Author
Mimi Haddad (PhD) is president of Christians for Biblical Equality.
This article first appeared in the April 18, 2013 issue of Arise and is reposted here with permission of CBE International.  Arise is a newsletter of the CBE and can be found at www.cbeinternational.org

Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear. —Jeremiah 5:21

Twenty-three years ago an economist from India, Amartya Sen, reported the largest human holocaust in all of history. His research showed that over 100 million females were missing! Though Sen was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work, few were mobilized by the horror he had uncovered. Even the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Kristoff and WuDunn said that “when a prominent dissident was arrested in China, we would write a front-page article; when 100,000 girls were routinely kidnapped and trafficked into brothels, we didn’t even consider it news” (Kristoff and WuDunn, Half the Sky, xiv). How could the world be so disinterested in the sufferings of females? Continue Reading »

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This summer while caring for grandchildren, I reflected on the years of balancing ministry with raising our own children. I remembered the work done late at night just as I was doing this summer while waiting for teenagers to get home or younger ones to fall asleep. Balancing work and family (raising children, caring for parents, and now being present with grandchildren) has been the only path that I have known in fifty-one years of marriage, except for five years after the younger son’s birth. Initially, as a young parent I was teaching, completing graduate studies, and serving as a volunteer in local and conference ministry. My first paid ministry role began when our sons were ages 6 and 10. 

We now enjoy watching our two sons live into a parenting partnership with their spouses — the type of partnership that we found essential. As Phil says, “each of us gave 70%.” I was blessed to have my husband along with grandparents, extended family, and close friends near. But, whether raising children with two parents or as a single parent, it does “take a village to raise a child!” Overall, we put boundaries on extras and committed discretionary time to being with the boys. Vacations as a family, simplified holiday celebrations, and dedicated evenings for watching TV together or playing games were “musts.” When I traveled or was absent due to evening or weekend meetings, we agreed that no attempt would be made to “catch up” or question decisions made while I was gone.

But, most importantly, I believe that having my husband, sons, and close friends value and respect my call was the crucial element. Although I was tempted at times to be a “supermom,” I lived with assurance from God and those close me that the concept was not part of the obedience equation when one is called to ministry. Rather, for me the equation was value + respect (husband + children + close friends) + call to ministry = lives transformed, both ours and others within my sphere of influence.

Evelyn M.R. Johnson

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Submitted by
Pastor Gricel Medina (OWS)
BGE Chairperson

During a visit with a group of women I heard many stories of brokenness that drove me to my knees in prayer.

Stories of women who have undergone extreme sorrow and emotional pain in the workplace and personally. Women trying to do it all in a world that demands us to be all in all. Men who have been intentionally and unintentionally insensitive.

Proverbs 15: 13
A joyful heart makes a cheerful face,
But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken.

That day was an awakening for me. It was a startling revelation to see visibly the brokenness still found in women trying to juggle family and work. Women who are gifted, talented, called and unique but so broken by the circumstances of life. Continue Reading »

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