As I was browsing through the Adventist Encyclopedia, looking for women to be presented during Women’s History Month 2024, concentrating on missionaries, I found many women who had accompanied their husbands to foreign lands. Most of these women were mentioned as being part of a missionary team, working together to bring the Advent message to the area they were sent to. Both, husband and wife, were important, and both gave their all to serve God and the church they loved. Many even gave their health and life in the process.
I also found single women who pioneered in unentered areas, reaching out, particularly to the women in these countries who would otherwise not have been reached. They were intrepid women who showed courage and initiative in bringing the message of salvation to the people they served.
Then there were the women whose efforts were listed first, although they had a husband because their work seemed to merit special mention, like Priscilla and Aquila of the Bible. They were women whose work was so outstanding that they could not be hidden.
Women have long been used to being hidden in the annals of history, but things are changing. Research is being done to uncover the stories of women everywhere, in society as well as in our church. The Adventist Women in History Conference held in October 2023 was a first of its kind, but hopefully not the last. The church would not have been able to expand and grow to a worldwide church without the efforts of the devoted work of the women.
With much respect and admiration, I read about women who devoted their whole lives to the service of the church. I looked for women who were born before 1900, and I found many who were ready to be sent out as pioneer missionaries to faraway places. From the beginning of Adventist Missions, women were a part of the missionary movement. In fact, Hannah More, the first Adventist missionary was working in Africa ten years before the church sent out its first missionary, J.N. Andrews in 1874, having converted to Adventism while serving as a missionary in West Africa for another denomination. Andrews brought with him his son and daughter, and the young girl became an important helper as he established the work in Switzerland.
Let us not forget that women were involved and welcomed in the work of the early Seventh-Day Adventist church as full-fledged co-workers, even though they were not always treated fairly. These undaunted women were devoted women who just did what they felt called by God to do. Their example makes us bow our heads in awe for the sacrifices they made. Even though we now stand on their shoulders, we are humbled, as we recognize that whatever we do today is done in much different circumstances and conditions.
As Women’s Ministries Director Heather-Dawn Small said just a few weeks before she passed away, “One day soon, we will be history if Jesus doesn’t come. But let us make sure that the history we leave is history that points to Jesus.” At that time, she did not know how soon she would be history. Neither do we. Let us live so that our stories will be stories of positive lives, devoted to Christ.
Hannele Ottschofski Blog: https://womansoutlook.blogspot.com/2024/02/adventist-women-missionarie.html