Women Missionaries

Women Missionaries

Women missionaries
Christian missionaries in South Asia
Christian missionary work
Missionary charity

Women missionaries have an important role in the great commission that was given to Jesus’ followers. While these women often face real challenges in their environments, they also have distinct advantages, especially in parts of Asia:

  • Ability to work with women without gender barriers – Many Asian cultures maintain social rules that restrict women from ministering to men. Often, a woman cannot interact with a man who is not her husband. That is one reason why women missionaries have an effective mission field in areas where their male counterparts aren’t able to serve. The women can pour out God’s love to other women who need someone to care for and love them.
  • Women also instinctively know the cultural taboos of their culture. This is one strategy that makes this missionary charity successful.
  • Ability to understand her peers – Women missionaries can identify with many of the struggles of their peers and neighbors. Many women grow up thinking they have little value, especially in cultures where women often marry when they are very young, are often uneducated and struggle with severe poverty.

In Asia, the suicide rate among women is very high because they are burdened by hard work, poverty, lack of education and other cultural expectations.[1] GFA missionaries share the hope of Jesus with the women in their communities. They are very familiar with the culture of their communities and those nearby—they live in the region, know the language, wear the same clothes and often share the same cultural interests.

  • Ability to have compassion and patience with the illiterate – Women who live in impoverished communities are often illiterate, so missionaries are challenged with teaching literacy classes to women who have no ability to read or write. When a woman gains the ability to read and write, it is life changing. She can now understand traffic signs, news, weather reports, shopping lists, read books and warning labels, understand prices at the market and read important documents. Literacy protects her from getting taken advantage of in the marketplace.

There are over 250 million women in Asia today who are illiterate.[2] GFA’s strategies of teaching literacy have proven successful over and over again. These classes are often taught by female missionaries who patiently teach women to read, write and do basic math.

Female missionaries are one of the keys to reaching women!

Shiuli found herself completely alone. At just 21 years old, she had lost all her friends and her husband had died. She was desperate for help.[3]

Her troubles began when she was just 14 years old and her parents arranged her marriage to a man named Tarun. The couple moved to Kathmandu, Nepal where they both found jobs in the carpet industry. They had three daughters. After seven years of marriage, Shiuli’s husband died after struggling with an illness, leaving her as a widow. To her horror, she watched her youngest daughter die of malnutrition. She worried she would be next, leaving her daughters homeless orphans. She simply could not provide for her family’s needs.

One day, two women walked into her workplace and explained that they were followers of Jesus. As Shiuli listened to their kind words, she heard hope that she’d never known before. The missionaries helped her find a church and she is now learning more about God. She has found answers to many of her questions and has found peace.

“The Lord has blessed me in such a wonderful way that He has provided shelter, food, special care and attention through His people,” Shiuli says.

Will you pray for women to effectively serve their Savior? How can you pray? Here are some suggestions for how to pray for women participating in Christian missionary work:

  • Safety – Many of GFA’s female missionaries serve in dangerous areas—slums, leprosy colonies, and so on. Pray with us for God’s protection over these faithful servants.
  • Compassion – May God give them compassion so they can share with others. GFA missionaries are often called to serve widows, grieving mothers and leprosy patients. May God provide compassionate hearts and empathy to these women who are called upon in difficult situations.
  • Skill – Pray for skill as these women teach God’s Word, literacy classes and vocational training classes to women in their ministry.
  • More Missionaries – Pray that God will raise up women to serve as missionaries and give them a passion for ministering to those in their country.

GFA’s Christian missionaries in Asia and other regions are willing to sacrifice their health, well-being and even their lives to share the love of Jesus with the women. You can financially support a woman missionary today.

By pledging $30 per month, you can support the work of female missionaries and invest in their lives and ministry through your prayers. 

Learn more on Missionary FAQs

[1] “Pray for Asia’s Women Missionaries.” GFA World. https://www.gfa.org/pray/women-missionaries/. Accessed September 5, 2022.
[2] “Believers Vulnerable Because of Illiteracy.” GFA World. https://www.gfa.org/news/articles/over-250-million-women-in-asia-are-illiterate/. Accessed September 5, 2022.
[3] “Nepalese Woman Finds Hope Amidst Great Loss.” GFA World. https://www.gfa.org/news/articles/nepalese-woman-finds-hope-amidst-great-loss/. Accessed September 5, 2022.