God Uses Women in Missions

"After the last road ended, there was still a 2-day hike to where the Balangao people lived. Two single women missionaries were making that hike. The Balangao, a tribe of former headhunters in the Philippines, continued to sacrifice to powerful and demanding spirits who caused sickness, death and constant turmoil. These women, trained in Bible translation, had volunteered to work among them.

When they arrived, they were greeted by men wearing G-strings and women wrapped in cloth from home-made looms. It is hard to say who was more amazed. The Balangao had asked for Americans to come live with them and write their language, but they never dreamed the Americans would be women!

An old man offered to be their father and was faithful in looking after them. Besides the work of translation, these women began giving medical assistance, learning about the spirit world, and answering questions about life and death. One of them, Jo Shetler, stayed for 20 years, winning her way into the hearts and lives of the people and completing the New Testament translation. Because of this dedication, thousands now know Jesus as Lord of the Balangao.

Jo Shetler, a shy farm girl with a dream, has stirred many with her story. However, stories remain unwritten of multitudes of women who likewise obeyed the call of God to serve Him on the far horizons. Many women do not realize how greatly God can use their giftedness and commitment in situations such as this."

This excerpt was taken from an article entitled Women in Mission by Marguerite Kraft and Meg Crossman. You can read it in its entirety at Women in Missions. During the last school year, our family truly enjoyed reading about Jo and the tremendous way God used her in an excellent book entitled And the Word Came With Power. 

God has used women tremendously in the missionary movement. Beginning with Jesus, he recognized and enlisted the help of women, as did Paul. One such woman was Priscilla. She had an impact for God in at least three different nations: Rome, Greece and Asia Minor. With her husband Aquila, they supported Paul, hosted him in their home, “led a house church, and were assigned by Paul to disciple the eloquent and committed Egyptian Jew, Apollos, ‘instructing him in the way of God more perfectly,’ (Acts 18:26)” (Kraft & Grossman). Priscilla' role in mission outreach did not seem out of the ordinary which leads one to believe that many women were involved in the Great Commission from the beginning. 

Despite the Protestant Reformation’s restrictions on women, some women did enter the mission field, usually married to missionaries. Their husbands recognized the role they could play in reaching women and children in these nations...people who would generally not respond well to a man or who may not have been allowed any contact because of their culture. These women “received very little recognition for the heavy load they carried, managing the home and children as well as developing programs to reach local women and girls,” (Kraft and Grossman). 

“Overall, probably two-thirds of the missions force has been, and currently is, female. Many mission executives agree that the more difficult and dangerous the work, the more likely women are to volunteer to do it!” (Kraft & Grossman) This is an amazing truth that may not be very well known. In fact, though most Americans would probably think that the largest women’s movement in American history was the suffrage movement, in fact, it was the women’s missionary movement...”By the early decades of the 20th century, the women’s missionary movement had become the largest women’s movement in the United States, and women outnumbered men on the mission field by a ration of more than two to one,” (Kraft & Grossman).

One group of people who are difficult to reach are Muslims. Yet, God is using women to reach them, partly due to the non-threatening nature of women. One such story is set in a nomadic Muslim group in Sub-Saharan Africa, where a single woman is effectively training Imams (Islamic teachers) in the gospel. They perceive her to be non-threatening, 'just a woman.' Building upon a foundation of interpersonal relationship and Biblical knowledge, she does not give them answers herself, but directs them to the Word. The Lord has confirmed her teaching giving dreams and visions to these leaders. As they have been converted, they are now training many others. She is accepted as a loving, caring elder sister, who gives high priority to their welfare," (Kraft & Grossman).

“From Mary Slessor, single woman pioneer to Africa, to Ann Judson of Burma and Rosalind Goforth of China, wives who fully served; from Amy Carmichael of India to Mildred Cable in the Gobi Desert; from Gladys Aylward, the little chambermaid determined to go to China, to Eliza Davis George, black woman missionary to Liberia; from translator Rachel Saint to medical doctor Helen Roseveare; from Isobel Kuhn and Elizabeth Elliot, mobilizing missionary authors, to Lottie Moon, pacesetting mission educator; from simple Filipino housemaids in the Middle East to women executives in denominational offices to unsung Bible women in China, the roll is lengthy and glorious!

That roll, however, remains incomplete, awaiting the contribution of current and future generations. God's women now enjoy freedoms and opportunities their forebearers never envisioned. Most small businesses started in the U.S. are owned by women. Women now hold highly responsible positions in government, business, and medicine. "To whom much is given, much is required." How will women of God today harvest such opportunities for their Father's purposes?

Women, stirred by the task that lies ahead, can mobilize, devoting their skills, their accessibility, their knowledge, their tenderness, their intuitiveness, their own distinctive fervor to the work. The pioneer spirit, full of dedication and faithfulness, which women throughout history have shown will set the standard. The task is too vast to be completed without all God's people!" (Kraft & Grossman).