In my 20 years of missions experience, I have read many books and even engaged in my fair share of fiery discussions on the role of women in the home, church, and missions. This has been a hot topic for decades, with a wide spectrum of beliefs even among bible-believing Christians. But for me, it’s more than a controversial debate; how I and my leaders view the role of women has been a significant factor in the Great Commission work I have engaged in among the unreached. My ministry effectiveness has been greater due to leaders who value and support the unique contribution that women make in missions.

We should never allow the variety of beliefs on women’s roles among believers to result in uncertainty about the necessity of women in church-planting work!  All church-planters and missionaries must agree that women are a crucial part of not only our churches, but our church-planting and mission work, and should actively mobilize and encourage women in the missionary task.

Women are crucial on church-planting teams for at least 3 reasons: it’s biblical; lostness demands it; and your church can’t be healthy without it.

It’s Biblical.
First, women are a crucial part of your church planting plans because it’s biblical. Both the Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul teamed with women. Read the book of Acts and the epistles and write down every instance of a woman being used by God to further His Kingdom, and you will be amazed at the many powerful, diverse ways God used women!

Remember how God powerfully kicked off the beginning of the church on Pentecost- by filling the 120 men and women with the Holy Spirit, using all of them to testify of all the great things God had done, as a fulfillment of Joel’s prophesy that men and women both would be filled with the spirit and used powerfully by God (Acts 2:4, 17).

Priscilla served with her husband Aquila doing the same types of mission work as Paul- traveling to new places, sharing the gospel, planting house churches, and moving on, even risking her life at times (Acts 18:1-19; 1 Cor. 16:19; Rom. 16:3-5).

Lydia was the first in her family to be saved and through her, Lydia’s entire family also came to faith! Lydia was the very first European believer recorded in the Bible, and may have hosted the church of Philippi in her home (Acts 16:14-15, 40).

Lois taught her son Timothy the Scriptures at a young age (2 Tim. 1:5, 3:15), and Timothy joined the Apostle Paul and became a powerful preacher.

Junia was well-known among the apostles, and served time in prison with Paul (Rom. 16:7).

And many unnamed women were scattered due to persecution; some were dragged off to prison for their faith; others went about preaching the word everywhere they went (Acts 8:1-4; 9:1-2). As you read the stories of Paul, Barnabas, and Timothy in the New Testament, don’t overlook all the women they partnered with in their church-planting work!

Lostness Demands It.
Second, women are a crucial part of your church planting plans because lostness demands it. There are millions of lost people in the world, half of whom are women that men have little to no access to. Who is going to reach the Muslin women who rarely leave their homes? Who is going to reach the millions of Hindu women that need shown God’s love? It would be foolish to overly focus on equipping only men as missionaries and disciple-makers, and overlook the importance of equipping women for this work as well. In fact, for all of my missionary career, we have had significantly more women serving as missionaries on the field than men, and these ladies are able to minister to people in unique ways that men cannot. If we are serious about reaching the millions of lost people around the world who need to hear the gospel and be discipled, we must focus on empowering every believer, male and female, to be a part of this work.

Your church health depends on it.
Third, women are a crucial part of your church planting plans because your church can’t be healthy without empowering your women to be and do all that God desires. Every believer is a priest (1 Peter 2:9), with equal access to God and equal potential to be used by God. A church is as healthy as the extent to which every believer is equipped to be and do all God desires for them, even if the church has theologically trained elders preaching doctrinally rich sermons every week. One of the church elders’ main responsibilities is to “equip the saints for the work of ministry (Eph. 4:12). God loves to use ordinary, Spirit-filled believers to expand His Kingdom; that is his desire for every church.

What could happen if our articles, books, and discussions on women in the church were focused on empowering, encouraging, and sending out women to do great things for God, instead of focusing on the things they shouldn’t do, or at best giving them permission to do ministry, with a good measure of caution?

I have worked alongside and trained hundreds of women over the years in our church-planting work, and women aren’t working for a leadership position; they simply want to sacrificially, boldly serve their Savior, and they need others to encourage them, appoint them, and speak high expectations over them! Let’s challenge women to know and teach God’s Word, boldly share the gospel, and make new disciples. Let’s recruit women to serve in hard places on the mission field, and provide team for them in those places. As we serve together, side by side as brothers and sisters on our church planting teams, let’s treat one another primarily as family, caring for one another affectionately, following the example of the Apostle Paul.

Friends, see the Spirit-filled women in your church and send them out for church-planting work alongside the men, because it is biblical, lostness demands it, and your church can’t be healthy without it. Let’s not just give women permission; let’s see the mobilization of women in the Great Commission as a non-negotiable.