Every Christian believer (ever) was once a "baby Christian." Your excitement about your new relationship with God may have been met by skepticism (or derision) from unbelieving friends and family. You might have felt a little out of place around "mature Christians" who could effortlessly find Philemon in their well-worn Bibles. You certainly didn't have the lingo down yet ("what's a vestibule?")--you may be there right now. Sure, the head-over-heals love and gratitude for salvation filled us to overflowing with joy, but the learning curve was rough (wait, there are four books named John--whose idea was that?), and opposition to your newfound faith may have been strenuous. Now, imagine you live in Jerusalem during the first few years of the Church where every believer is a baby Christian. There are no Pauline epistles--no Gospels--no New Testament to fall back on for guidance. The disciples are the closest thing to church elders, and they're still figuring things out. And the Jewish establishment's more than skeptical; they're downright irritated with the Church. The system of belief doesn't even have an established name yet! What a confusing time. Add to the general disorder the fact that you're a Samaritan woman who's been married five times. Did I mention there are tensions between the Samaritans and the Jews? Let's just say they aren't besties. Throw some Romans into the mix, and you have a real challenge on your hands. This is the world in which our Samaritan woman from the well finds herself after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, whom she met three years ago (see John 4). Book 1 of this series, Meet Me at the Well, followed the woman's (fictionalized, of course) life story from childhood through the resurrection. Rivers in the Wasteland explores the early church from her vantage point as she seeks Jesus in everyday life during the earliest years of His Church. She had some strikes against her from the get-go: Samaritan in the Jewish capital, a woman, a woman with a sketchy past, a woman in love with a half Roman/half Jew--whose father threatened her life more than once. How will she negotiate this dangerous terrain in a way that holds true to her faith in Christ? Bring your curiosity and your funny bone, and let's find out! Look for the third and final book in the Samaritan Woman series, Fount of Living Water, coming soon.