My grandmother was one of the gentlest, kindest, all ’round nice people I have ever known. I never heard her raise her voice, nor heard her say an unkind word about any person. She was, I believe, an archetypical grandmother. That’s what we think of when we think of grandmothers, isn’t it? Grandmothers are people who bake cookies, and remember birthdays, and remind us, mostly through their own example, of proper manners expected for every situation.
What do you think of when you think of the Women’s Missionary Society or the Atlantic Mission Society? I believe that most people, when they think about the WMS and AMS, think of grandmothers. Images of elderly women, praying for ‘heathen’ peoples in faraway lands may come to mind for many people. Others may think of small groups of women gathering on a weekday afternoon for tea and cookies. Perhaps you have seen a collection of knitted baby hats, vests and blankets being collected for overseas hospitals – that WMS makes you think of knitting needles and postage stamps.
It is true that many members of the WMS and AMS pray for people in countries around the world, and that most (though by no means all) of their groups hold their regular meetings in the afternoon. It is also true that many members knit and send knitted goods overseas. None of the images that come to so many people’s minds when they hear “mission society” are inherently wrong. The problem is that so many of those images are severely limited. Too many people think they know these women, when in fact they know very little about the wide range of activities and concerns that members and groups are involved with. I recently spent a year working with the WMS, and I was reminded that in many ways this small group of (mostly) elderly women provides a prophetic voice to their congregations and to our denomination.
Just one case in point is the issue of human trafficking. The presence of recent items in the media indicates that there is a growing awareness of the extent of this crime in Canada and around the world. The WMS first undertook to study this issue in May of 2009. Soon after, June Campbell, a WMS representative on the Justice Ministries advisory committee, raised the issue with that group, which resulted in the decision that the WMS would take responsibility for raising awareness of the issue within our church. Efforts to that end have included a campaign to collect signatures in support of Bill C-268 – an Act to amend the Criminal Code with a minimum sentence for offences involving trafficking of persons under the age of 18 years – a series of articles in Glad Tidings, a speaker at the annual council meeting in May 2010, and, most recently, the recommendation presented by the WMS, and passed at the 136th General Assembly, that the “Moderator communicate to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, [and other politicians], the church’s concern over human trafficking in Canada, and urge the government to develop and implement a national strategy to combat this growing trade.”
Learning about human trafficking is not pleasant. Sharing tea and cookies, knitting hats for babies, praying for missionaries involved in frontline gospel work – these are grandmotherly things. Listening to stories about women and children who have been abducted, beaten, raped and drugged until their dignity is crushed and their spirits are broken, doesn’t fit the common image of the WMS.
WMS and AMS members also encourage the volunteers and staff of International Ministries with cards and letters and prayers. They reach out to individuals in times of illness and grief with more cards and letters. They study justice issues and advocate on behalf of the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized. They support educational programs and synod regional staff within our denomination with hundreds of thousands of dollars (a $200,000 grant for regional staffing in 2009 alone). They have been a major force behind the declaration of Mission Awareness Sunday, and each year provide resources to help the rest of us understand just a little more about the work of our church and our partner churches around the world.
Many of the women in the WMS are grandmothers. Many of them reminded me of my grandmother. But all of them challenged me to remember that while I remember my grandmother teaching me to embroider and to enjoy a good cup of tea, I should also remember that she lived through two world wars, she raised six children through the years of the Great Depression, and she knew that her calling in life was to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with her God.
