Written by Nay Dawson

Caroline Criado Perez wrote the book Invisible Women. One of the most glaring injustices she discovered was that "a woman involved in a car crash, is 17% more likely to die than a man in the same crash".

Perez had interviewed Maria & her mother. Both were sitting in the back seats & suffered extremely serious injuries during a crash. But her father & her brother walked away without a scratch.

Why?

Car safety tests were based on a family of dummies, made up exclusively of men.

Therefore, excluding half the population from safety testing.

There has been some improvement, but still, today, the front seat in cars is safety tested on the weight & height of an average man.

The result is that women are 73% more likely to be injured than men in the same crash. This translates to over 1,300 preventable deaths & 400,000 preventable injuries in women every year in the US alone.

Perez says “when it comes to the other half of humanity, there is often nothing but silence… a female-shaped absent presence”.

Many of the stories we tell about who we are as humans exclude & diminish women & act as if that's Okay. From popular TV to films & novels, the absence of women in key roles is being noted.

But what about you?

I wonder if you feel a female-shaped absent presence in your life?

The older I get, the more exclusion I see. Sadly, not just in culture but in church, too. Yet, in recent years, I have found myself drawn to what the Bible says about women, I’ve found myself compelled by Jesus's honouring of women.

Take Genesis 2:18

The Lord God said “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Matthew Henry says this

“That the woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam;

not made out of his head to rule over him,

nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him,

but out of his side to be equal with him,

under his arm to be protected, & near his heart to be beloved.”

As we reflect on those moments where women have been absent; in culture, in the church & in our daily lives. Let's sit & pause & hear loud & clear that “a woman's absence is not good."

Written by Beth Conway

Enmity is hatred. The word ‘hostility’ is often used as a synonym of enmity, but if someone is hostile, then it’s obvious. The difference is that there is a quietness with enmity, it’s a quiet thing that rears its head when the opportunity arises.

Enmity exists in the world because of sin. It didn’t exist before Adam and Eve rebelled. There is a fight between people and Satan, but the Bible is clear that there is a special enmity between Satan and women. We see evidence of this in how women are treated in the world, and sadly in the church too.

But there is hope! This was God’s plan, for reasons known to him, and reasons we can trust him with even if we don’t understand them. He wasn’t taken by surprise when Adam and Eve sinned and so came up with a rescue plan. He always had a plan. And he wants to trust women with his plan.

So, women of God, take heart. God’s plan to rescue people back to himself has us in it. And when our time comes to meet with him, we won’t be asking ‘Why was it so hard?’ No, we will be exclaiming, ‘Look! It’s Jesus! The one who saved us!’

How wonderful!

Written by Ali Irvine

Watch the Women

“And I will put enmity

between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and hers;

he will crush your head,

and you will strike his heel.”

Genesis 3:15

Often, it can seem like men dominate the story of the Bible. From the patriarchs to the kings to the prophets, it feels like men are on every page, and we occasionally meander upon a woman. I remember observing this as a child. On Sunday evenings, when one of my parents went out to church, the other would read us a Bible story that my siblings and I would act out. I only ever wanted to play the part of a woman, which resulted in us regularly acting out the story of Naomi, Esther, and Mary, as these felt like the only stories where a woman was the central character and not a supporting one.

With fewer narratives featuring women’s voices, it can leave us wondering if women are only the support act for men. Did God intend for men to be front and centre of his history of salvation and women to be merely accessories? I considered this to be the case until taking a closer look. Genesis 3:15.

Christians will be familiar with this verse as the first one to foretell the coming of a Saviour who will reverse the curse that has just been put on mankind for their disobedience. It signals to Scripture readers to keep their eyes open for the Saviour, and so we keep our eyes peeled for the man who will come to save. But this verse doesn’t want us to just look for the men because the Saviour can only come through a woman. A woman is an intrinsic part of God’s plan of salvation.

From page two of the Bible, we are told to watch the women. Sit up and pay attention when a woman enters the stage. Watch their stories. Is she the one from whom the Messiah will come?

Are women centre stage of the story of God’s salvation? No! Only Christ takes that place. But women in the Bible are not simply supporting actresses. God intended for the women in his Word to be watched just as much as the men are, for he chose to announce from the start that it would be through a woman that the One to bring salvation to the world would come.

Written by Sára Šperková

In James Cameron's movie Avatar there is a greeting phrase. The phrase in the Na’vi is “oel ngati kameie” - translated into english as “I see you”.

This is not just some simple phrase, and the Na’vi don’t just greet this way to anyone. It doesn’t mean that you see the person. It has a much deeper meaning. It means you can see inside them - their soul, their thoughts, their connection to the Pandoran Spirit (God who binds all things on their planet).

That is how I understand the story of Hagar and God. Hagar was seen by God. He has seen the injustice that Hagar experienced. But not only that. He didn’t see her only in her unfortunate situation. He has seen her whole, her entire life. Hagar is the second person who receives a promise from God after Abram about her descendant:

“You are now pregnant, and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael (means God hears), for the Lord has heard of your misery.” (Genesis 16:11)

Isn’t that interesting? God has heard of her misery. The same God, who decades later, hears of the misery of Abrams descendants in Egypt.

Hagar was taken from Egypt as a slave into Abrams home, and years later, Israel is enslaved by Egypt. In this story we see a God who cares for the enslaved, for those whom injustice was done. And she meets God at the same place where Moses and Jesus meet God - in the wilderness.

When we are pushed to our limits and there is no way out , that’s when we are welcome to cry out to God.

Hagar meets God's loving and caring heart and calls Him - El Roi - the God who sees. He didn’t turn his face from her he saw her.

Hagar is the only person in the Bible who gives God a name. God doesn’t need to introduce Himself. She knows him. She experiences him.

We are messy, yet he e is the God who sees. We are pulled into difficult situations by life circumstances or decisions of others, but God provides the way. He cares. He sees us as our whole selves.

Written by Hannah Lewis

“Tie this scarlet cord in the window.”

This was the instruction given to a woman named Rahab. She lived over 3000 years ago in the city of Jericho. She was a prostitute/innkeeper, so it seems reasonable to assume she ran a brothel from her house, which was built into the city walls. She was a Canaanite, an enemy of the Israelites, who were God’s chosen people, and who were all set to attack her home city. And she is just one of the incredibly brave women in the Old Testament who were willing to sacrifice everything to rescue God’s people.

Two Israelite spies snuck into Jericho to find out about morale in the city. Rahab hides them from her own soldiers and helps them to escape. She’s heard about how God rescued them from slavery in Egypt, how he led them through the desert, provided food, water and protection for forty years. She may have witnessed a miracle outside her window, as God dammed the fast flowing Jordan River to let his people cross safely. And she tells the spies that the city is terrified of what their God can do, and that she wants them to spare her life when they attack. That’s when they tell her to tie a scarlet cord in the window and promise to keep those in her house safe (unless she snitches on them, of course).

What was Rahab thinking as she hung that scarlet cord out of the window? Was she worried that it wouldn’t get noticed and they would all be killed? Did she pass it over the thick stones in the city wall, and consider putting her trust in those proven defences? Was she afraid that her own soldiers would see it, and recognise it as an act of betrayal? Did she plead with her parents, bully her brothers, strong-arm her sisters into her house in the walls? Was the red thread a remotely convincing argument that they’d be safe?

It was a huge display of trust in a God who had no reason to care for her. It was an incredibly brave move that would affect all of her relationships; the only people she would know going forward were the ones who took her word that a foreign God would keep them safe. There were no promises made that her possessions would be kept safe; like many people in times of war she would likely lose everything. If she joined the Israelites there was no way she would be able to keep her job in a society where sex was supposed to be reserved for marriage. She would lose so much; her security, her nationality, her home, her sense of what’s normal. She was willing to risk it all for a chance to get to know God.

So as she ties that scarlet cord, as she chooses to trust God, he makes her a partner in his plan. Rahab is one of the women who would risk it all for God. Because of her the Israelites win the war at Jericho, and because of that God Rahab is part of God’s plan to rescue the whole world.

Written by Beks Hayes

I have spent a lot of time working with women who are on the margins. Women who would not be considered powerful or world changers. Women who are often found behind closed doors, assumed to be silent. Veiled.

I remember the first time I really got to know women whose faces I could not initially see. I had no idea that I would also encounter women who were fierce and brave. Women who were entrepreneurial and highly opinionated. Women with wicked senses of humour and loud laughs. Perhaps they were unheard in those overlooked spaces of that city, but they were certainly not voiceless.

We see in these verses that God turns the status quo of society on its head. The men are silent, the women speak. And in that speaking God gives them a place in his story. In that speaking those who would have been ushered to the side-lines…not voiceless but unheard…are now examples to us for eternity as women of faith who trusted and believed in what God was saying to them.

God gives value and a voice to those who the world would consider not worth listening to. He gives them a message of life changing, unfailing truth. He gives them too a place in his story as they echo those words of Mary and Elizabeth. Words of trust and faith in what God has done and what he is continuing to do. And in doing so, and in often costly ways, they are not silent. They are not voiceless. They speak.

Written by Maaike Verbruggen

You probably know the book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis. In this allegory on good an evil, the land of Narnia is looking eagerly for Aslan, the mythical lion that can save Narnia from the witch and her evil reign. As the plot unfolds you feel in every sentence how salvation is at hand: Aslan is coming closer. Winter is turning into spring.

In the Bible the coming of the Messiah has been long foretold. From the moment that the promise of a coming Messiah had been given (Gen. 3), there had always been people who were hoping that that day would arrive soon.

People had been living in darkness, according to Isaiah 9:2. They had been hoping for the Messiah to arrive, to redeem and save them.

And now, salvation is at hand. A light is seen by those walking in darkness.

It is in Luke 1 that the child in Elizabeth’s womb leaps up when Mary enters the house of Elisabeth. It is then where ‘not yet’ changes to ‘already’.

The long-expected Messiah has arrived, and His coming is first acknowledged by Elisabeth and her baby.

Two mothers, carrying miracles. One child that will save the world, and one to prepare His way.

I am amazed by how God wants these two women to play huge roles in the big storyline of the Bible. An unmarried girl and a childless woman with no hope for a child anymore. Both without any worth in society. But here they are: one greeting the other with shouts of joy, because God had done great things. Welcoming the Messiah, preparing the way.

Elisabeth’s name means ‘God is my oath’. She must have known that God would do what He promised, carrying that faith with her in her name, every day of her life. He did the unbelievable, the unthinkable. All to unravel the magnificent story of salvation. And the honour was hers to acknowledge that first.

The Messiah has come. Turning the long winter of this world into spring.

Written by Martine Barons

Have you ever noticed in the Christmas story that the very first person to announce that the long awaited saviour had arrived on earth was a woman? I'd missed this until recently.

So, who was this woman? She was middle-aged or older. She was side-lined by her community because she didn't have any children (there was a sneaking suspicion that women who had no children were not right with God).

In modern terms, she'd probably be the kind of woman who serves refreshments , prepared a room for a meeting, or checks the supply cupboard. It is likely a few people picked her out from the furniture - middle-aged, anonymous, greying.

But God saw her, knew her heart, & chose her to announce the Lord Jesus Christ's arrival on earth, even before he was born.

When the newly pregnant Mary arrived in her home, this Elizabeth, who herself was now miraculously pregnant in her advanced age, burst into song, speaking God's words. That's called prophecy. There are so many famous male prophets in the Bible it can be easy to miss the women prophets.

Elizabeth rejoices in the fulfilment of God's promise to send a hero, a person to restore people's broken relationship with God, a saviour. She rejoiced in the supporting role her own child, her son, would play. But the main theme of her prophetic song was about faith. Mary, Elizabeth declares, is blessed because she believed God. Elizabeth's own husband, a well-educated, privileged priest, had been struck dumb because of his unbelief.

What a contrast to Mary, a young girl from an impoverished home! AND Elizabeth's own faith is bolstered by her own miraculous pregnancy.

Long ago, the seed of the woman had been promised by God to come & restore mankind's broken relationship with God.

Seed, in the Bible, is a word usually used in connection with the male contribution to procreation. But this promise was for the seed of the woman, an early hint that woman alone would produce the promised saviour. This momentous event was recognised & declared by Elizabeth as the newly pregnant Mary arrived at her house.

The baby in Elizabeth womb leapt for joy and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit declaring God's words. This is carefully recorded for us in the Bible, book of Luke, chapter one, verses 39 to 45.

Women are not bit parts in God's rescue story, they are front and centre.

Written by Catrin Conway

Mary has just found out she’s pregnant with Jesus, who will be great and called Son of the most high (Luke 1 v32) and who’s kingdom will never end (v33). She has the privilege and joy of knowing that her baby will bring blessing, not only to her, but to generation and generation. Through her, the saviour of the world, the one her ancestors have talked about, will come. She recognises that God is fulfilling his promise - great is thy faithfulness.

She responds with this song of praise, remembrance and thanksgiving. She recognises her lowliness, God’s greatness, and his blessing and she praises him. She thanks him for how God has blessed her personally and how he has blessed the generations. What a challenge, to remember not only how God has blessed me personally but how he has blessed his people from the beginning.

I love to imagine how Mary felt. Did she feel inadequate? Did she experience imposter syndrome? Did she fear how she would mother the Son of God? Maybe, but one thing we do know is that she felt amazed and in awe of God. He has blessed her immensely and so she praises and rejoices in God. In society's eyes, she is an uneducated, unworthy, insignificant woman but God saw her, his child, and he blessed her.

When was the last time I was in awe of God’s blessing to me and all his people? When was the last time my soul glorified the Lord and my spirit rejoiced in God my saviour? (v46-47) Mary's song is a reminder to me that God has blessed me and his people and I should respond in joyful noise to him, my God, my saviour.

Written by Kirsty Gwyn-Thomas

Jesus’s response to his mother indicates that Mary requested more than quick thinking—she expected and received a messianic sign.

What a privileged relationship with Jesus Mary had. She’d carried him and grown him in her body; she’d nurtured him through all the joys and trials of babyhood; watched his first, tentative steps; tended him during the scrapes and little triumphs of childhood and witnessed him reach maturity. It was no small feat in an occupied territory, with lived experience as refugees and an unusual family setup, to say the least.

And here he is - the son she knows is the Messiah - now a respected rabbi, with disciples gathered around him, attending a community celebration. When the unthinkable happens and the wine runs out, Mary instinctively looks to her boy-turned-man, knowing he will act. There’s a tender moment of understanding between them; Jesus calling Mary ‘woman’ denoting loving familiarity rather than abruptness.

Does she change his mind, prompting him to perform the miracle even though his “hour has not yet come”?

What curious mixture of pride and awe, wonder and apprehension must she feel as she witnesses with satisfaction the rich wine spilling generously from the enormous jars?

How do we nurture our God-given charges? Whether we’re mothers or not, we’re given unique roles to fulfil, mixtures of blessing and opportunity, often tinged with the shadow of pain. Do we petition God boldly whilst walking along the path he’s set out for us? Dare we ask him, simply, for what we can see is needed? And, do we expect him to answer and act?

Written by Anne Cockram

The Samaritan woman’s encounter with Jesus is a precious reminder to me that although Jesus knows my brokenness, my sin, my past, my insignificance, yet he chooses to spend time with me.

In this longest recorded conversation with a woman, he explicitly and gently reveals himself to her as the Christ, the source of living water. As I long to be known, loved and accepted, Jesus comes alongside and refreshes, comforts, encourages - and sends me out to serve him.

We may not feel eligible, but Jesus speaks to the unlikely, and he uses us where we are.

She joyfully, enthusiastically, and urgently went into the city to tell others - am I doing that too? Jesus is not ashamed to associate with me, and I must not be ashamed to tell others about him.

Written by Annemarie-Ian Aburrow

It’s easy to read the gospels and forget that Jesus and his disciples would have needed resources to pay for food, places to stay, means of transport and helping the poor to name but a few; after all, the disciples left their jobs to follow Jesus. Elsewhere in the gospels, we read that Judas Iscariot (who later went on to betray Jesus) was appointed to look after the ‘communal purse’, implying a shared pot of money to help finance this ministry.

In Luke 8:2-3, we are given the names of three women who provided for Jesus and His ministry ‘out of their own resources’ and told that ‘many other’ women were involved in this provision. Of those named, we have Joanna, a wealthy married woman of status, and Susanna and Mary Magdalene, assumed to both be single prominent women. The Bible only refers to women as having provided for Jesus’ ministry.

In addition to accepting financial resources from them, Jesus welcomed these women, and they were followers of Him alongside the Twelve disciples. Jesus didn’t tell them to go back home and look after their husband and children or tell the unmarried women to go and find husbands. Jesus accepted and loved them as they were.

Despite societal shifts in attitude, I still feel there is an expectation, especially in church circles, that women should stay at home and look after the children, while their husbands go to work to provide financially. As a mum of four children with my own profession and career, it’s freeing to know that I, too, can use my resources to give into the work Jesus is doing in my hometown in 2023. As a married woman, I would always make financial decisions with my husband, but it is not just monetary resources we can give. Like these women in the Bible, we too can give of our time, gifts, skills, and talents and use any influence we have been given to promote the mission of Jesus.

Written by Cara Smith

Those recorded as acting against Jesus are those in power and authority. Women were bared from those roles. They were defined by their father or husband. Not worthy of rights. Not significant. And so we don’t have women recorded as being against Jesus.

But is there something else going on? What drew women to Jesus?

The way Jesus treated people. Particularly women. Even when he disagreed with people, he never diminished or belittled them. He celled himself gently & lowly (Matt 11:29), and we see that in his interactions with others. With him, women are valued and honoured. And Jesus never never treated them as “other”.

Jesus would have been aware of the differences between male and female. After all, it is he who created them (Hebs 1:2). But he never sees those differences as an excuse to sideline or ignore women. He doesn’t treat them as a threat to his authority or as potential stumbling blocks.

I feel fortunate to know men who model this. As a single woman, I find these relationships bring a richness that I wouldn’t otherwise have. But they seem few and far between. Rather, being the standard, they are the exception. Male/female relationships are often defined as romantic or sexual, rather than brother and sister. So, rather than drawing closer together, we step further apart. Terrified that something might be misconstrued. Of course, we need to guard against sin. But has the constant rhetoric caused us to only see men and women as relating in this way? Meaning we all miss out on the myriad of blessings from being family. Brother and sister together. And it seems at odd with the way the Jesus & the New Testament writers call us to relate.

Women were inconsequential. Absent from the realms of power & not to be trusted with authority. Sometimes, it seems that the way we view one another causes us to retreat in fear. But not with Jesus, with him women have been seated in the heavenly realms (Eph 2:6), with him women have been brought near by his blood (Eph 2:13), they have become members of his household (Eph 2:19), elevated from woman, to sister.

Written by Yaira

During my time in England, I remember listening to people chat about a TV series that recounted stories about midwives. I wasn’t that interested until the cast started filming next to my block of flats.

To my surprise, they were filming inside a church whose pastor was someone I knew (I used to babysit his children!). I loved seeing the filming, and when I came back to Mexico, I became a huge fan of this series: Call the midwife. The stories were beyond what I had expected. They covered many angles of health care in the 50’s and 60´s. A time when England started to hire midwives for the house care of elderly people, pregnant women, and their babies.

The situations they faced were full of sweetness, but they faced shocking experiences, too. Their job was to be midwives and health assistants, but also to be witnesses and endure suffering. They were spectators of fear, lost babies, and the struggles of families.

I can’t stop thinking of all these stories, how much they had been forgotten, until this show came to life. England wasn’t the worst place for women during that time, but neither the best place.

Women, her thoughts, opinions, and services were sometimes considered as just secondary characters, and today, this situation hasn’t completely changed.

As I reflect on that, I can’t think of a more shocking moment to witness than the crucifixion of Jesus. Think for a moment what would it be like to be a woman in front of not just an innocent man being punished, not a mere prophet, a religious or spiritual guide, but in front of one who had been giving life and forgiveness.

Why were these women the last to be by Jesus’ side?

Where were the disciples and everyone else?

We can think of many reasons, but the Bible story doesn't tell us more. What we can see is the recount of the climax of pain, suffering, and sacrifice.

And women by his side, so close to him that they can even hear his words. What an image… A suffering God who gives his life so we can have freedom, an abundant life now and forever in eternity.

I love how women are pictured, and in particular, during this horrid and unfair punishment -Jesus' crucifixion - they were there.

They didn’t know what was coming, that it was a horrid but at the same time glorious moment, because it wasn’t the end. However, they were there.

From beginning to end of Jesus' ministry on earth, he made women part of special encounters, chats full of grace and freedom, and the restoration and transformation of women in society. If anyone was to argue that Jesus somehow views women as insignificant, fragile, or unimportant, let’s not forget that women were the first individuals to be entrusted with taking the good news of Christ’s resurrection to the disciples, the Gospel itself.

I would like to encourage our readers, to reflect on the following: How many times have we forgotten or hindered role of women in a sphere of life? Are we looking to women as special partners in what God might be doing in the world, or mere spectators? The story of the crucifixion and resurrection will tell us we, they, are more than just spectators. What a marvellous thing to remember and live…

Written by Laura young

Most of us will have written wills, plans for what happens after we are no longer in this world. We decide who will have the things that matter most to us after we die.

As a mum to 2 children through adoption, before they came home, before we’d even met them, we were asked to declare who would care for them, should something happen to us. A legal decision to make sure they still had a family to love them, care for them and raise them.

Here we see Jesus making those plans for his mother, Mary. Mary who carried and birthed the saviour, now watching him take his final breaths.

We assume at this point Mary is widowed and now she is also the mother of a common criminal. She would be shunned by society, a society where a woman’s worth and value was directly related to the men in their life. A widow and mother of a criminal isn’t worth much.

Except to God she is worth much. God sees her value and doesn’t abandon her.

‘A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families’ - Psalm 68:5-6 -

The God who sees all, sees Mary and sets her in a family. The beauty of the doctrine of adoption is that we are adopted into God’s family. We are not left lonely, husbandless or fatherless. We have a Heavenly Father who sees us and makes a home for us.

Jesus last pastoral act to Mary means that whoever you are:

Whether a new mum struggling to find community in the chaos of sleepless nights and endless nappies,

Whether unmarried and struggling with the loneliness of singleness,

Whether a widow dealing with the grief of all that is lost,

Whether a mum whose children have flown the nest, struggling to find what life looks like next,

Whether struggling with infertility and wanting a family of you own,

Whether you are at the cross watching your son die.

God sees you and sees your value. God sees your loneliness and doesn’t abandon you. He welcomes you into his family, with open arms. Because he sets the lonely in families.

Written by Ellelein Kirk

My mum was a criminal prosecutor, and as such, sometimes she counted on reliable witnesses when building a case. In order to give evidence, they needed to be regarded as trustworthy. But although the latter is a concept that we all generally understand, the reality is that our judgment of credibility is mainly based on what we see. We make judgments lightly, God doesn’t.

Jesus has died, and his followers are mourning. The women head down the tomb to find that there is no body there. Instead, they are greeted by an angel with an ‘…appearance like lightning, and …clothing white as snow’ (v.3-4). He tells them what has happened and what they need to do next. Surprisingly, they do not question him. They were afraid and yet charged with the task to tell the rest what had happened. These women were not in time. They simply ran.

But why would God give women this task? Weren’t they regarded as the least reliable witnesses? Prosecutors in those days wouldn’t touch them. If they did, the jury would have dismissed whatever they’ve said. Yet. God decides to break the news to this party first. His judgment says: Women, you are as important to God as men. If culture or society have forgotten more than then and now, God wants to issue a reminder: we are both image bearers, and because of that, we have worth. God does not have favourites, and neither should we.

Up on the road, Jesus mets them. Understanding their fear, he comes to reassure them. Jesus’ relationship with women in all His human form has not changed now that He has gone back to his throne. As God did in the old stories, reassuring his messengers, Jesus tells them: Go, tell them, I will be there. These women don’t hesitate. They became heralds of good news, the first ones. Reliable witnesses, trustworthy human beings, and their testimony in the heavenly court are not ignored.

'I am a child of God, saved by the precious blood of Christ. As those women did back then, I can’t wait to tell others the good news. Jesus is alive! Don’t waste time. Run to Him!

Written by Cara Smith

She plods through the darkness of the early morning. With a mind that has been wracked by sorrow. Her body stiff and sore from emotion. But she carries on. Toward the tomb. Wanting to perform this last act of service for the one who freed her. Freed her from the torment of demons. From the scorn of those around her. From the death grip of this world.

The horror of seeing him battered, belittled, and butchered must have been swimming through her mind. This wasn’t the ending she had imagined, what about all the promises he made? What will happen to his mission? What will happen to we her?

But as she arrives at the tomb something isn’t right. The entrance stone has gone. She flees, to tell the disciples. And for a few verses the Gospel narrative turns to Peter and John as they go to see for themselves.

When we return back to Mary she is outside the tomb, weeping. Distraught that her Lord’s body has gone. He won’t even have the dignity of full burial rights. She peers into the tomb and is met not with empty darkness, but the brilliant whiteness of two angels.

And then a voice, speaking her name. It’s him, her Lord.

But why does Jesus appear to Mary? Why didn’t he appear to Peter and John when they went into the tomb?

In this short interaction with a beloved sister, Jesus shows himself as the one who delivers on his promises. He entrusts her with a place in his mission, and gives her the comfort of being known and cared for.

In a world that would have seen her as inferior, because of her gender, and perhaps mistrusted because of her past, Jesus calls her name. She is significant to him. Her heartfelt devotion to him is seen. Mary isn’t just a messenger of this Good News, Jesus doesn’t just use her to get a job done. Instead he creates this moment to be with her. An intimate, personal moment for her to see him, to hear him, to touch him. To draw closer to him. And then go and speak of him.

Women *are* his mission. His heart is for them. They aren’t the side hustle of his main ministry with the men. He deems them worthy of his time, his care, his ministry. And he gladly receives her worship of him.

So into our darkness, Jesus speaks. Speaks your name. “He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out” (John 10:3)

Written by Janet Sewell

Mary, the apostle to the apostles

Once I understood the counter-cultural nature of this story, it quickly became one of my favourite stories in the New Testament. Not only are we witnessing the resurrection, arguably the greatest moment in history, but the fact that Jesus chose to reveal Himself to Mary is nothing short of incredible since women’s testimonies were not counted as valid during Biblical times.

Earlier in the chapter, at Mary’s urging, the disciples went to the tomb to see for themselves that it was empty – Jesus could have appeared to the disciples then, but He waited until they left and appeared to Mary once she was alone, effectively making her the first apostle (a witness to the resurrected Christ) and missionary. Thomas Aquinas calls Mary, the apostle to the apostle, for it was she whom Jesus tasked to “go and tell” the disciples of His resurrection.

A woman was the first one to announce, He is risen!

Furthermore, upon realizing who Jesus was, she called Him Rabboni, a more intimate title than Rabbi. She knew Jesus, not as some distant teacher, but as someone she was familiar with, a close teacher.

What an amazing privilege it is to be known by name, to be taught, and then sent out by Jesus Himself to teach and tell the world about who He is. And so He does with us, we are all His disciples and missionaries sent by Him in the Great Commission that is His missio Dei.

Written by Rebecca Thomas

Acts 6:1-6 describes a pivotal moment in the early church when neglect and mistreatment of women led to change. In this passage, Hellenistic Jewish widows were being overlooked in the daily food distribution, so the 12 Apostles gathered the whole community of disciples together to address this problem.

Their solution was to appoint seven men full of the Spirit and wisdom as deacons to oversee the food distribution. By doing this, the 12 sought to end the mistreatment of the Hellenistic widows and make sure their practical needs were met.

This moment provides an important lesson - that is, when women are mistreated or overlooked within the church, leaders should actively work to correct it. In this case, the neglect of the widows was serious enough to warrant the appointment of seven deacons to oversee the matter. One of these deacons appointed was Stephen, who went on to powerfully preach the gospel and become the first martyr.

These deacons developed to be men and women as the early church grew.Phoebe who is directly called a "deacon" (or "servant" in some translations) in Romans 16:1-2 through the New Testament. Paul repeatedly refers to and affirms women who served alongside him.

This example shows that ensuring care and dignity for women should be a priority for church leadership. This model of appointing qualified people to specifically serve and advocate for those who have been neglected is one that modern churches should follow.

Q in the early church, mistreatment of women still happens in some churches today. Whether it be neglecting women's gifts, failing to listen to their voices, or not addressing issues affecting them, many women still feel marginalized. Other women have been subjected to abuse of all types with the bible used as justification for these actions or the church collectively refusing to investigate and challenge abusers.

In our narrative of caring for women we have to be open to reflecting on the cultural misogyny and othering of women that has happened throughout our history and from which some sections of the church has still not moved on. If we truly believe that women are image bearers of God, churches and Christian organisations must reflect Gods image through holistic leadership practices which reflect in equity men and women’s leadership gifts.

This biblical example from Acts reminds us that change led by godly leaders is needed to fully reflect God's heart for justice and equality among his children. I pray that such leaders will step forward for this generation in those places where they continue to speak of women’s equality but their practice is vastly different. There is a fundamental need to create the healthy cultures in Christian communities that enable this shift to authentically happen.

Read the rest here

https://www.pfe-women.co.uk/21-places-project

Written by Jo Trickey

I love it when you bump into something unexpectedly beautiful that makes you look twice. That’s how I feel about Paul’s greetings in Romans, Colossians, and 2 Timothy.

Subtle and simple, they express how he values the women he addresses.

He does something radically counter-cultural instead of always mentioning the men first he honours the women by putting them first.

He doesn’t need to, and he doesn’t always do it, but when he does it shows that he notices the faith and values the work of these particular women: Phoebe, Priscilla, and Nympha.

There’s something about being noticed that is so powerful. Often, those who are already powerful get celebrated, but that’s not the way of Jesus who notices and values those on the edges. Taking time to get to know and encourage those who aren’t seen as valuable; women, Gentiles, and sinners.

Following Jesus today includes being like Paul and honouring people who get overlooked or don’t get treated with as much value. What difference would that make to the people around you?

Written by Lynn Graham

Last words.

We all love to have the last word. Whether that be in an argument, a conversation, life or in any way we can. We place great weight and significance on the,.

Here we have the last words spoken in the bible, "The spirit and the bride say come…". Eric points out that it’s a 'womens' voice that's the last to speak. So I ask, what's the significance of this?

From Eric's blog alone we see that women are repeatedly at the forefront of scriptures storyline. But why here? We know that a 'bride' is a women, here the bride is referring to the church as a whole. But we can't ignore the fact that God is using women to represent not only his people, but to emphasise the last words he will speak to us.

Church as a bride.

Christ is repeatedly portrayed as the 'bridegroom'. And his church, those who believe in him, the bride. Using a bride to symbolise his people, women to represent his church. Shows us his love, his care, the relationship he wants with us and the unity we can have with him. There's nothing more intimate than the love and relationship between a groom and his bride, therefore there's nothing more intimate than Gods love for us and the relationship we can have with him.

'COME'

The plea from Christ to us. He's calling his people, the way a groom calls for his bride. Not a demand, but an open offer. Not as a ruler or dictator, but as one longing for the bride he loves. Not forced but free. The fact that we're separated from him breaks his heart, Much like the time a bride spends away from her groom. But he's standing there, at the alter, with outstretched arms. Saying… come.