What is the place of women in world mission? Jesus said, “You [and the word means all of you, male and female] are my witnesses. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.” And there have been countless thousands who, without reference to where they came from or what they knew or who they were, have believed that Jesus meant exactly what he said and have set themselves to follow.

Today strident female voices are raised, shrilly and ad nauseam, to remind us that women are equal with men. But such a question has never even arisen in connection with the history of Christian missions. In fact, for many years, far from being excluded, women constituted the majority of foreign missionaries.[ ]

Oh, for more and more women on the global mission field, well trained in theology, with minds honed to read and teach the Bible.

6. A Lesser Call?

It is either culture or human tendency that leads people to believe that the ultimate calling in vocational ministry is the ability to preach and teach to the whole church. Maybe it is because we vet those people in a more thorough way than we would say a youth worker. So teaching children—not ultimate. Discipling youth—not quite the top. College students—at least you are close. Outreach—if you study you probably don’t have the time. And women—we leave that to the pastor’s wives.

This is obviously a caricature, but I hope it makes the point. Women training women is not only a high calling; it is a crystal clear command in Scripture. The discipleship of women and children is so massive a burden that we will never reach the end of it. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if local churches had women they could go who they could trust to train other women?

7. The Immense Value of Theologically Trained Moms

The impact of well-trained women would be enormous on the next generation. If moms are the primary nurturers of our children and often the ones who spend the majority of time with their children, then isn’t a God-centered theologically robust worldview of great value? Are we shortchanging the primary teachers of our children by not encouraging them to receive more formal training?

8. On Books by Women

Walk into almost any Christian bookstore anywhere in the world and you will find that the majority of books are prosperity gospel lite and that the women’s section in particular needs help! You may wonder whether we should have so many books specific to men and women, but we can agree that a few more well-informed women who can write would be a great blessing to the church?