Transcript Slide 1

Why We Need
Women’s Ministries
Women’s Ministries ministers to the needs of • Women in the church
• Women outside the church
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
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
Women are 49% of world population
Church population – 12.4 million
Women are 9.3 million of church population
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.
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.
“...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
Six Critical Issues in WM
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Illiteracy
Poverty
Health Risks
Abuse
Work Hours
Training and Mentoring
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
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
3. HEALTH RISKS
•Women suffer from breast cancer and osteoporosis.
•1600 women die every day in childbirth = 600,000 women each year
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
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
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
“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
“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
“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
“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
“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
Women’s Ministries
Baptism Statistics 1992-2001
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1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
5,228
8,449
8,624
12,601
29,021
38,616
77,971
105,241
101,046
61,439
Women’s Ministries
Reclaimed Members 1999 - 2001
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1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
1,120
18,091
5,271
7,627
10,573
8,938
14,856
20,401
30,846
15,669
“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