God Calling Women In Assemblies Of God Missions

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49

God

Calling:

Women in Assemblies of God Missions

Barbara Cavaness

Pentecostals have

always

believed

strongly

in the

concept

of the call of God. The Bible is

replete

with case studies of God

sovereignly calling

men and women for his

purposes.

Often the

persons

of his choosing

are the most

unlikely

candidates

according

to conventional wisdom.

A classic

example

of God’s

sovereign calling

comes from Genesis 25 and its

interpretation

in Romans 9.

Rebekah, giving

birth to twins after 20

years

of

barrenness,

is told that “the older will serve the

younger” (Gen. 25:23).

This

pattern

of service was

against

all Eastern

practice, but God has the

power

to make

promises

and

keep

them in

spite

of human choices and

expectations.

He often does not

align

himself with the

obviously privileged

ones-the

first-born,

the

wealthy,

the intellectual,

or the most famous. In

fact,

Jesus’

teachings upset

Jewish tradition, promising

that

“many

who are first will be

last,

and

many

who are last will be first”

(Mt. 19:30).

One’s birth or social status is not a title to

privilege

in God’s

sight.

Paul asserts that God chose Jacob even before his

birth,

before he had done

anything good

or

bad,

“in order that God’s

purpose

in election

might

stand: not

by

works but

by

him who calls…. It does not, therefore, depend

on man’s desire or

effort,

but on God’s

mercy” (Rom. 9:11-16).

The

larger picture

focuses on God’s choice of those who believe his

promises

and trust him for the unknown future. Dr. Paul Pierson

goes

as far as implying that most often revival movements and

periods

of

missionary expansion

have

begun

with

people I

on the periphery

of the ecclesiastical structures of their

day.’

Often this leadership

is

provided by

women. God chooses whom he will and extends his grace; it remains for the

body

to

recognize

that

choosing.

God

Calling

is the title of a

daily

devotional book written

by

two women which has been a great blessing to

many.’

The title also fits well as a

summary

statement of the work of women in mission around the world.

They

have

gone-not

in rebellion

against society,

not because they

were not

gifted

or could not succeed at

home,

not because some man refused to

go,

not as

part

of a feminist statement or

unrequited love-but in answer to God’s direct call. Both

single

and married

.

‘ Paul Pierson, Course Syllabus for MH520/620 Historical

Development of the Christian Movement

(Pasadena, CA: Fuller Theological Seminary, 1990), 15. 2 The contributions of the two women writers are found in A. J. Russell, ed., God Calling (Worchester:

Arthur James Ltd., 1949).

1

50

teachers,

doctors, nurses,

women have served as church

planters, evangelists,

and

pastors

in the

far-flung

corners of the world.

They

were gifted

and anointed for

specific tasks,

and that was more

important

than credentials and human authorization. The

anointing

Ruth Tucker observes that

message.”3

“validated the

It was that nebulous and indefinable “missionary call” that impelled them to move out. If ministries in the homeland could be

pursued without a “call,” foreign missions could not. The stakes were too high. And it was that sense of calling, more than anything else, that was the staying power.” 4

Future

challenges facing Pentecostal mission efforts

the

concept

of

calling harvest. Pentecostals are worldwide,

growing

Christian

group that

by

A.D. 2000 the vast

that

a

setback,

“due

The

purpose

of this article is to

highlight

the role of women involved in Pentecostal mission efforts with

special

focus on the Assemblies of God

(AG). Scriptural principles,

historical

examples

and case studies from the

past

and

present

about women in

ministry

will be

presented.

women and their full

participation

in

will be identified.

Women,

called

by God, have

played

a large

part

in AG

missions,

but the

question

of whether or not

they

will continue to do so

represents

a

major challenge

for the future.

As the final

years

of this

century approach,

the church needs to affirm

in order to utilize all available laborers in the

the fastest

and David Barrett

predicts

majority

of foreign missionaries will be Pentecostals.’ Yet he notes the church in some African cultures has

experienced

Western

prejudices against

women

holding church offices.” This

bias, according

to

Barrett,

is “one of the

major reasons for the rise of

independent

in Africa in which women

may

take

positions

if or when it starts

prejudices along

with the

gospel

that threaten to

largely

to the

imported

movement

to “take stock”

of God

globally.

A Biblical

Perspective

Christian movements

of

leadership.”6

It is time for a

exporting gender

stifle

sovereign

moves

on Women in

Ministry

for

all,

but

especially

Jesus Christ’s first

coming

was

revolutionary

for women-who were for the most

part

excluded from Jewish ritual.

Baptism

was

open

to

everyone,

of God Heritage

Publishing

Movements,

as was the call to share the Good

‘ Edith L. Blumhofer, “The Role of Women in the Assemblies of God,” Assemblies

7 (Winter 1987-88): 14.

4Ruth A. Tucker, From Jerusalem to Irian

Jaya (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan

House, 1983), 487.

sDavid Barrett, “Statistics, Global,” in Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic

eds.

Stanley

M.

Burgess

and

Gary B. McGee (Grand Rapids,

MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988), 829. [Hereafter cited as DPCM.] ]

6 David Barrett, Schism and Renewal in Africa (Nairobi: Oxford University Press,

in Frances Hiebert,

“Missionary

Women as Models in the Cross-cultural Context,” Missiology 10 (October 1982): 457-458.

1968), n.p.; quoted

2

51

News. The woman at the well was

perhaps

the first female

missionary to

bring

a town to Christ. The first to be

given

the mission of spreading the news of the resurrection was a woman.

And,

on the

day

of Pentecost-traditionally

celebrated

only by

Jewish males-both mennd women received the

outpouring

of the

Holy Spirit.

Peter’s

message from Joel

2:28-29,

that “sons and

daughters”

would

prophesy,

has since been the anchor for

many

women in

ministry, particularly

for those with roots in the holiness movement of the nineteenth

century.’ 7

A Historical Overview

of

Women in Missions

Ruth A. Tucker

points

out that

women, minorities,

and non-westerners are often

ignored

in the

telling

of church

history:

“A history

that focuses on those with

prestige

and

position

is not the fullest reflection of our Christian

heritage-in

that it is out of

step

with how God works in the world.”8 A

group

of non-westerners also has stated that “women have

played

a vital role in the

missionary expansion

of the church;

it is as

large

and

possibly larger

than that of

men,

but this has not been

adequately

reflected in mission

history.”‘

From the mission work of Boniface’s nuns in the

eighth century

to the Moravian women of the

eighteenth century

and the women’s

missionary

movement of the nineteenth

century,

women have

responded

to God’s call as

agents

of mission-though

few of their

exploits

are known.’°

The stories of Pentecostal women in

particular

have been lost. In a bibliographical essay,

David Roebuck admits that

“despite

the increased historical research on both the

subject

of women in

religion

and the subject

of the Pentecostal

movement,

little has been

published

on women in the Pentecostal movement.”” Even Ruth Tucker’s

history

of Christian missions

(From

Jerusalem to Irian

Jaya)

and the

story

of women in modem missions

(Guardians of

the Great

Commission) give scant mention to Pentecostals.’2

Protestant

spiritual awakenings brought

the

principle

of the priesthood

of the believer into actual

practice.

“Women had a growing place

and

laymen

had more and more initiative and

z

participation.””

‘ For more information see Donald W. Dayton, ed., Holiness Tracts Defending the Ministry of

Women (New York, NY: Garland Publishers, 1985).

8Ruth A. Tucker, “Colorizing Church History,” Christianity Today, 20 July 1992, 20.

9Godwin Tasie, et. al.,

“History of Mission; Urgent

Research Fields; Role of Women in Mission,” Missiology 7 (January 1979): 94.

‘° See R- Pierce Beaver, American Protestant Women in World Mission

(Grand Rapids,

MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1980).

“David G.

Roebuck, “Pentecostal Women in Ministry:

A Review of Selected Documents,” Perspectives

in Religious Studies 16 (Spring 1989): 30.

“Full

bibliographic

information for

Tucker, From Jerusalem

to Irian

Jaya,

is found in footnote 4; and, Ruth A. Tucker, Guardians

of the

Great Commission (Grand Rapids,

MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1988), 237.

“Kenneth S.

Latourette, A History of Christianity, rev. ed., (New York,

NY:

3

52

people many,

the belief

women to

speak

in

public

and

the 1830s. The later

Revivalist Charles

Finney encouraged

established the first coed

college-Oberlin-in

Student Volunteer Movement for

Foreign

Missions

(1888),

which came out of

Dwight Moody’s conferences,

mobilized thousands of

young

for the task of

evangelizing

the world in their

generation.

For

in the

premillennial

return of Christ

prompted

them to seek

supernatural power

to fulfill the Great Commission.

Evangelism

in the “last

days”

of human

history required

a

mighty baptism

in the

Holy Spirit.

In the 1901 birth of the Pentecostal movement in

Topeka, Kansas,

a woman was the first to receive the

baptism

of the

Holy Spirit

with the

Desmond

Cartwright notes,

gift

of tongues.”

My research

seems to indicate that women were an integral part of the narrative and that without them we might speculate that the Pentecostal revival might never have taken place….

were associated with Azusa Street were women:

Many of the most influential workers who

Florence Crawford, Clara Lum, Rachel Sizelove and

others. Workers from Azusa Street went out to all parts of the United States and missionaries sailed to the four corners of the globe.”

His detailed

paper

further states experience glossolalia

women were

“particularly Pentecostal

experience.”‘6

Thus “preparation

for

missionary and

women,

were

expected

that women were the first to

became

others into a the

accepted

in the west of Scotland and London and that

successful in

helping

tongues

service and once

baptized,

all

people,

men

to

spread

the

gospel.”” Lucy Farrow,

after playing

a

significant

role in the Azusa Street

revival,

established a

in

Virginia,

and

spent

most of her life as a

missionary Africa.18 The elders at the Azusa Street

Mission,

six men and six

credentials and laid hands on believers

church

to

to

go

as and

men,

blacks and whites.

By

women, granted

missionaries and

evangelists-women 1910 over 185 Pentecostal North America. 19

Protestant missionaries 21,500,

with women

constituting

missionaries had traveled overseas from

serving

overseas

regarding

Agnes

in 1914 numbered about more than one-half this number and

Harper

& Row Publishers,

1975),

1020. (Note, however, his remarkable silence

later Pentecostalism.)

“Edith L.

Blumhofer, “Ozman, Agnes N.,” DPCM,

657. In 1917 the

woman,

Ozman affiliated with the Assemblies of God, received credentials as an

[LaBerge],

evangelist.

“Desmond W. Cartwright, “Your Daughters Shall Prophesy: The Contribution of Women in Early Pentecostalism,” paper presented at the Fifteenth Annual of

Meeting

the Society for Pentecostal Theology (Gaithersburg, MD: November 14-16, 1985),

2,8.

16 Cartwright, “Your Daughters Shall Prophesy,” 10.

“Roebuck, “Pentecostal Women in Ministry,” 34.

‘8 Cecil M. ‘9 Robeck, Jr., “Farrow, Lucy F.,” DPCM, 302-303. Gary B. McGee, “Missions, Overseas (North American),” DPCM, 612.

4

53

single

women

approximately

one-fourth.2° Other

writers, commenting on the work of women missionaries at this time have

pointed

out that they

were

involved in a way their sisters in the home churches never were…. At the

home base in the West, missionary strategists carefully excluded women

from their activity, but there was less concern about what women did-in

direct proportion to the distance they were from the home power base.2′ In some

cases, furloughed

women missionaries were not

permitted

to report

on their

ministry

if men were

present

in the

group.

This

practice was followed in

spite

of the fact that in the

early years

of the

century “women outnumbered men on the mission field in some

regions by

a ratio of more than two to one” and the women’s

missionary

movement with over three million members was the

largest

women’s

group

in the States.22 Due to their vision and

persistence

“Christian women have made their

greatest

ministerial

impact

in cross-cultural missions.”23

The Role

of

Women in Assemblies

of

God

Beginnings

The recent Assemblies of God

(AG) position paper

on women in ministry

states that “from the earliest

days

of our

organization, spiritual gifting

has been evident in the ministries of

many outstanding women.”24

Undoubtedly

the most

significant

role of women in the AG has been in the area of

foreign

missions-in

missionary training, finance, evangelism,

and

perseverance

of commitment.

According

to Edith L. Blumhofer,

By the time the AG organized, many of the Christian groups from which its first members came

generally conceded that women could give public

utterances, exercise spiritual gifts, pray publicly, teach,

and

engage

in

missionary

work. On the other

hand, women were generally discouraged

from taking administrative leadership. 25

One of the five

purposes

for

calling

Pentecostals to the first General Council of the AG at Hot

Springs, Arkansas,

focused on

improving

the effectiveness of the Pentecostal mission

enterprise.

At the

meeting only

20 Gary B. McGee, This Gospel Shall be Preached: A History of Assemblies of God Foreign

Missions to 1959, Volume 1, (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1986), 22.

?’ Hiebert, “Missionary Women as Models in the Cross-cultural Context,” 459. Ruth A.

Tucker,

“Women in Missions,” in Earthen Vessels: American Evangelicals

and Foreign Missions, 1880-1980, eds. Joel A. Carpenter and Wilbert R. Shenk (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1990), 252. Helen Montgomery is quoted as saying that in 1909, some 4,710 unmarried women were 23

serving in Eastern Lands under the women’s missionary movement (p. 259). 24 Tucker, “Women in Missions,” 252. The Role

of

Women in Vinistry as Described in

MO:

Holy Scripture (Springfield,

Gospel Publishing House, 1990), 3. 23 Edith L.

Blumhofer,

The Assemblies of God: A Popular History

MO:

(Springfield,

Gospel Publishing House, 1985), 137.

‘

5

54

men were

eligible

to

vote, yet they recognized

the

God-given rights

of women to

prophesy

and

preach

and “to be

ordained,

not as

elders,

but as

Evangelists

and Missionaries.”26 Soon after the

April

1914

meeting, twenty-seven

missionaries had become affiliated with the new AG organization,

and in

1915, forty-three

more were added. Their term of overseas service remained

indefinite,

so a few like Mabel Dean

(Egypt) and Alice Wood

(Latin America) spent

decades without a furlough.

By 1925 women made

up

64.4

percent

of appointed AG missionaries. 21

Women

experienced

some restrictions even on the field. When two women missionaries to India

petitioned

the AG Executive

Presbytery

in the

U.S., they

were allowed to

perform

“the functions of the Christian ministry,

such as

baptism, marriage,

burial of the dead and the Lord’s Supper,

when a man is not available for the

purpose …

as

special privilege

in the case of

emergency only.”28

The official

position

of the General Council of the Assemblies of God USA on women ministers changed

several times before full ordination was

granted

in 193 5.

In 1917 the General Council of the AG

appointed

the first

Foreign Missions

Committee, including

Susan Easton who had been a missionary

to India for

thirty-three years.

Their duties included interviewing candidates, forwarding funds,

and

making

decisions regarding

the

implementation

of Assemblies of God missions

policies. After

only

one

year, however,

the committee’s duties were transferred back to the Executive

Presbytery

and Easton

accepted appointment back to India. No other woman has ever been a full-fledged member of that committee since Susan Easton.29

Nonetheless,

Alice E.

Luce,

one of the missionaries ordained

by

the General Council of the AG in

1915,

became the “first AG

missiologist of stature” and

“pointed

the

way

toward

applying indigenous

church principles”

with a Pentecostal

perspective.3°

In 1921 her series of three articles in the Pentecostal

Evangel represented

the first full

explanation of such

principles

ever to

appear

in the denominational

publication. Later that

year

the General Council of the AG endorsed this missiological strategy.

Over the

years

her views and

prolific writings strongly

influenced the course of AG church

growth among Hispanics in the United States and in missions efforts

throughout

Latin America.”

26General Council

Minutes,

1914: 7.

(“Elder”

was

roughly synonymous with “pastor.”)

21 McGee, This Gospel Shall Be Preached, I, 89-91.

28 Executive Presbytery

Minutes,

23 November

1914,

1. The same

rights

were granted

to women ministering in the United States in 1919, still for emergency use

only.

29 McGee, This Gospel Shall Be Preached, I, 92. For more information on Easton, see Edith L. Blumhofer, “Woman to Woman: Susan Easton’s

Vision,” Assemblies of God Heritage 12 26.

Missionary

(Winter 1992-93): 4-8,

30 Gary

B. McGee, “Saving Souls or Saving Lives?” Paraclete,

Souls or

forthcoming. “McGee, “Saving Saving Lives?” Further details of the involvement of women in the missions program of the AG can be found in McGee’s two-volume

6

55

God is still

calling

and

anointing

his “handmaidens.” The

picture grows

so wide that

only

a few brief

glimpses

of women in action for missions can be offered here. These women were

gifted

in

leadership and

administration, evangelism

and

healing. They displayed great

faith in

spite

of obstacles and saw God do miracles. The

anointing

and power

of the

Holy Spirit promised

in Acts 1:8 was evident as

they witnessed “to the ends of the earth.”

Case Studies

of

Women Missionaries

from

the Past

While

opportunities

for women in

leadership

at home were

few, despite

the official

egalitarian position

of the

AG,

women could

pastor overseas, teach, evangelize,

or fulfill whatever

“calling” they

had received.

Unsung

heroines are numerous.

Histories, articles,

and

papers on AG missions record names of women who have served

significant roles in

developmental stages

of national churches in

many

countries. Others have made

important

contributions at home.

Missionary Training

Besides A. B.

Simpson’s Missionary Training

Institute at

Nyack, New

York,

the three earliest Bible institutes that most

strongly influenced the course of AG missions were founded

by

women and were

distinctively

Pentecostal: Rochester

(New York)

Bible

Training School;

Beulah

Heights

Bible and

Missionary Training School;

and Bethel Bible

Training

School. The

lasting impact

of

leaders, pastors, and missionaries trained at these schools has never received the examination it deserves. 32

Elizabeth Baker with her four sisters established a mission and the Elim faith home in Rochester, New York in 1895.

They

later founded Elim

Publishing House,

Elim

Tabernacle,

and the Rochester Bible Training

School

(1906).

After a miracle of healing in her own

body,

she became an advocate of faith

healing.

In 1898 she visited Pandita Ramabai in India, and

by

1915 she and her followers had

given $75,000 to

foreign

missions. After

hearing

of the Welsh revival and the outpouring

of the

Holy Spirit

at the

Apostolic

Faith Mission on Azusa Street in Los

Angeles,

the sisters

sought

for the Pentecostal

baptism with

tongues

and revival came to Rochester.

By

1916 seventeen of their students had

gone

overseas as

missionaries,

and a number were to become leaders in the AG.33

Virginia

Moss was also a

gifted educator/preacher.

After

being healed of

spinal damage

and

paralysis,

she

initially

started

prayer

work, This Gospel Shall Be Preached (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, 1986, 1989), and Edith L. Blumhofer’s two-volume history, The Assemblies A

of God:

Chapter

in the

Story of American Pentecostalism (Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing

32

House, 1989).

33 McGee, This Gospel Shall Be Preached, I, 208. Gary B. McGee, “Three Notable Women in Pentecostal Ministry,” Assemblies God

of

Heritage 6 (Spring 1986): 5.

7

56

meetings,

then the Door of Hope Mission for faith

healing

and

help

for wayward girls

in North

Bergen,

New

Jersey.

After

reading

of the Azusa Street revival in Carrie Judd

Montgomery’s publication,

the

Triumphs of Faith,

Moss and others went to

Nyack

to seek a deeper work of the Spirit. Many

were

baptized

and healed in the

nightly meetings (1908). She

opened

a faith home the next

year,

and Beulah

Heights Assembly

in 1910. God

specifically

told her to start a

missionary training school, which she did in 1912-in

spite

of the views of some Pentecostals that formal education was not

necessary. Many graduates

became outstanding

leaders in AG

missions, including

three who became regional

field directors of AG missions efforts: H. B.

Garlock,

Howard Osgood,

and

Maynard

L. Ketcham.”

Minnie

Draper,

an associate of A. B.

Simpson,

also

experienced

a miraculous

healing,

became an evangelist and faith

healer,

and served as a member of the executive board of the Christian and

Missionary Alliance

(CMA)

for several

years. Draper

assisted in the

founding

of at least two churches-Bethel Pentecostal

Assembly

in

Newark,

New Jersey,

and the

Gospel Assembly

in

Ossining,

New York. For eleven years

she

presided

over the “Bethel

Board,”

which

sponsored, financed, and directed overseas

evangelism

in South and Central

Afiica,

and elsewhere.

By

1925 their

budget

was

$30,150.

She founded the Bethel Bible

Training

School in

1916,

which trained

missionaries, many

of whom became AG. The Newark church later affiliated with the AG. 35

Carrie Judd

Montgomery,

later a charter member of the

AG,

became a

healing evangelist

and writer after

receiving

a

great healing

in her body.

She established a “faith home” in

Buffalo,

New

York,

and became a

founding

member of the CMA in 1887. She later moved to the San Francisco

area, married,

and founded the Home of Peace. The Home included an

orphanage,

a

training

school for

missionaries,

and facilities for

channeling support

and

freight

overseas. She received the Pentecostal

baptism

in 1908 and made a missions

trip

around the world in

1909, speaking

at the Pentecostal Conference in London. She disseminated information about the worldwide

outpouring through

her Triumphs of

Faith

magazine,

which she edited for 65

years.

Judd received ordination with the AG in 1917.3s

Finance

In addition to their educational efforts and the

spreading

of information about

missions,

women active in the cause of missions involved themselves in

inspiring

others to

give

of their means for evangelism.

The collection and distribution of funds

by

Minnie

Draper and Elizabeth Baker

already

have been noted above. Another woman

“McGee,

“Three Notable Women in Pentecostal Ministry,” 12.

35 Howard Kenyon, “An Analysis of Ethical Issues in the History of the Assemblies of God” (Ph.D. Dissertation; Waco, TX: Baylor University, 1988), 179.

36 Wayne

E. Warner, “Montgomery, Carrie Judd,” DPCM, 626-628.

8

57

instrumental in

raising money

for AG missions was Marie

Burgess Brown.

Brown

experienced

Pentecost under Charles Parham’s

ministry

in Zion, Illinois,

in 1906 and was sent as an

evangelist

to

open

a storefront mission in downtown Manhattan. She married in 1909 and

gained credentials with the AG in 1916. Glad

Tidings

Tabernacle soon became a center for missions to

China, India, Africa, Russia,

and

many

other points.

She and her husband had a

weekly

radio broadcast and led all AG

congregations

in missions

giving

for

many years.

She

pastored there until her death in 1971.?

Evangelism

Florence

Crawford,

who

played

a

leading

role in the Azusa Street Revival, subsequently evangelized

in San Francisco and

Oakland, California,

and Salem and

Portland, Oregon. Many

were converted under her

preaching

and she founded the

Apostolic

Faith Mission in the Northwest in 1907. Her

organization

sent out its first

missionary

in 1911,

and

eventually

established branch churches around the world-with

regular

financial

support, promotion,

and coordination from Portland. 38

A Pentecostal

evangelist

from

Boston,

Alice Belle

Garrigus

started the Bethesda Mission in St.

Johns, Newfoundland, Canada,

in 1911. As the revival

increased,

more churches were

established,

later

forming

the Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland.

Using

a boat for

outreach, the movement

spread

to Labrador and to mission stations in

many locations.39

Perseverance in Commitment

So

many

stories-each rich in detail-could be told to illustrate commitment to the call. For

example,

after

receiving

the Pentecostal baptism,

Marie

Stephany

felt called to China and soon enrolled in Beulah

Heights

Bible and

Missionary Training

School at

age

35. Arriving

in China in

1916,

she received ordination from the AG three years

later.

Taking only

one

furlough

in 22

years, Stephany spent

her ministry “pioneering

churches in regions untouched

by

the

gospel,

and suffering indignities

at the hands of

Japanese

soldiers and Communist bandits.” Over the 26

years

of her

ministry, many

Chinese were

“R M. Riss, “Women, Role of,” DPCM, 895.

38A Historical Account

of

the Apostolic Faith

(Poftland,

OR:

Apostolic

Faith

239-275. Some from this movement, including the wife of E. S. Williams, helped to form the AG in following

Publishing House, 1965), 64-72,

This book is available in Assemblies

years.

the of God Archives in Springfield, MO.

39 Burton K. Janes, The Lady Who Stayed: The Biography of Alice Belle

First Pentecostal

Garrigus, Newfoundland’s Pioneer,

Volume 2

(St. Johns, Newfoundland: Good Tidings Press, 1983).

9

58

converted,

called to

ministry, trained,

and sent to serve in the uttermost part.”

As a young

woman,

Lillian Trasher broke her

engagement

to answer God’s call to

Egypt (1910).

There she founded an

orphanage against overwhelming

odds. Ordained

by

the AG in

1919,

she served a stretch of

twenty-five years

with no

furlough.

When she died in

1961, having been honored

by the Egyptian government

for her humanitarian

service, 1400 children and widows were

living

at the

orphanage

in Assiout. In fifty years,

“Mamma” Lillian had ministered to more than

20,000 children and widows.4′

Nurse Florence Steidel received the

baptism

in the

Holy Spirit

while staying

in an AG

missionary

home and obtained

appointment

with the AG Missions

Department

in 1935. She worked in Liberia as a teacher, before

founding

the

leprosarium

with $100 and

leper

laborers. Steidel trained them in brick-making and

carpentry,

then oversaw the

building of

seventy permanent buildings,

an

eighteen-mile

road

through

the jungle,

a Bible

school,

and a

1,000-seat chapel.

Each

year

100

lepers were released

symptom-free

and

ninety percent accepted

Christ before leaving

the

colony.

In 1957 Steidel was decorated

by

the President of Liberia for her establishment of New

Hope Town,

a colony for

lepers.42

Present

Day Examples of

Women in AG Missions

The line of

missionary

stateswomen

grows steadily longer

as

history marches on. Each reflects

gifts

bestowed

by

the

Holy Spirit

and used in the

furthering

of God’s

kingdom.

God’s

Spirit

is still

being poured

out on his “handmaidens.”

Ruth Breusch is a former

missionary

to India and emeritus

professor at Southeastern

College

of the Assemblies of God in Lakeland, Florida. She has contributed to Pentecostal

missiology

in ten articles on the Kingdom

and Missions

published

in Mountain Movers

(the

AG

Foreign Missions

magazine)

in 1987.

Two missionaries to Ghana have

recently

retired after

forty-seven years

of

preaching, teaching, evangelizing,

and church

planting:

Adeline Wichman and Pauline Smith.

They

have been this author’s valued role models and

spiritual

mentors.

The lives of Marcella Dorff and

Margaret

Brown blessed

many

as they

served in Indonesia

nearly forty years. They

founded and built the AG Bible school in East Java.

When,

after

many years,

it was decided that a man should become

principal, they

moved to another area and started

over, building yet

another

thriving training

institute.

They

“Adele Flower Dalton, “Mother Peace,” Assemblies of God Heritage 7

(Winter 1987): 3-5, 18. 41

Tucker, Guardians of the Great Commission, 135-137.

4z Irwin Winehouse, The Assemblies of God, A Popular Survey (New York, NY: Vantage Press, 1959), 96-102.

10

displayed strength

of cooperative spirits.

From the Wisconsin-Northern personal

involvement with

character,

in the

appointment

to China respected

Jacobson served 41

years and

encouraging young

59

undaunted

commitment,

and

Michigan District,

the author has had

called,

many young

lives in the

the Schencottah

other AG women who were anointed,

and sent out for

service-impacting

process. Missionary Pansy Blossom,

now

83,

still

preaches

and teaches

AG Bible school in Buenos

Aires, Argentina.

She first received

in

1934,

almost 60

years ago.

She is

highly

and beloved

by

both missionaries and nationals. Martha

in

Nigeria-preaching, teaching, nurturing,

ministers. Doris Edwards was laid to rest in India a

couple years ago,

after more than 50

years

of

missionary

work and the death of two husbands. She left behind a large industrial

school,

Memorial Church

(from

which have come 218 other churches),

nine other

schools,

and a

daily feeding program

for

3,000

children.43

Sarah

Johnson,

nearly Dowdy

1,700 parishioners.’

Baird,

Lau To

Chan, instrumental in the

establishing It is now a

thriving

church of

missionary

Naomi

In

Singapore

a succession of women-Lula

and Jean

Wagner-were

of Grace

Assembly

from 1950-1960.

Also in

Singapore,

took over a

struggling

church of

seventy

believers in 1976 and by

1984 built it into a

mighty congregation

Christian Centre now has

daughter

churches

and India and sends workers into

neighboring

countries for

women also

pastor

two other

strong

AG

Indonesia,

evangelism. Singaporean churches in Singapore at this time.

Asian Women

Responding

Future Come Present

The

women).

of

2,500 strong. Trinity

in

Canada, Australia,

to the Call:

Whether

through

faith

exploits

or

plodding steady evangelism,

God

has used countless women. His

grace

is scandalous. The least

likely, by

some

standards, may

bear his

.

calling

and fulfill his

plan.

What has been

the result of this

role-modeling

and

encouragement by

both men and

women? In a 1991

study,45 women made up

26

percent

of the list of the

AG ordained and licensed ministers in Indonesia, 36

percent

of the list

in Malaysia, and 34

percent

of the list in

Singapore (totaling

over 250

The AG in the

Philippines

has

many

women

pastors

and

workers,

and women make

up

about one-half

(100)

of the number of

out from

Singapore

AG churches. The

more than 130 AG Bible schools and one

seminary

in the Asia Pacific

have

large contingents

of female students

preparing

for

ministry.

foreign

missionaries

being

sent

43 Joan Kruger, To Light a Candle (n.p.: B and J Publishers, 1987), 7.

Fred Abeysekera, The History of the Assemblies

Abundant

of God of Singapore (Singapore:

Press, 1992), 206-13.

“This research was conducted by the author in Asia in 1991.

11

60

Another

study

found that “at times there is inconsistency between the leadership

a female

missionary

has at home and that which she has on the

field,

or between her

opportunities

and those of a national female.”‘

Nonetheless,

women in Asia are

having

a different experience. They

are

being

led

by the Spirit

to advance toward mission opportunities presented

to them. Missions has come full

circle,

and non-western AG women are

responding

to God’s call to missions.

Students whose

grandparents

were

cannibals, headhunters,

idol worshippers,

and witch doctors have found Jesus Christ able to deliver people

from the

deepest

darkness of pagan religions and animistic fears. Some,

like the Samaritan woman at the

well,

have been

rejected by family

and friends.

Yet,

God revealed himself to them and thrust them forth in missionary outreach to their

persecutors.

One such student was reared a

Muslim,

but as a

teenager

she found Christ as Savior. Her family

tried to harm her

physically, prevent

her from

leaving

her

home, force her into

marriage

and even had her arrested and brainwashed. But God called her into

ministry

for his

glory

and

preserved

her life and her faith. She

completed

a

theological

education and has been

serving

a number of

years

as a

missionary pastor

and Bible school instructor in another

country.

A graduate from the AG Bible Institute in Thailand found the Lord in a tent

meeting.

For

twenty years

she had been carried around on a grass mat,

unable to sit or

stand,

much less walk.

They

called her “the

girl who has no

purpose

for

living.”

No mission board or national church

would have chosen her to

go

to Bible school or to

pastor

a church in her

town,

but God did. He does not call

people

on the basis of gender, abilities, education,

or economic status. He saved and healed

Piyarot and revealed his

purpose

for her life.”

In the

Philippines,

Trinidad

Seleky

served for decades as a General Council officer and as

registrar

and instructor at what is now the Asia Pacific

Theological Seminary (APTS)

with students from fifteen countries.

Virgie

Cruz ministers as an international

evangelist

and founding pastor

of a

large

church in Manila. In

Malaysia,

Susan

Tang has for more than

twenty years

been

planting

and

pastoring

churches in Sabah. Another

woman,

Teo Kwee

Keng

has

pastored

a

thriving church in Batu Pahat for 14

years, pioneering

at least four other churches in the area

during

that

time,

and

serving

at a number of preaching points.

The church has sent 16 students to Bible

college

to train for the

ministry.

Her friend Ruth Tan has

pastored

a Chinese congregation nearby

for 9

years. Among

missionaries sent from Malaysia,

Norma

Lye

is

supported

as an instructor at APTS. In Indonesia,

a number of women

effectively pastor

and

evangelize

in difficult areas. Called and trained women are

stepping

into

open

doors 46 The Role

of

Women in Ministry as Described in

47

5.

Holy Scripture (AG Position Paper),

Barbara Cavaness, “A Higher Purpose,” Pentecostal Evangel, 4 July 1993, 12.

12

61

of

writing/editing, teaching

in Asian Bible

schools, medical

missions, pastoring

and

evangelizing.

The

Challenge

ministering

in

Many

writers have noted the

declining

numbers of Assemblies of God women from the West

seeking

ordination or

entering ministry vocations.

Elderly

women ministers and missionaries are not

being replaced. Though

women continue to outnumber men on most mission fields, they

are

noticeably

absent from

decision-making

bodies and strategy

sessions. In his

preface

to a collection of tracts

defending

the ministry

of women, Donald

Dayton explains

that “movements that have emphasized

the role of the

Holy Spirit

have tended to be more

open

to women… because in such contexts the

Holy Spirit

has the

autonomy to call and use

persons apart

from normal

patterns

of

authority. ‘,4’

But as movements

grow

and

mature,

the

“spiritual leadership

of women is accepted

less

readily.”49

One AG editor

commented,

“It embarrassed some of our

people

to see women in

leadership

roles. After

all, they were excluded from such roles

by

churches older and wiser than we. ,,50

A

study

of all the factors that are

part

of a decline in women’s participation

in AG missions is outside the

scope

of this

article,

but a challenge

to Pentecostals must be made if there is to be continued growth

in women’s full

participation

in

ministry.

The official AG position paper

on the role of women in

ministry,

after

examining relevant biblical

passages,

concludes: “We cannot find

convincing evidence that the

ministry

of women is restricted

according

to some sacred or immutable

principle.”5′

If God is still

calling

and his Word is still

commissioning,

subtler forces in church and

society

must be examined. Richard Dresselhaus addresses one

part

of the issue when he writes, “Prejudice

must be dealt

with,

and

repentance

is the

only way.

It is sin; it must find

forgiveness.”52

Another

prominent

Pentecostal leader observes that God does raise “some women to

large ministry

or significant leadership,”

and he

challenges any “humanly

instituted restraints on a woman’s

potential.”53

Pentecostals affirm that God bestows

power

on his servants based on faith and

obedience, nothing

else.

God,

whose

ways

are

higher

than humankind’s-manifold and

mysterious-uses

those who hear and respond

to his call. “Missionaries were neither the

supernatural

saints 48Dayton, Holiness Tracts Defending the Ministry of Women, viii. 49 The Role

4.

of Women in Ministry

as Described in Holy Scripture

(AG Position Paper),

50 Richard G. Champion, “Tripped Up,” Pentecostal Evangel, 18 February 1990, 3. “The Role of Women in Ministry as Described in Holy Scripture

(AG Position Paper),

12.

52Richard L.

Dresselhaus,

“The Place of Women in the

Church,” Pentecostal Evangel,

18 February 1990, 5.

5) Jack W.

Hayford, “A

Balanced View to Women in

Ministry,”

Ministries 2 (Winter 1983-84): 34-40.

13

62

their admirers have

created,

nor the unlearned and zealous misfits their detractors have described. But

they

were somehow called

by God,

and their rate of success was

phenomenal

Someone has

said,

“we look to the

past

not to restore it but to discover landmarks.” In that

context,

the church would do well to note what David Roebuck writes about

early

Pentecostal women ministers:

In almost

every case,

a female minister

significantly

influenced these

women’s

understanding

of their call to ministry. Without denigrating the

role of the Holy Spirit or of significant males in their lives, the presence of

a powerful female role model was remarkable.”

It would not be too

presumptuous

to conclude that one of the factors in declining

numbers of AG women in missions is a decline in female role models. A Canadian

woman, Margaret Gibb, says,

“Mentors ensure that there will be another

generation

of anointed,

Spirit-led

women who will take their

place

in leadership.”56 The

challenge

to those whom God has used in

ministry-both

male and female-is to nurture and encourage

others to

respond

to his call. 57

Today

the church needs to reexamine the balance between

authority and

Spirit,

between

public

stance and

private practice,

between cultural accommodations and timeless

principles.

This

challenge

has been acknowledged

in the AG Position

Paper

on women in

ministry, ‘

and hopefully

it will be heeded in the

days

ahead:

The Pentecostal

ministry

is not a

profession to which men or

women

it must always be a divine calling, confirmed the

that we are

Spirit with a

merely aspire;

special gifting….

To the

degree

convinced by of our Pentecostal distinctives-that it is God who

divinely

calls and

anoints for ministry-we must continue to be open to the full use of women’s gifts in ministry and spiritual leadership.

supernaturally

As we look on the fields ripe for harvest, may we not be guilty of sending away any

of the reapers God calls.”

Tucker,

From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya, 488.

“David G. Roebuck, “‘Go and Tell

My Brothers?’: The Waning

of Women’s Voices in American

Pentecostalism,” paper presented

at the Twentieth Annual

of the Society for Pentecostal Theology ( Dallas, TX: November 8-10, 1990), F-18.

Meeting

Gibb, quoted by Bob Skinner, “Next Generation of Women in Ministry Please Stand ‘6 Margaret

Up!” The Pentecostal Testimony, June 1991, 2. “The author notes

that her

missionary

call was affirmed and her resolve strengthened by personal

contact with

many

of the women mentioned.

Meeting Lillian Trasher and Marie Brown caused her to “think

big.” Visiting New Hope Town and working with women missionaries in Ghana and Indonesia encouraged her to believe that the God who had been faithful to them would be faithful to her as well. They were not the only mentors she had, but perhaps the most significant. 58 The Role of Women in Ministry as Described in Holy Scripture

(AG Position Paper),

13.

14