Our world is full of nations that are impoverished largely because half of their people - the female population - are disenfranchised.

But this is not a book about women; it is a book that deals with the intersection of three seemingly very different subjects: women, poverty, and worldview. The book addresses one of the greatest causes of worldwide poverty, the lie that men are superior to women.

Nurturing the Nations explains, using information regarding exploitation, murder, and abuse, how the ideas that societies embrace create unhealthy if not impoverished cultures. In noting that the worldview of a culture frames how it understands women and men, various paradigms, such as Hinduism and animism, are studied, showing how they lead to the mistreatment and hatred of women.

This topic cannot be addressed without studying the Trinity as a model for male-female relationships. Servanthood, submission, and the transcendence of sexuality are all discussed based on the idea that males and females were created equal in being, though not un function. The book concludes with a look at the history of women in the Old and New Testament - how they were established as co-laborers with men in the development of healthy societies - and the liberating challenge Jesus issued to the sexist culture of his day.

Nurtuting the nations is written for anyone interested in studying the role of women in society and particularly for those concerned about poverty, such as social workers, missionaries, and relief and development workers.

DARROW MILLER serves as vice president of Food for the Hungry International and co-founder of the Disciple Nations Alliance. Darrow and his wife, Marilyn, reside in Blue Ridge, Arizona. They have four children and eight grandchildren.

STAN GUTHRIE is senior associate editor for Christianity Today magazine and author of the book Missions in the Third Millenium. He and his wife, Christine, and their children live near Chicago.