Why does Women of Grace USA exist? Recently I was challenged to re-think my response to that question after reading a comment about the fact that the word missionary is no longer in our name. A concern was expressed that missions will disappear and we will become just a women’s ministry. Are we abandoning missions for the sake of women’s ministry?
The absence of “missionary” from our name does not mean that “missions” is absent from Women of Grace USA. As one of our board members said, “Removing [missions] from our name has in no way removed it from our hearts.” For example, browse through the current issue of Women’s Spectrum and you will find articles about four Featured Missionaries, an article by a missionary/church planter (Beth Bryant), and a story about 19th-20th century missionary Amy Carmichael. Women are encouraged to contribute to special projects suggested by the Featured Missionaries. Opportunities for involvement in missions include women’s GO teams, and Honor Her Scholarships to help Grace College women go on short-term mission trips.
In the list of our Core Values, Mission is third, right behind God’s Word and Prayer. We chose Mission instead of Missions because we believe that “Women [should] be personally and cooperatively involved in fulfilling the Great Commission.” Some years ago, veteran missionary Tom Julien stated that “Missions [is] an expression of the mission of the church [the Body of Christ].” As a support and resource ministry for women in the local church, our vision is to see individual women intentionally living “on mission to share God’s love next door and around the world” – the slogan we adopted a number of years ago.
In a recent post on this blog, I referenced an article on another woman’s blog which cited several examples of women who are actively engaged in God’s mission in their own communities. While the article was about changes in women’s ministry, these women were reaching out and building relationships with spiritually needy women “next door”— in the same way that missionary women find ways to build relationships with spiritually needy women “around the world” so they can share the gospel of Christ with them. I believe both groups of women are missionaries. Is one more in need of prayer support than the other?
What do you believe is the true definition of a missionary?
Leave a comment