“If not for my faithful, God-loving mother, I might have grown up without the church or even knowing God,” recalled Richard “Dick” Wakefield, a retired Southern Baptist pastor in Missouri. “My father was a good, loving man who cared deeply for his family but rarely attended church, except one service of the annual revival.”
Dick, the youngest of four boys, remembers his mother, Alma, making sure her young sons were dressed for Sunday School each Sunday. Dick recalled the tears in her eyes as she and her children walked down the road to a small Baptist church because her husband, Earl, would not attend with the family.
When each of the boys was born, Alma dedicated them to the Lord. “She shaped our lives in many ways as she was a godly woman,” said Dick. “I was saved at 9 years old and I recall her saying, ‘Now, son, you can help me pray for your dad that he will become a Christian.’ Mama also enlisted the help of her church and Sunday School class to pray for her husband.”
Of the four Wakefield boys, Bill became a Southern Baptist missionary to the Philippines and the area director for Southeast Asia. Bob was a missionary to Singapore, Malaysia and Fiji and ended his ministry in India. Dick pastored churches in Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and back home in Missouri, becoming president of the Missouri Baptist Convention. And Don (“Cap”), a truck driver, was a deacon and Christian layman. Dick said Cap probably won more people to Christ than the others as he witnessed to people at every truck stop he entered and gave his testimony at hundreds of churches.
Dick remembers the hot summer night when a revival service was held at their small church. All the seats were taken except those near the front. The service had already started when Earl arrived, and he had to find a seat near the front. When the invitation was given, he stepped out and took the preacher’s hand. A prayer partner in the choir saw him first and shouted, “Here he comes, Alma!” She and many others had been praying for him for many years.
But it didn’t stop with him. Because of Earl Wakefield’s decision to trust Christ, a host of relatives did the same. This new Christian accepted leadership responsibility in the church. He became a teacher, Sunday School director and deacon and was instrumental in leading others to Christ. James 5:16b says, “The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.” Alma Wakefield prayed — believing that God would answer her prayer — and evangelized her entire family.
Mothers make a difference
Data from Barna Group shows how moms have been engaged in the church. What does motherhood look like in 2023?
- 62% of practicing Christian teens say their mothers are the ones they talk to the most.
- 80% of mothers teach about the Bible. They are disciple-makers. They show the next generation how to grow.
- 82% of people who started going to church did so because of their moms. When a mother knows Jesus, her kids generally do also. In 2 Timothy 1:5, Paul reminds Timothy of the faith of his mother, Eunice, and grandmother, Lois.
How can the church help?
Being a mother is hard work. They assume many responsibilities related to raising a family.
In addition, moms are often the “sandwich” generation. They may be caring for aging parents while raising their own children. Some may feel isolated.
Churches should ask how they can help moms connect with others and how they can care for mothers.
It’s important to acknowledge the influence of women in the church extends beyond mothers. Women who mentor others include grandmothers, military women who are deployed, career women, students, mothers who have lost children, mothers of special needs children, single mothers, grandmothers and others. What can a church do to support women? Start a women’s group in your church. Look at what you are doing well and what needs to change. Every woman is a daughter of Christ. The need to feel love in order to give love is universal.
What does the Bible say?
Prayer is powerful and necessary for women. When we pray to our Father, we may not receive the answer we seek. Sometimes the answer is “yes,” sometimes we receive a “no” response, and sometimes it’s “wait and be patient because I have something much better for you.”
These verses support women who seek to evangelize their families:
- “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matt. 7:7–8).
- “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him” (Ps. 37:7).
- “Come near to God and he will come near to you” (James 4:8).
- “Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer” (Ps. 61:1).
- [Disciples] should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1).
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