Sisters Who Make Waves

BY PR NANCY LIM

Recently I have been following a Chinese reality television show called 乘风破浪的姐姐 or “Sisters Who Make Waves”. In each episode, the sisters gave their best to practise for a song and dance item. Their aim was to win sufficient votes to get through each round, and ultimately made it together with a handful of sisters to the Championship Group Formation Night (成团夜).

     What caught my attention was the resilience of these ladies who had to face intense pressure to put up a good show in a short period of time and endured harsh criticism from the viewers. Each one of them not only pushed themselves to the limits but also encouraged others not to give up. In the process, they helped one another to discover their hidden potential. Bonds of friendship blossomed through their shared experience.

     It is also my desire to see deep bonds of friendship formed among the women in our church. For the past 2 years, I’ve come to know more ladies in our church through the Women Ministry’s activities. I observed that many ladies love to gather and chat about almost anything under the sun.

     For this reason, after the overwhelming response for our first post-COVID outdoor event, the Women Ministry has decided to organise more outdoor walks. Branding our series of outdoor events as “Walk and Talk” was an obvious choice.

     During these activities, our conversations were constantly filled with laughter. Most times we included a light meal for our participants as well. We were always encouraged by the heartfelt sharing from the ladies and their words of appreciation at the end of each event.

Besides outdoor activities, the Women Ministry also planned for indoor events like crafts or talks. We encouraged our ladies to serve in the breakfast ministry and to support the Sunday School’s fund-raising for missions and other outreach activities. A small group of sisters meets regularly to intercede for the needs of church and the world.

I believe that every woman should avail herself to serve. It doesn’t matter whether she is single or married, young or old. I feel that women tend to shy away from leadership roles in church. But Paul wrote in Romans 12:8, the one who has the gift to lead should do so with zeal. When called to assume a leadership role, I hope that more women would be willing to step up.

Married women need not confined their roles to that of a homemaker. With the support and encouragement from their husbands, they too can reach the greatest potential that God has gifted them. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

We can find biblical examples of women who had faithfully stepped up to support the work of the Gospel. Mary and Martha welcomed Jesus to their home. In John 12:1-3, we see Martha prepared and served dinner. Her sister, Mary, anointed the feet of Jesus with expensive perfume that filled the house with fragrance and wiped his feet with her hair. 

In Luke 8:1-3, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and many other women, financed and supported Jesus’s ministry while he went through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God.

Similarly, Paul listed many women as his co-labours in his letters.  He sent Phoebe to deliver his letter to the Romans and acknowledged her contribution to his ministry in Romans 16:1-2. In the next 2 verses, Paul mentioned that Priscilla alongside her husband, Aquila, had risked their lives for him. Finally in verse 12, he also recognised the hard work of another beloved sister, Persis.

The Bible also has the following instructions concerning women:

·    to treat older women as you would your mother, and treat younger women with all purity as you would your own sisters (1 Timothy 5:2 NLT);

·    older women to live in a way that honor God… teach others what is good (Titus 2:3 NLT);

·    older women must train the younger women to love their husbands and their children (Titus 2:4 NLT).

My beloved sisters in Christ, let’s be intentional to build bonds of friendship with one another. In this way, we can support and encourage one another through life’s ups and downs. Together, we can make waves (乘风破浪). Come! Join us for our next Women Ministry event. Please refer to the announcement page in today’s bulletin for the details on the upcoming spiritual retreat on 29 July.