With over fifteen years of ministry in Central Asia and the Middle East, Jayson Georges (pseudonym) certainly has the credentials to address the topic of patronage, as co-author of Ministering in Honor-Shame Cultures: Biblical Foundations and Practical Essentials (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2016) and founding editor of HonorShame.com,. Although the subject dominates the landscape of Scripture (linguistically and culturally), from Genesis to Revelation, books rarely discuss it. I began reading Ministering in Patronage Cultures with high expectations and was not disappointed.

Ministering in Patronage Cultures alerts the reader to a cultural, biblical, and theological blind spot that impacts our relationships with others and the divine patron. Rather than providing rules for the reader to follow, Georges gives principles to help clarify the cloudy conversations that surround patronage in antiquity and today.