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Missional Women


​Helping women live on mission for the glory of God.

Is Your Women's Ministry Making Disciples?

1/22/2015

9 Comments

 
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Bookshelves full of fill-in-the-blank Bible studies line my room – thick ones, cute ones, 12-week and 10-minute-a-day ones. My handwriting fills the blanks inside them with words I wrote as God poured into me. Others have short, messy answers that I frantically wrote while sitting in the parking lot just minutes before women’s bible study began.

The women’s ministry of our new church was just a few years old. And fun! Each year more women came with their new Bible study workbook. It felt successful. Appeared successful. In some ways it was. In other ways, I wasn’t sure. So, I began to evaluate. 

These are the questions I asked:

1.     Are we producing disciples?
I wasn’t entirely sure how to measure this. Part of me wanted to say, “YES!” People were excited to bring their friends and some were reading God’s word for the first time – ever! But no matter how many signed up in the beginning, about 70% remained in the end.

 
2.     Are we producing disciples that produce disciples?
Um…no, we were not.

 
3. What if the measurement of successful women’s ministry isn’t in the numbers that show up, but in those that go out?
Best I could measure we were creating a perfect environment for “failure to launch.” It was safe, easy, and in a kit. Just show up, and we’ll do the rest.


4. What if the numbers of women being fed at Bible study, are not as important as those that can feed themselves? 
A common question asked of me was, “When is the next study?” So I began to ask a question of my own, “Where are you reading in the Bible right now?” After a few awkward responses, most would say, “no where.”

 
5.  What if women crave more than I was leading them to find? 
The women wanted grow, but didn’t know how to on their own. It reminded of one day, when we lived in Zambia, that I noticed a girl climbing a paw-paw tree to get the fruit. I yelled up to her, “the fruit isn’t ripe.” She yelled back down to me, “yes, I know, but I’m hungry.”

Women are smart! And hungry. At the loss of not knowing exactly what to do, we often settle.

 
So, here is the sound-byte version of what we did (Sorry there’s no kit)

We gathered the women and revealed what we were assessing. We paused our “program” and instead poured into 20 leaders. We went backward to go forward. We helped these leaders unpack their personal life stories and begin to see God’s restoration, healing, and redemption. We uncovered the narrative of God’s story by reading chronologically through scripture. God’s story collided with their life stories. We asked tough questions we didn’t know the answers to, which sent us studying the Bible even more. We prayed, confessed, and grew. Then we sent these leaders out to invite others to join them and repeat the process.

There’s NOTHING wrong with study kits and workbooks. I still use them. I felt led to be a missionary using a fill-in-the-blank study. I’m thankful for wisdom written by others that have challenged my faith and gave me handles in dark places.

But, let’s not be afraid to evaluate…honestly.
And let’s be okay with un-programmatic, messy discipleship.
Let’s lead women to be disciples that make disciples.
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About Lori

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Lori is a Global Mission Catalyst at IMB, mobilizing churches and leading women to participate in God’s global mission.  She, her husband, and their 3 kids lived in Africa as missionaries before returning to plant Grace Point Church in Bentonville, AR where Mike is Sr. Pastor. She’s passionate about discipling people to see how their everyday life collides with God’s mission of making His glory known to all nations. She blogs at lorimcdaniel.org

If you'd like to read more from this contributor, type her name in the search box on the top right.

Sharing this over at these awesome blogs
9 Comments
Kristina link
1/25/2015 11:48:14 pm

This is so great! I love that you were able to question yourselves and then change the way you do things when you saw the need.
I am challenged and am looking at what we can do with our women's ministry to make disciples as well.

Reply
Lori McDaniel link
3/11/2015 02:47:50 pm

Kristina, someone told me one, "ask the right questions and you'll get the right answers." Sometimes the answers are hard to swallow and sometimes they reveal great things we haven't seen before. Blessings to you and your women's ministry.

Reply
Melody link
1/26/2015 08:05:26 am

This is so very good and true. I have found growth in both the organized study in a box study but have found the most effectiveness in side by side discipleship - reading God's word over strong diner coffee. Praying in a Mcdonalds booth over struggles.

Reply
lori McDaniel link
3/11/2015 02:48:54 pm

Strong diner coffee!!!! That's the key right there:)

Reply
Melissa Deming link
3/9/2015 05:04:50 am

I would like a kit on how to disciple women. ha just kidding. Love this article and it hits on the issues we're uncovering where we are!

Reply
Lori McDaniel link
3/11/2015 02:42:59 pm

I know!! I still kind of want a kit! I think there are times for them, but perhaps everything we do should be based on them. Hey, maybe you should write the kit!!

Reply
Gina Duke link
3/10/2015 03:12:47 pm

Great post, Lori! Thanks for holding our (women's ministry leaders) feet to the fire. We've got to stay focused on this!!!

Reply
Lori McDaniel link
3/11/2015 02:45:35 pm

Thanks Gina! You are so right, we need to stay focused on making disciples. Women's ministry is such a great place for it, too.

Reply
Magdalena
10/2/2015 10:24:13 am

This is a timely read for me. I am at a very small church plant. We are struggling to even survive as a church at this point. The ladies ministry leader left without any notice and I decided to take on the responsibility. I am not a natural born leader. I am not a teacher. But I have a heart for missions and seeing His name glorified. A lot of times women ministry is fluffy and inward focused (in my experience). I'm so encouraged and inspired by your post. Thank you

Reply



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Photos used under Creative Commons from Ktoine, jesse.millan, slightly everything, Vivian Chen [陳培雯], miggslives, CUS Visual Media Team
  • Home
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    • About >
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      • Master Plan Ministries {College Students}
      • Contact
      • Featured At
      • Rules, Disclosure & Privacy
    • Resources >
      • Bible Study Journals
      • Free Printables
      • Bible Study Recommendations
      • Reviews
      • Videos
      • App
    • Missional Women Equipping
    • Contributors
    • Statement of Faith
    • Free eBooks >
      • Ministry Resources for Women eBook
      • Leading Effective Bible Studies
      • Missional Life Book
    • Missional Women Bible Studies >
      • The Book of John Video Series
      • 1st Samuel {Beholding Him, Becoming Missional}
      • Judges {A Devotional Journey through Judges}
    • Giant Blog Hop Link Ups List
  • Blog
    • Ministry >
      • Evangelism {Win}
      • Discipleship {Build} >
        • Foundations
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      • Ministry Resources for Women
    • God's Word >
      • Bible Study Tips
      • Devotionals
      • Bible Studies
      • Apologetics
    • Relationships >
      • Marriage
      • Singleness
      • Dating
      • Family
      • Friendship
    • World >
      • Social Justice Issues
      • Internet & Social Media
      • Politics
      • International
      • Science Revealing God
    • Life >
      • Image & Idenity
      • Health
      • Fashion
      • Food
      • Organization
    • Faith Filled Friday Blog Link Up
  • Conferences
    • Online Conference
    • Missional Women Retreat
  • Courses
    • Growing in Your Faith Mini Course
    • Discover God's Calling Course >
      • DGC Online Course
  • Connecting Groups
  • Store
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