Cynthia Holder Rich serves as a lecturer in the Faculty of Theology at Tumaini University Makumira, Arusha, Tanzania. Previously, she has taught theology in Madagascar and the US, and served a number of congregations as Pastor. She holds degrees from McCormick Theological Seminary and Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Illinois and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. She is an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA).
The Syrophoenician woman sees herself as essential—both for herself and for her daughter. She is an uppity woman; we can assume that her daughter lived to often hear the tale, forming her as an uppity woman too.