Women’s History Month
President Jimmy Carter designated National Women’s History Week in 1980. He said, “From the first settlers who came to our shores, from the first American Indian families who befriended them, men and women have worked together to build this nation. Too often the women were unsung and sometimes their contributions went unnoticed. But the achievements, leadership, courage, strength, and love of the women who built America was as vital as that of the men whose names we know so well.”
March is now recognized as Women’s History Month. How might this recognition overlap with our faith?
Read this reflection by Ellie Chilton:
From the onset of Jesus' incarnation, women have been central to his ministry. Dorothy Sayers famously wrote that women were "first at the Cradle and last at the Cross." Women traveled with Jesus and financially supported his ministry (Luke 8:1-3). Jesus first revealed himself as the Messiah to a woman (John 4). A woman was first to witness the resurrected Jesus and proclaim the good news to his disciples (John 20:1-18). Women labored alongside Paul: teaching new believers, delivering letters, and hosting churches in their homes (Acts 18:26, Rom. 16:1-16, Col. 4:15).
Since the earliest days of the church, women have been at the forefront of Christ's mission. Often without recognition or resources, women have served as teachers, shepherds, apostles, prophets, and evangelists to the church. Their stories are our stories, whether we know their names or not.
Jesus never belittled, ignored, or shushed the women who walked with him. The church has not followed his example. Women have been actively shut out of seminaries, pulpits, and church history books despite their crucial involvement in the mission of God.
Frontier missions is one area where women, especially single women, have found agency and opportunity. The legacies of Lottie Moon, Amy Carmichael, Elisabeth Elliot, and Isobel Kuhn come to mind.
It is still desperately hard to be a woman on the mission field. Women - especially single women - face challenges and dangers that men do not. Yet women are going abroad at an astonishing rate. Between 70-80% of single missionaries are female. Women are still following in the footsteps of Mary Magdalene, the apostle to the apostles, spreading the good news of Jesus against all odds.
In honor of the month, we want to point out the many women making contributions among our local and global mission partners.