian Immigrant Women's Stories through the Book of Ruth

Hebbard, Marcela

Etd

Understanding Modern-Day Christian Immigrant Women's Stories through the Book of Ruth

Public Deposited

MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Hebbard, Marcela. Understanding Modern-day Christian Immigrant Women's Stories Through the Book of Ruth. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/e6cb142a-cc63-4c83-9d28-630756dafe29?q=2021.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

H. Marcela. Understanding Modern-Day Christian Immigrant Women's Stories through the Book of Ruth. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/e6cb142a-cc63-4c83-9d28-630756dafe29?q=2021

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Hebbard, Marcela. Understanding Modern-Day Christian Immigrant Women's Stories Through the Book of Ruth. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/e6cb142a-cc63-4c83-9d28-630756dafe29?q=2021.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

Creator

Hebbard, Marcela

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Abstract

Recognizing there is a relative absence of material regarding immigration in Evangelical scholarship that gives voice to the immigrant themselves, especially women, this study sought to contribute qualitative material that sheds light on the phenomenon of female migration because their experiences with immigration have not been fully understood. The Book of Ruth served as a biblico-historical lens to help analyze the participants’ experiences with immigration as believers in Christ, and to answer three main research questions: (1) Are immigrant Christian women aware of the connection their experience with immigration has with the book of Ruth? (2) What common experiences do these immigrant Christian women share? (3) How does their faith in God inform their experience with immigration? To collect data, in-depth interviews were conducted and recorded using a phenomenological approach with twelve self-identified evangelical Christian immigrant women. Data analysis revealed that only two participants are aware of the connection their experience with immigration has with the book of Ruth, albeit the connections these participants drew vary in focus and interpretation. Regarding common experiences, participants reported experiencing a sense of loss not only of culture, family, and identity, but also of their marriages and loved ones. In many instances, experiencing loss in their lives led them to develop a deeper understanding of God’s attributes such as His power, care, protection, and forgiveness. Data also revealed that when facing hardship, most participants were able to bounce back and become somewhat resilient. An unexpected finding, however, was that almost half of the participants mentioned experiences with abuse typically, but not always, perpetrated by male figures. Data also showed that participants’ experience with immigration seem to be informed by their respective theological traditions. Implications of this study are that there is a need for better pastoral care for immigrants to help both men and women to deal with their stories of trauma and abuse, and the Book of Ruth can be an instrument to help address these needs.

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