I looked at the two men sitting on the other side of the table in shock. “You want me to be a missionary housewife?!” My husband was being offered a role as an English teacher, but I was the trained and qualified language teacher in the family. We didn’t have children and I had been told that I may not be able to have children, so why should I consider my role to be that of a housewife?
Two years later I finally understood what they meant, when I met a “housewife” who had started a project that provided employment for women, sharing the gospel with them as they worked. She helped a very large aid organisation set up operations after a natural disaster, then she started a training program and micro-financing for widows affected by the same disaster. I wish I had known how much I wouldn’t be able to do because I had a work permit and needed to teach classes each week.
It is easy to head towards a particular ministry because of pre-conceived ideas or because we know about that ministry and just aren’t aware of what else is out there.
The only way to have a bigger picture of the options in mission is to do your research and learn about them. The world is changing quickly and so are ministry needs, so make sure that the information you look at is as up to date as possible.
Next steps
For starters, check out the Joshua Project. This has information about different countries and people groups, the numbers of believers, whether they have the Bible in their own language and whether there are missionaries reaching out to them.
Check out Prayercast to find out the spiritual needs of different countries and to pray for them.
Attend mission conferences, prayer groups or events in your city so that you can meet missionaries and agencies who can talk about their experiences and opportunities to serve.
Do a missions course like Perspectives, which will give you a good overview of mission.
Check out the websites of different mission agencies. They often have information about different countries and may have information about opportunities for serving overseas.
