Ensconced in our Western traditions, many of us, Ferreras contends, have much to learn about the resiliency, courage, vulnerability, and practical wisdom of Indigenous women living under the hegemony of neoliberal capitalism. In this important book, Ferreras’s empathic sensitivity and wide scholarship brings to life the lives of Indigenous women, as well as fresh insights for pastoral, practical, and political theologians.

Ryan LaMothe, Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology

“In this timely book, Marlene M. Ferreras explores how the lives and struggles of working-class Maya Mexicanas challenge contemporary arrangements of neocolonial capitalism and related forms of Christianity. This transnational approach to feminism and gendered labor not only broadens current horizons of the study of theology and religion but also provides fresh practical approaches to pastoral care that are truly transformational.”

Joerg Rieger, Vanderbilt University

A child’s prophetic cry for leche redirects moral conscience in this tender and convicting indigenous pastoral theology. The book proclaims the gospel of working-class Maya mexicanas who resist corporate greed through a vocation of subversive motherhood. Centering the land and relationships,Lxs Hijxs de Maízreject a disengaged church to teach Ferreras a spirituality of presence that undermines neoliberal power. Setting a new standard for critical, theological ethnography, the book positions the researcher as a vulnerable learner and sends readers on a quest to learn: What grows in your pueblo, at what cost? I can’t wait to teach this book!

Duane R. Bidwell, Herbert School of Medicine, author of When One Religion Isn't Enough: The Lives of Spiritually Fluid People

“Ferreras entwines herself with the lives of the women from the small Mayan town she conducted her research in, as she keeps a great awareness that she can never be one of them, her humility and consciousness of her privilege always present. This book leads to a deep reflection on the meaning of working with those marginalized by our society.”

ML Papusa Molina, Instituto Kanankil