Canadian Journal of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity 10 (2019): 37-49. Miriam Toews’s Women Talking A Call For Artistic Prophethood Martin W. Mittelstadt Evangel University, Springfield, Missouri MittelstadtM@evangel.edu Abstract Prophets typically speak from the margins. They tend not to be welcomed by the establishment. Such is the case with Canadian Mennonite novelist Miriam Toews. In her most recent novel, Women Talking, Toews produces a dark story of Mennonite women on a Bolivian colony who were brutally raped by fellow members of the community. The novel, based upon true events, gives a fictive but powerful voice to women not yet able to speak to power and violence. The story details the decision before these women; should they stay in the colony or should they leave? Do they submit to power or move on? Through this Mennonite story, Toews sparks a prophetic impulse for a discussion among Pentecostals. Her voice will enliven current and future artists to speak boldly about violence against women and other forms of injustice. Keywords Pentecostalism – Mennonites – Literature – Gender – Violence Introduction Contemporary Mennonites seldom spark global news. Since they remain small in number, media often consider Mennonites (and their Anabaptist siblings) “small potatoes” compared to the larger “newsworthy” Christian traditions. The last Anabaptist story to create global traction may have been the horrific West Nickel Mines’ school attack in 2006 that resulted in the deaths of five young girls (along with the perpetrator) and five non-fatal injuries. Media – and their audiences - struggled to understand Amish forgiveness, and Amish care for the brought to you by CORE View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk provided by Trinity Western University: TWU Academic Journals