ARISE AND SHINE

Women's groups in Adventist churches in Spain took up the challenge to organize church services on the Women's Ministries Emphasis Day which is scheduled for the second Sabbath in June each year. This year the material prepared by Raquel Arrais of the General Conference Women's Ministries Department called women to arise and shine. The message is clear: God wants us to shine and be a light to the world. But what does it mean for us to be God's light in the world? How does the light of Jesus shine through us? The LIGHT of Jesus shines through our recognition that all human beings are created in God’s image.The LIGHT of Jesus shines through our acts of love and grace.
The light of Jesus shines through us when we produce the fruits of the Spirit. Those fruits are: love in a world of hate; joy in times of sorrow; peace in times of conflict; patience in the face of irritation; kindness when life is so rough; goodness that overcomes evil; faithfulness that dispels dishonesty; gentleness in a terrain of roughness; and self-control in a world of selfishness.
When the light of God dispels the darkness of our hearts, it brings about a total transformation of life. True light appears in service. Adventist women serve to help other women who face challenges.
The six challenge issues of Adventist women in ministry:
"Touch a heart, reach my world" is the motto of Adventist women's ministry. Our vision is to help those in need. We seek to accomplish this by addressing six major challenge issues that afflict women globally: abuse, illiteracy, workload, poverty, health, and education.
Abuse and violence: Global statistics show that one in three women experiences physical and sexual violence in her lifetime. Of the 1.2 million children trafficked every year, 80 percent are girls. As a result of the global outcry on this issue, the Adventist Development and Relief Agency and the Department of Women's Ministries launched the enditnow® advocacy campaign in October 2009 to stop violence against women and girls.
Since that time, seven departments of the world church formed a coalition for ensuring that enditnow® remains an active and vital initiative of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. These departments include Children’s Ministries, Education, Family Ministries, Health Ministries, Ministerial Association, Women’s Ministries, and Youth Ministries. Today our challenge is enditnow®.
Poverty. Of the 1.2 billion people around the world living in poverty, 70 percent are women. Poverty seems to have put on a feminine face. To remove that scar is our challenge today.
Threats to health. Hazards to women's health include emotional, social, and physical threats brought about by social, political, and economic factors. The quality of a woman's health directly impacts her life and her family's wellbeing. Poor health undermines a woman's ability to be a fully productive participant in God's work. About one in five women develop depression at some point in life. According to the World Health Organization, depression is projected to become the second leading contributor to the global burden of disease by 2020. To remove that unacceptable burden is our challenge today.
Workload. Women around the world, in all cultures, face the problem of work overload. Women are faced with the challenge of doing two thirds of the world's work, resulting in long workdays, low wages, high hours of housework and childcare, leaving little time for personal devotion, rest and recreation, and social and spiritual growth. To balance work and leisure, to equalize home and workplace, to offer time for growth of the mind and solace of the Holy Spirit is our challenge today.
Education. Education for all is a basic human right. For women to achieve better health, nutrition, and quality of life for themselves and their families, they need equal access to education. To see that girls have access to education at all levels is our challenge today.
Illiteracy. Of 163 million illiterate young people in the world, 63 percent are women. Even in affluent countries, girls receive less education and training than boys. Illiteracy is powerfully linked to low social status, poverty, and poor health. Lack of literacy skills traps women in the cycle of poverty, with limited options for economic improvement, sentencing them and their children to chronic poverty. More importantly, literacy skills provide women the gift of reading the Bible. To provide each woman the key to the world of literacy and self-development is our challenge today.
To confront these challenges, to arise and shine in the midst of this darkness that afflicts women, to open wide the vista of a new world in Jesus, to free our homes, church, workplace, and community of abuse—this is the task and responsibility of every Adventist today.
Each one of us individually reflects the glory of God. We are challenged to leave our comfort zones and illuminate the world—as we stand for justice, grace and truth in the public square, at work, in our homes, in churches. Your time has come, Arise and Shine!