In America we take great pride in women's rights. I am not a feminist but I do believe that women ought to have basic equal rights, including the right to a college education, the right to vote, the right to own property, and the right to be employed and paid as well as a man would be for the position.
Imagine if our culture still said that the only things women ought to know to do were be a good wife, house-keeper, cook and mother of children. Imagine not being able to read or to write, it would be so crippling to us, especially in a day and age of so much written communication (websites, e-mail, texts, facebook, twitter, etc). We couldn't even do simple things like grocery shop, pay bills, write birthday cards for family and friends, or navigate on the road. Imagine, further, that culture said there was no need for women to vote. I think we can all agree that as governed members of society in America we ought to have a say in who governs us. It is just logical. Then think of this, there are so many single mom's in our country; just imagine the countless added hardships they would face if they couldn't own property or earn fair wages. Yes, we are proud of the rights of women we have gained over the centuries here in America, and we should be. Do we take it for granted, though? I think so.
Because we have all of those freedoms we forget that in many other countries women haven't even begun to gain equal rights with men. In South Asia women are not only illiterate and unable to earn a fair wage, but they are given so little value that they are sold without a thought, used in the most degrading ways and abused physically. Widows are viewed and treated as cursed individuals and are disowned by their families and 50,000 girl babies are aborted simply because they are girls each month.
Of course we want to work to end the sex-trafficking industry and to free slaves, we want to educate women and children to help them have a brighter future, we want to teach women profitable trades so they don't have to sell their bodies night after night to feed their children when their husband abandons them. However, the greatest hope these women could ever receive is the hope of freedom in Christ! How will they hear unless they are told, and how will they be told if male missionaries cannot go to them? You guessed it. Women missionaries! At Gospel for Asia centers women are being equipped to minister to women in their homes, in the slums, in leper colonies and in brothels. These women missionaries are passionate about bringing hope to the countless women of their area. Let's stand with them!
$30 per month equips one of these missionaries to serve the women of their community full-time. Bible studies, house visits and personal ministry is bringing eternal hope to millions of degraded women in Asia. Sisters, spread the word! The rights we take for granted are denied to women on the other side of the world but there is hope, and we have a key role to play in making that hope available to them. Join me in using your influence in your circles, together we can sponsor three women missionaries (Durga, Pinky, and Lalitha) by the end of the year!
Note: Wonderful news! Durga is sponsored. Pinky and Lalitha still need a monthly sponsor though. It is 2013 now, but its not too late to get in on sending these women with the message of hope that India desperately needs.
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