Are Mothers Called To Minister Too?

One of my dear friends recently asked me how I felt my "calling as a missionary" related to my "calling as a wife and mother".  I pondered this question, answered her email, and decided to expand my answer into this article.

Anyone who knows me in real life would easily affirm that I definitely feel my #1 ministry is in my home, to my children and my husband, and to support my husband in whatever he is doing, in his calling in the Lord as well.  In recent years, there has been a lot of teaching in the church about focus on family and the godly priorities of raising godly children and building strong marriages. And how necessary these teachings have been!  Our families are the cornerstone of our society, and of the church as well. We cannot have strong churches without strong families, and we cannot have a strong society without strong families. I have known parents in full-time ministry that have sacrificed time raising their children "for the sake of the call", and the results were not good!   However, I have been realizing something else too.

Every mother does "stuff" that is not strictly "motherhood related". It may be sewing, scrapbooking, reading, a small home business, getting together with friends, shopping beyond what is absolutely necessary, other hobbies, etc. - things that go beyond what a mother's call of duty is. None of these things are wrong or bad, but they do take time.  As believers, we are called to reach out to the lost around us. I believe we are ALL called to do that. So, for me the question is, "what will I do with my time?" 

I can and often do stay busy all day long in my home and never get bored. I may be doing productive things all day, too. And that is okay sometimes. But, ultimately, I feel the Lord has called ALL of us to get out of our homes and seek and save the lost. This is the main thing that He came to do!  So, since my calling as a wife/mother/ home school teacher is rather time-consuming right now, I think I need to rearrange my "other" priorities in order to make time to reach out. That means, for me, at this season of life, not scrapbooking, not sewing, reading less, and even giving up making my own bread (a real sacrifice for me!).  And getting out.

Frankly, besides my responsibility as a Christian, I feel this is also an important part of my role as a mother - to train my children to reach out.  We have been living in this neighborhood in Brazil for nearly two months at the time of this writing.  The way we have been reaching out is to bake cookies and cakes and go around to get to know the neighbors. We have been in close to 30 homes so far, I think. We just show up and basically ask if people need prayer for anything. Some are indifferent, while some are nice, but closed to much real conversation.  However, quite a few times we have had divine appointments - people just waiting for someone to come, it seems. They say, "You came to the right place!" and they invite us in and start pouring our their hearts, their problems, etc.   Most of the times I have done this, my husband has been out, and I go "alone", with our four children.  When we find open doors, we try to follow up at a later date, when my husband can go too.

Another creative idea God gave me was to just pick up garbage in the neighborhood. So, I give each of the kids a sack, and we go out and pick up trash. Unfortunately, people litter a lot around here. But, this has really given us an open door to talk to people around here! They get so impressed that we would care to pick up trash on land that isn't ours, and it is a great way to begin talking about why were are here, etc. 

So... my "missionary calling", to me, is just a matter of location, really. The other stuff, I feel, should be the normal Christian life.  I do realize that the Proverbs 31 woman did most all of the "other" things too - sewing, gardening, selling goods, etc, so I am definitely not saying any of those things are wrong. I'm just saying that at my stage of life, I don't have time for it all, so I have to put those "other" things aside to rearrange my time in order to be able to reach out.

This sort of ministry does not in any way hinder my ability to mother my children or be a helper to my husband! Very much to the contrary, it is a vital part of training my children in the ways of the Lord! We want to raise up godly young men and women, warriors in the Kingdom, but so many times we fail to model to them true compassion for those who are lost all around us. How shall we train them in something we ourselves do not do? How can we expect the world around us to change while we stay comfortable in our own cozy homes?

I am by NO means belittling the value of raising godly children! I only feel that many times, Christian women go so far as to make mini gods out of their homes and never think about reaching out. It is so easy to find one more commendable thing to keep us busy, but never do the Lord's main work ...reaching the lost.

I also want to make abundantly clear (at the risk of overstating my point!), that I do not intend for you, after reading this article, to zealously volunteer to sing on the worship team at your church, teach Sunday school, or be an usher. I have been asked, since coming here, to head up a team of intercessory prayer, and on another occasion I was asked to start playing on the worship team. I declined both offers. Why? Because neither of them were things I could do with my family. Both were things that would take me away from my family.  Intercessory prayer is certainly necessary in the fulfilling of the Great Commission, but at this stage of my life, I feel I can be more effective doing this at home, and training my children in it as well.  Worship practice twice a week and before meetings would only equal stress for this season of our lives. There are plenty of young singles and married couples that are eager to serve in this capacity, so I feel I would do best to leave it to them. So, if in reading this article, you feel your heart being pricked, ponder and pray about two main things:
1) Is this ministry something that I could do with my family? Would it be beneficial in training my children?

2) Is this ministry doing something to further the Lord's main work? (Seeking and saving the lost, caring for the orphan, widow, and poor, speaking up for those that cannot speak for themselves?)


I have known of and been in churches that were "good" churches. "Good" in the sense that they believed the Bible, practiced good values, enjoyed good fellowship together, and even taught on good family values .... but there was NO outreach.  And they were dead churches. Dead as a doornail. Most of the children that I have seen grow up in churches such as these leave the church altogether. They continue to be "good people" -- but they just don't find anything vibrant enough to keep them in the church! 

On the other hand, when we start to truly reach out beyond ourselves and our families, even beyond our own strength, and practice Isaiah 58, Mark 12:30-31, Matthew 28: 18-20, we begin to see the Scriptures with so much more clarity! We begin to pray with so much more fervor!  We begin to hunger for more of the Word, because as we pour out, we desire to be filled with more!  As we see the Lord work, we begin to praise Him with much more enthusiasm! And as we see a heart of compassion and love for the lost developing in our children, we are filled with unspeakable joy!

There are MANY ways that you, as a mother of young children, can reach out, WITH your children, not in spite of them, nor to the detriment of them!  Look up the passages linked above, and others, and PRAY, asking the Lord to show you ways that you can do His work here, to be His hands and feet, and train your children to do the same.  Then we will see His Kingdom come, and His will done, on earth as it is in heaven.

I would love to hear from you! Post your thoughts in the comments section below, or ideas of ways you are reaching out with your family!