Global Women, a new missions organization that is led by and focused on women has been launched, according to an announcement made Dec. 13.
“One third of the world’s people today are non-Christian women,” said Suzanah Raffield of Birmingham, an incorporator of Global Women who will be the full-time coordinator.
Despite that statistic, planners of the organization said they could find no evangelical mission board in existence specializing in worldwide ministry and witness by women.
Incorporated Dec. 6, Global Women will attempt to “create and cultivate global friendships among women for shared learning and service for all humanity,” according to legal documents.
“A dominant characteristic of most unevangelized peoples is repression and isolation of their women,” said Raffield, an ordained minister. “Such women cannot usually receive the loving message of Jesus Christ, except through contact with a[nother] woman.”
A purpose statement says the organization will “enable evangelical women to help women and their families to obtain a life of faith and benefit.” Though started by Baptists, the organization is open to full participation from all “missions-minded evangelicals.” It is also open to men.
While organizers include several former leaders of the Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU), auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the group has no affiliation with the national WMU, according to Wanda S. Lee, executive director/treasurer of national WMU.
Not connected to WMU
“While many of our former leaders are involved in the new organization, their participation is a personal decision and not one connected to national WMU,” Lee said. “While I was informed of their plans to launch Global Women two weeks prior to their formal announcement, the current leadership of Woman’s Missionary Union has not been involved in the planning nor the incorporation of this agency.”
Lee acknowledged that “there are commonalities between Woman’s Missionary Union and Global Women,” but she insisted that “there are distinct differences in our purposes.
“WMU’s desire for 113 years has been to create the kind of environment through missions education in the church that enables individuals to hear God’s call to serve in whatever way He leads and to support our missionaries,” she said. “While the formation of Global Women has generated questions and concerns for many of our constituents, WMU’s commitment is to remain true to our founding purpose.”
Raffield said Global Women is unique among Baptists and other Protestant groups. She believes an informally defined constituency will be appealing for young women to enter and to lead.
“We hope to help meet the need for gathering and sharing expertise in global ministry among women,” Raffield said. “Many women already in the field have requested a chance to network.”
President of Global Women is Dorothy Sample of Flint, Mich., a former president of national WMU.
“Nurture of women toward global service will be a distinctive of Global Women,” Sample said. “We want to help place women, and also men, where they can minister to the world through women.”
The first year’s work is projected to include international partnership projects, conferences for young women, building an infrastructure for appointing women as missionaries and working with others wishing to expand humanitarian aid and evangelism among women, according to Raffield.
Funding will be “by churches and individuals who have a global vision of ministry for and by women,” said Catherine Allen of Birmingham, the group’s treasurer. She said the organization might also develop publications and projects that are “more or less self-funding.”
Allen, a former staff member of national WMU who has written several books on the history of women in missions, said several strong women’s mission boards were active 100 years ago. Their work helped to plant Christian communities in Burma, China, India, Brazil, Korea and Nigeria.
But in recent years, Allen said, the percentages of women appointed as missionaries, especially for leadership development and human-needs ministry to women, have declined among Southern Baptists and some other denominations.
The SBC’s International Mission Board (IMB) reports different findings, however.
Randy Rains, associate vice president for the IMB’s office of missions personnel, said as of Dec. 21, 2001, there were 2,888 women serving as IMB missionaries. Of those nearly 3,000 women, 2,157 are married and 731 are single, he said, noting that 38 single women were appointed to the missions field in 2001. Making up 10 percent of the entire year’s appointments, the 38 single women appointed is a record, Rains pointed out. “In five out of the last six years, we have appointed the largest number of single women ever, with the largest being in 2001. There are more single women than single men on the field,” he said. “Our overall missionary force is majority women.”
Rains also noted that two-thirds of the short-term missionaries are women.
As far as specializing in women’s ministry, Rains agreed that the IMB does not offer that as an area of expertise. “Our focus is to try to reach the whole world,” he said. “We do not focus on just women or just men or just children. We are trying to reach the lost.”
“But women missionaries do get involved in ministries to other women by nature of where they serve and their roles there,” Rains added. “They are building relationships and ministering to women in the various cultures.”
Vice president of Global Women is Carolyn Crumpler of Cincinnati, who was executive director of WMU 1974–1989.
“Global Women will take up parts of the missions task among women that need a spotlight,” Crumpler said.
Secretary is LeAnn Gunter of Panama City, Fla., and assistant secretary will be Lori Crowe of Cornelia, Ga. Gunter and Crowe are students at McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta with backgrounds in missions projects.
Other incorporators include Alma Hunt of Roanoke, Va., who was executive secretary of WMU 1948–1974 and Dellanna O’Brien of Birmingham, who was WMU executive director 1989–1999. After serving as an incorporator, O’Brien vacated her position on the founding board of directors.
Organizers said planning for a women’s missions initiative began in March 2000, after research indicated declines in missions for and by women. Research also revealed that suffering of women is worsening globally.
(ABP, Jennifer Davis Rash contributed)
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