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Mary Slessor, Amy Car-michael, Ann Judson, Helen Roseveare… God has used the inspiring stories of women such as these to draw countless people into his mission. Women have carried the gospel to the uttermost parts of the earth. An estimated two-thirds of the mission force has been and still is female. Yet, as Darrell L. Whiteman writes in Frontline Women, “Women in mission have often felt, and been, marginalized, isolated and ignored.” Sadly, the phenomenal numbers of women who respond to God’s call not only face resistance from those to whom they are sent, but also from those who send them.

After personally hitting several walls, I approached 20 women in missions. I found I wasn’t alone. To explore the unique challenges that confront women, I interviewed (by e-mail) these women serving on the field and in home offices who differ in marital status, age and ethnicity. In this diverse group, I found three common patterns.

Professional Women: Servants and Secretaries Although women comprise the mission force’s majority, the leadership of sending agencies is overwhelmingly male-dominated. In a common scenario, one woman who has risen to a missions leadership position said, “We have 20 on the leadership team and three are women… The leadership can tend to see women as support personnel rather than as leaders.” Thus, even women who are gifted leaders lack advancement opportunities and are often limited to support staff positions.

“I reached the glass ceiling,” said another woman. “I was treated as though I were just a secretary. This was frustrating when I had ideas and thoughts that could have made a difference, but the organization didn’t value that type of input from an assistant.”

Single Women: Outsiders and Oddballs Single women are a powerful driving force in missions, but they confront some of the strongest challenges. First, they often feel less respected than their married colleagues. Many echo the sentiments of this single woman working in a home office: “The fact that I am single shapes how people look at me and how responsible or adult-like they treat me. Women who are married are respected a bit more and are viewed as more mature.”

This bias suggests something is lacking in singles. One woman serving in a Stateside mission asked, “Am I not whole as I am, single?”

Another common difficulty for single women is finding a niche in society. While this hardship is more subtle in the US, it is blatantly obvious in more traditional cultures where no category exists for single females. “I am a single woman in a culture that holds a place of value only for married and ‘productive’ women,” explained a missionary working in Africa. As a single, white female in a traditional culture, she is “in a totally ‘other’ category.”

Married Women: Superwomen and Mrs. Missionaries “Looking at learning my fourth language as well as juggling the marketing, a home, a little one, plus my original ideal of how I would minister alongside my husband… Let’s just say a woman has much more to think about than her job description,” wrote a young missionary. Many married women try to balance two “full-time jobs,” as they strive to be involved in ministry and also care for their families and homes. Yet, while they are as dedicated as their husbands and single colleagues, they often feel unappreciated and unrecognized by their senders.

In addition, married women tend to feel defined by what their husbands do rather than by their own ministries. “Once I come back to the home office [and churches], I feel more like my husband’s wife,” said a female who serves in a leadership position in her host culture. “It’s necessary to ‘prove’ the other gifts and abilities God has given me.” Constantly needing to “prove” themselves in ministry discourages wives. As one woman described, they feel most appreciated for the apple pies they bake.

Changing the Past While awareness of these issues is growing in North American mission organizations, changes are only slowly being implemented. Sending agencies, together with concerned men, women and churches, need to confront the old paradigm; because “by limiting half of the evangelical force that have legitimate spiritual gifts, we’re not hurting the cause of women so much as the cause of Christ” (Jim Plueddemann as quoted by Wendy Murray Zoba in “Christianity Today,” August 7, 2000).

What can be done to remedy these patterns that are hindering and discouraging so many women? Here are some suggestions for mission organizations:

• If you don’t already have an official policy on women, put one in writing. If you have one, re-evaluate it prayerfully. Do your actions match your words?

• Develop and train leaders according to skill and calling, not gender. Be intentional about placing qualified women in leadership positions.

• Respect single women as valuable people, remembering that Christ carried out his earthly ministry as a single man. Engage in honest dialog about the issues they face. Then, take action to fully involve them in the community life, as equal and vital members.

• Regard married women as full-fledged missionaries. Discover ways to give them equal voice and recognition, as well as authority to carry out their ministries.

• Finally, love and value women as Jesus does and modeled. Dorothy Sayers wrote, “Perhaps it is no wonder that women were first at the Cradle and last at the Cross. They had never known a man like this Man… who never nagged at them, never flattered or coaxed or patronized; … who took their questions and arguments seriously; who never mapped out their sphere for them, never urged them to be feminine or jeered at them for being female; who had no axe to grind and no uneasy male dignity to defend; who took them as he found them and was completely unselfconscious.”

Susan Autry Currier serves as the church connections assistant in the Conservative Baptist International central area office in Wheaton, Illinois.