Unto the Daughters and Handmaidens
By Peggy Shirley
Delron was pregnant! Well before you pass out, let me explain that I am using Dr. Yonggi Cho’s terminology to describe the period of time when God is still developing something inside of us before it comes to fruition or “birth.” In 1992, after several years of prayer for the nation and an inner “gnawing” to minister to the people there, he was on his first mission trip to Nepal. Even though the whole vision of what was to later become Teach All Nations Mission was still an embryo inside his heart, this was the first physical manifestation of what God was in the process of birthing. After God miraculously brought him into contact with the top leaders in the emerging Christian movement in the country, Delron asked if there was anything in specific that they felt that was needed for the church to develop fully in their country. Without hesitation, the gentlemen who would never accept the title even though he totally fulfills the ministry of apostle over the country responded, “Our women need to be educated and shown how to serve in the Body of Christ.” In a third world country such as Nepal, women are totally suppressed yet they make up a major portion of the church. This Nepali leader recognized the tremendous resource within the existing congregations but also realized how tragically it was being ignored and wasted. From that short conversation, a whole new dimension of our ministry was birthed. Without even contacting me, Delron committed to the leadership of the Nepali churches that I would be with him the next year to deliver the women from the bondages that had enslaved them and to begin to train them inhow to take their rightful place in the Kingdom of God.
This spring, Linda Easton who serves on the board of Teach All Nations Mission and I made our seventeenth trip to Nepal in fulfillment of that commitment. This year’s mission took us to the two nations of India and Nepal where we ministered in seventeen meetings during our two-week visit. It was also encouraging to see how our years of ministry were beginning to bear fruit.When I asked how many of them had led someone to the Lord, most of their hands went up. These women have truly become evangelistic tools in their nations! Yet, one of the emphases of this year’s ministry was that it was time for the women in what we have always called the “mission field” to go into other “fields” as missionaries.As we presented this challenge, I was actually surprised at how many came forward to be missionaries. Years ago, we would have never thought to challenge them with that calling because they were just being saved and only wanted missionaries to come to them. Now after maturing in the Lord, God changed their desires from being “inward” to “outward” vessels to teach and tell of what they have learned.
Because it is still very common for the women in these developing nations to silently suffer all sorts of domestic abuse in which they are beaten and treated as dogs, the Lord has led us to always minister healing to their brokenness. As I looked out at the ocean of color before me atone of the meetings as the room filled with hundreds of women in their colorful saris, the Lord showed me that He saw these women like a bouquet of flowers. They added color, beauty, and a wonderful fragrance to the earth. Women, just like flowers, come in all different colors, shapes, sizes, but each is beautiful and created by Him. Then He had me take some flowers out of the bouquet next to me on the stage and throw them on the ground and crush them under my feet. When I did, wails and cries went out all over the auditorium. I truly had “hit the nail on the head.” Because Nepali and Indian women keep their feelingsvery personal, they had never expressed the hurts they had experienced at the hands of their husbands and society in general. But this day, God wanted the pain and hurt and all that goes with abuse to come out so that He could heal it. As these poor women continued to cry full of anguish, the Holy Spirit comforted, healed, and restored them to their places in His bridal bouquet!
But it is not only in Nepal and India that women need this message of healing and the challenge to rise up and be the women of God they were called to be. Since the inception of Teach All Nations, women’s ministry has been a vial part of our vision. I have also led several women’s conferences in Myanmar and will be returning there again as well as going to Thailand later this year. In addition, we have sponsored women’s meetings in various locations in Africa—from the capital cities to the remote “bush.” Of course, “all nations” even includes the United States of America, so we have been careful to minister to the ladies here at home as well—in churches, in women’s Bible study groups, even in prison. Many times I come home with tear and mascara stains all over my blouse from women who have wept all over me as the Lord ministered to them. Those tears started out as tears of anguish but turned into tears of joy as He touched them. At one meeting, I ministered to the wife of a nationally known minister. The tragic story in that he had walked out of their marriage for another woman. This poor woman was so devastated that she had not been to church or any kind of Christian meetings for months. Her life was one of pain and criticism as the blame was somehow shifted from him to her. I am so happy that she felt directed to come to my meeting because God met her there! We cried together, and the Lord spoke and ministered to her. The deliverance and restoration was so powerful that I felt that all the work and preparation for that meting would have worth it hadshe been the only one who present.
I have seen a lot of inner healing among the women in both the South Bend and Colorado Springs local jails where I volunteer as a chaplain.Many of the women I minister to in the jail have been incarcerated for prostitution, drug trafficking, and even murder. It is very common for me to see their pictures and stories on our local news. It was a bit intimidating (to use the very mildest of terms) to go right into the wards where they are housed,but I was soon able to earn their trust and these hardened criminals began to open up to me. Although the atmosphere is very tense and restricted, everything begins to change as soon as I begin sharing the love of Jesus and explain how He went through many of the things they have faced. Tears of repentancefill the room as the women begin to ask for salvations or to be rededicated to Christ. On some occasions, the women won’t even let me finish my message before theyinterrupt asking to be saved! These women are just lost, hurting women who have made some very bad choices, but they are so open to the love of God and to being changed. Many are on drugs or have chemical imbalances along with demonic influence. Most of them have never heard the gospel or were raised with a legalistic view of God that made them rebel against Him. As they hear the Word, I understand what the Bible means when it says that the Word of God will not return void, but will accomplish what God desires.After they hear the message of God’s love and forgiveness, it is very common for me them to tell me thatgoing to jail was the best thing that ever happened to them because that it was there that they experienced the love of God. They say that it was worth loosing everything they had before to find Him and a new way to start over. Oneparticular woman had set herself and three children on fire.She said that she did it because she thought she had heard a voice from God directing her to do it to so that they could go and be with her dead husband. I visited her for several months before she was transferred to prison to serve her life term. By the time she left the jail, she was not the same person as she was when she came in. Now she istruly remorseful and mentally and spiritually balanced. Her parting words to me were thanks for the greatest gift she had ever been given—the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ.
Last year, the Lord directed me to host a “Daughters of Destiny” women’s conference here in Colorado Springs. Since our city is a big place and I was still getting acquainted with the local women, Iwasn’t sure if I could get many to come. However, the Lord challenged me to take a step of faith. When I accepted His challenge, He proved His faithfulness to my obedience by filling the room to capacity—and with women whom I didn’t know! In that auditorium, I saw exactly the same thing that I’ve seen all around the world—women hungry to be fed, set free, and encouraged. I also saw something else that I’ve seen around the world—an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on everyone who was expectant! This year I will be holding another Daughters of Destiny day at the Jericho Center here in Colorado Springs. It will be on Saturday, November 13, from 9 AM until 3 PM with a catered lunch. Click the “Daughters of Destiny” link on this website for full information and registration instructions.
This month’s special gift to our supporters, my book WomenfortheHarvest, was birthed out of this ministry to women around the world.Writing it and getting it published was like climbing Pikes Peak which looms over fourteen thousand feet high just outside our living room window. But, praise God, I finally made it to the top. Even though it is just off the presses here in the US, the book has already been translated into Nepali and pastors in Burma, India, and Africa have also requested it to be translated for their countries. Once I made it up the first mountain, I took on one more challenge of writing a study manual to go with the book so that it can be used for classes and study groups. The study guide came off the press just in time, because I have been asked to teach the course at Charis Bible College beginning this month. God had put it on my heart that I should share this course with the many young ladies in the school and a number of them had come to my home for studies. Now, the course will be part of the college curriculum so everyone can receive it.
Thank you for your prayers and support as Teach All Nations continues to train and equip the “daughters” and “handmaidens” as well as a “sons” and “servants” for the end-time harvest.