P... Women

Pastoral Women... "Now is the time to care."

"We can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God" (2 Corinthians 1:4).

Who are Pastoral Women?

Deaconesses, Missionaries, Ministers, Church Visitors

What about you and the women in your PW Group?

We are all the body of Christ, Jesus' hands and feet, therefore we should be ready to put our faith into action, and love others unconditionally as Jesus did. James 2:17 says "faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead." We are all called to be pastoral women because we are commanded to love one another. Jesus said every act of kindness directed towards someone is directed towards Him.

So what should we do?

Start by asking God to direct us. Acts of kindness are possible for even the busiest of women today. Every person we meet will be different and will require a unique approach. We need to be sensitive - many people have been hurt by misguided attempts to help and support them. It is very important to ask God on every occasion what He wants us to do, when He wants us to do it and how it is to be done.

Serving in love may simply take the form of giving a hug and a word of encouragement to young mothers who make the effort to get themselves and their children to church on Sunday. It may mean reaching out to a woman who has become withdrawn and inviting her to lunch, or expressing admiration to a woman who desires to be married but who is determined not to date non-Christians.

Here are some women's comments on how they were comforted during difficult situations:

"I was comforted when a woman who had been through a divorce came to my home after my husband had left me. She hugged me, cried with me and prayed with me. She assured me that God would never leave me or forsake me."

"I was comforted when during my chemotherapy treatments, the women in my church brought meals every day and cleaned my house once a week, and told me they wanted me to use all my energy to get well."

"A friend remembered that Mother's Day is difficult for me because I desperately wanted to be a mother. She simply hugged me and said 'I love you.'"

However, it is just as important to know what not to do...

"I was not comforted when I had a miscarriage and someone said, 'You're young, you can try again.' This wasn't the issue. My heart was breaking over the child that had died."

"I was not comforted when my teenage daughter was pregnant and no one said anything."

"I was not comforted when my friend told me that it was partly my fault that my son was on drugs. She said that if I had not had the part-time job it would not have happened."