By Denice M. Orr
Can women's ministry be used for evangelism?
If you think like Dorcas, displaying Christ's love means sewing clothes for someone in need. If you serve like Martha, preparing food for your hungry neighbors brings joy. If gifted like Priscilla, teaching produces fruit. The book Becoming a Contagious Christian describes Christians accomplishing evangelism most naturally through their areas of giftedness.
Women's ministry is a perfect vehicle for evangelism. Service and using our gifts provide the opportunities. The creativity and interest of the women are the only real limitations.
Let's start with a small women's ministry group. They form a small group with a novice facilitator. They all find prayer, support and growth from this little community. They want others to share in their growing strength and excitement. They put a flyer through the door handles of their neighbors' homes and a few new women come to women's ministry--maybe to hear a guest speaker.
As they grow, others in the group learn to be facilitators by observation and training. As they talk about their gifts and mix in their dreams and passions, they find ways to work together to make a difference together and individually.
Yet even as a small group, they reach out to their communities and neighbors. Whenever they perform a loving service, the gospel is modeled and opportunities to talk arise.
My small group has mothers of young children who cannot dedicate much time away from them. Still, they sent care packages to a shelter for battered women, signing their own names and the name of the church to their gifts. They also conducted a garage sale to help pay medical bills. These things are service evangelism. And the people they meet are their openings.
If a women's ministry group has a prayer chain and mentions it to those in trials, answered prayer becomes evangelistic prayer. If they donate bears to the pediatric ward of a hospital, non-Christians at the hospital notice people whose behavior is based on love.
Modeling Christ leads to openings to explain our faith. If a women's ministry group takes meals on wheels so seriously they become friends with the elderly they bring food to, they deliver the gospel with a plate.
Larger women's ministry groups may tackle more ambitious projects. They may organize a retreat or conference for women and invite their friends, neighbors and community. They may open their own food bank. In the early part of this century, American Christian women in poor neighborhoods began teaching children to read. The Bible was their text.
It is possible to apply for grant money to open a community service such as these. (Check an area college for a class on how to apply for grants.) Mother Teresa began her mission in India by offering soap and water on the street.
The Los Angeles Times frequently contains articles about women serving the community--a source of great ideas. One woman started an internet ministry writing prayers for teenage girls. Some women used their interest and skills in gardening to help kids get excited about learning. Some created libraries in girls' prisons. Women revitalized run-down neighborhoods and chased gangs out by partnering with law enforcement officials.
Two grandmothers visit juvenile detention centers weekly, teaching needlepoint while they sit and talk to male teens. They just have an amazing ability to connect to them with a combination of love and values.
There is the magician evangelist. The juggler. The potter. The painter. Activities are ways of making human connections. With a little creativity and resourcefulness, any talent a man or woman possesses can be used to serve people. Contact with people provides opportunities to demonstrate Christ's way of life and explain why you live it. This is evangelism.
The answer to the question, Can you do evangelism through women's ministry, is how can it be stopped? It's a natural outgrowth of women joining to develop their talents, gifts and leadership abilities. They seek to serve their communities as ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Denice Orr is managing editor of Connections, a journal for WCG clergy support. She is working on a degree in Communication at Azusa Pacific University. She's been an elder's wife for 26 years.
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