Complete
this phrase:
“
______ like a girl.” Once upon a time, it was considered an insult to run like
a girl, or throw like a girl. Because, well, it was likely perceived that doing
anything like a girl was inferior to doing it like a boy.
Thankfully,
we are evolving so that such phrases are no longer given much attention or
power, right? Today, we can complete the phrase this way: Study like a girl.
Invent like a girl. Code like a girl. Debate like a girl. Preside like a woman.
Preach like a woman. Lead like a woman. Climb like a woman. Legislate like a
woman.
And
yet, sexism is alive and well in the broader church and in the Mennonite
Church. For example, when my husband Mike and I joined a Midwestern church in
the 1982, I called the man who was in charge of the printed church directory
and asked him if women could be listed by their first names so that I would not
be “Mrs. Michael Bogard.”
It
had never occurred to him. I was delighted to enlighten him, because I did have
a name, and I wanted to be known for who I was as an individual, not as my husband’s
wife. That simple phone call was a moment of empowerment for me and all other
married women in that congregation.
Even
today, there are women in Mennonite circles who do not have a vote, a voice.
In
2015, I visited with a 40-year-old woman who confided to me a recent decision:
She was not permitted to teach an adult Sunday school class, so her family was
moving to another Mennonite church where her gifts would be welcomed and
celebrated.
This
past year, the Mennonite Women USA office received an email from Carren Ouma, a
Kenyan recipient of one of our scholarships for international women who deeply
desire to study theology and the Bible:
“Let me express my heartfelt gratitude to the good
women of Mennonite USA. Four years ago I joined Moi University to pursue
studies towards my Bachelor of Education. Financially I was not able to make
it, but thank God for the IWF that I have been receiving that has brought me
this far.
I am now in my final year and my last semester is
beginning September 12; I am hoping to complete by April 2017 and to graduate
in either September or December 2017.
My life has completely changed ever since and I have
to say I am no longer a dry bone as before. I am living again! Aaron’s staff
has not only sprouted but has budded, blossomed, and will soon produce almonds.
(Numbers 17:8). What a miracle!
My passion is to remain a Teacher of the Word of God
at school, in the church and in the community at large. This is what I have
been doing and I pray that I continue to do so to the ends of the earth! Thank
you very much for offering the opportunity to study and to be fully equipped
for the ministry.”
These
three stories represent empowerment in various contexts. At times, women must
take matters into their own hands in order to express their prophetic voices.
In other circumstances, we depend on others to deliver support and
encouragement and to help us find a way when there seemingly is no way.
Today,
as we celebrate 100 years of Mennonite Women USA, I embolden you to be
deliberate in empowering others. It’s time!
