The Ongoing Struggle

 I’m one of those people who get to read news from Facebook and/or Twitter, thankfully the people I’m friends with or who I follow in social media post and share interesting things, and actually good reads most of the time. So the other day I came across a post from One.org and one of their most recent campaigns poverty-is-sexist. The statement reads: “Being born female in one of the world’s poorest countries means your life will be harder, simply because of your gender. Unlocking the full potential of girls and women wouldn’t just transform their own lives, or even their families’ – it could help end extreme poverty for good.” UN Women also launched a similar campaign not too long ago called heforshe, “Men raising their voice for change! The fight against gender inequality is a battle to end poverty, violence against women and promote women’s economic empowerment.” This month the White House announced the initiative, letgirlslearn  through USAID (United States Agency for International Development), a program that would provide girls with an opportunity of education around the world.

On the one hand it is encouraging to see these campaigns and programs not only from international NGOs but also from countries like the US.  We need those resources especially in countries where child marriage is still a reality. On the other hand, it fills my heart with sadness, that in this day and age, we still need those campaigns and programs to understand and appreciate females. Every year International Women’s Day is celebrated, and even though much has changed for good, and women can vote, for example, which is awesome! Our wages are still lower than our male counterparts, and for women of color, the struggle is bigger trying to break the barriers of gender and race. There is an ongoing fight for gender equality.

Then we come to the church, where just as in society change has happened, but is not enough. As a seminarian I experienced the disproportionate number of males versus female students, and not to mention females of color, we were a few. For the church to have more female pastors well… first we need to have more women in seminaries, we need to have more access and opportunity. Even though, many males are advocating for gender equality in our churches, and this commission and blog are a good example, we need more, and I wonder if we could launch a campaign similar to the HeForShe, wouldn’t that be fun, different, and challenging?

As we continue in la lucha (the struggle), I ask God for guidance as we continue this journey.