Empowering Women Through Ministries: A Call to Action

1. Why We Need Women’s Ministries

2. Women’s Ministries ministers to the needs of - • Women in the church • Women outside the church

3. First Commission Jesus Gave • “These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them saying, ‘Do not go into the way of the Gentiles...but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel...preach saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand...heal the sick, cleanse the lepers...” Matt 10:5-8

4. Second Commission Jesus Gave • “Go ye therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you...” Matt 28:19, 20

5. Women are 49% of world population Church population – 12.4 million Women are 9.3 million of church population

6. Women’s Ministries is about - • Women becoming the best they can be in Jesus. • Women using their talents and gifts for God. • Women allowing the Holy Spirit to guide and use them.

7. 1998 was 100th Anniversary of WM • 1898, Mrs S.M.I. Henry established a WM at the General Conference. • Voted a ministerial license that year. • Mrs. White encouraged her through letters.

8. “...If we can arrange, as you are now working, to have regularly organized companies intelligently instructed in regard to the part they should act as servants of the Master, our churches will have a life and vitality such as have been long needed.” R&H May 1899

9. Six Critical Issues in WM • Illiteracy • Poverty • Health Risks • Abuse • Work Hours • Training and Mentoring

10. 1. ILLITERACY • 1 billion adults can’t read • 2/3 of these are women • Never read a Bible • Cannot respond to a radio program • Many in Global Mission 10/40 window – Muslim women to whom a man cannot speak

11. 2. POVERTY • 70% of the world’s poor are women – this affects the children • ½ of all households in the world are headed by women • United Nations says – 49% world population are women, they do 66% of world’s work, earn 10% of the money, own 1% of the world’s property. • 80% of world’s 24 million refugees are women

12. 3. HEALTH RISKS • Women suffer from breast cancer and osteoporosis. • 1600 women die every day in childbirth = 600,000 women each year

13. 4. Abuse • 4th Sabbath in August has been voted by GC as Abuse Prevention Emphasis Day. • In England & Wales – 1:4 murder victims are wives killed by husbands • In USA 3 – 4 million women are battered by husbands/partners each year • In Papua New Guinea – 67% of wives suffer marital violence • In Egypt, Jamaica, Greece – 1:5 divorces granted on grounds of spousal cruelty • 24 UN Member Nations all report family violence as a grave problem

14. 5. Work Hours and Conditions • Women do 66% of the work in the world (85% of agricultural work) • They receive 10% of the pay • They own 1% of the proverty

15. 6. Training and Mentoring • “The older women likewise...that they may teach the young women...” Titus 2:3-5 NIV • If women are trained for service they can be a great help to the church • Many women do not know how to serve on committees or boards – they need training • The church needs the contribution of women – too much work for any of us to do alone

16. “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly. Defend the rights of the poor and needy.” Proverbs 31:8, 9

17. “He has showed you, O [wo]man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:8

18. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this; to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world” James 1:27

19. “Christ’s method alone will give true success in reaching the people. The Savior mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them, ‘Follow Me’.” Ministry of Healing, p. 143

20. “All who work for God should have the Martha and the Mary attributes blended – a willingness to minister and a sincere love of the truth. Self and selfishness must be put out of sight. God calls for earnest women workers, workers who are prudent, warmhearted, tender, and true to principle. He calls for persevering women who will take their minds from self...and will center them on Christ, speaking words of truth, praying with the persons to whom they can obtain access, laboring for the conversion of souls.”Testimony Treasures Vol. 2, p 405

21. Women’s MinistriesBaptism Statistics 1992-2001 • 1992 5,228 • 1993 8,449 • 1994 8,624 • 1995 12,601 • 1996 29,021 • 1997 38,616 • 1998 77,971 • 1999 105,241 • 2000 101,046 • 2001 61,439

22. Women’s MinistriesReclaimed Members 1999 - 2001 • 1992 1,120 • 1993 18,091 • 1994 5,271 • 1995 7,627 • 1996 10,573 • 1997 8,938 • 1998 14,856 • 1999 20,401 • 2000 30,846 • 2001 15,669

23. “When a great and decisive work is to be done, God chooses men and women to do this work, and it will feel the loss if the talents of both are not combined.” Evangelism, p469