Women of Valor: Jesus Brings Freedom

by Marilynn Chadwick

Jesus is kind to all people—especially women. Just ask my friend Anya. Raised as a member of the “untouchable” caste in India, Anya knows what it means to be treated as “less than.” For centuries in India’s cruel caste system, untouchables were regarded as less than human. Women were treated even worse. People of higher castes would cross the street to avoid walking on the sidewalk with an untouchable, not even wanting to be touched by their shadow.

But Anya heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. She realized only Jesus could pay the penalty for her sins—not endless sacrifices to the 300 million gods in India. She believed the good news that all people were created equal—to be known and loved by God. Through a series of miracles, Anya went on to attend college and graduate school, finally earning her PhD! She is married, has a family of her own, and now works with an organization that gives hope to other women caught in poverty and oppression. The life-changing message of Jesus liberates their hearts. Then education opens the door to worthwhile work and reasonable wages—transforming entire families and villages throughout India.

It’s the same story wherever we go. Jesus can set people free, whether in India with its harsh conditions, or surrounded by the comforts of America. My friend Heather experienced the freedom only Christ can bring when she stepped out of her comfort zone to obey God. “I used to struggle with anxiety and times of depression,” confessed Heather. “At times, fear paralyzed me and held me captive. I remember crying out to God, begging him to heal me and rescue me from this mental prison.” But it wasn’t until Heather put her faith into action that she started to be free of the anxiety and fear.

Heather’s story happened years ago when she was teaching the little kids one Sunday morning. She was talking to them about Joshua 1:9: “Be strong and courageous for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

“I was really passionate and encouraged the children to have no fear, because God was always with them. As the words were coming out of my mouth, the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, ‘Heather! Do you believe what you are telling them? You have these irrational fears about so many things.’” One fear in particular, she shared, was going on a mission trip. “Don’t you believe that I will be with you wherever you go!?” “I was floored,” she exclaimed. “I immediately sensed God was calling me to go on a mission trip. I knew I had to go!”

Heather trusted God would be bigger than her fears. She tells of her very first mission trip to the Dominican Republic. “God gave me a peace beyond all understanding. While on the trip, I experienced such joy because I was in the will of God! Now I go on a mission trip almost every year. Choosing to trust God when he calls you to do something crazy and scary allows you to experience blessings you could never dream up on your own!”

True freedom comes as we step out and obey. Another heroic character trait of a woman of valor!

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This Moment of Hope is adapted from Woman of Valor, Discovering the Courage and Strength God Gave You, by Marilynn Chadwick. For more inspiration or to order the newly Revised Edition of this book, please click here.

Women of Valor: Who Can Find a Woman of Valor?

by Marilynn Chadwick

The dictionary defines valor as “courage and bravery in the face of danger.” But the Hebrew word for valor, as I have been sharing with you, is chayil. Chayil is a much more vibrant definition, depicting “a warrior, army, strength, honor, even wealth.”

Chayil is actually a military term. So I was surprised to discover that the famed Proverbs 31 woman is called eishet chayil, or “woman of valor.”

Woman of valor. What a beautiful description. All over the world, on Friday evening before Shabbat, the Jewish husband will recite or sing “Woman of Valor” as a way to honor his wife—to reflect upon all she has done for him, his family, and for the community (Proverbs 31:10-31).

But again, why a military term? Let’s remember that the life of the Proverbs 31 woman would not have been easy. She likely faced marauding thieves, extreme heat and cold, and a myriad of pestilences. She needed to be strong, brave, and always prepared, because in one way or another, she was always at war.

On a spiritual level, it makes sense that every woman, every home, every community–in every part of the world–is also at war. The Bible warns all believers to be alert, watchful, armed, and ready for battle against the enemy of our souls (1 Peter 5:8-9). It makes me wonder why we lost sight of the woman of valor in the first place.

From the beginning of time, the devil has been intent upon robbing the woman of her true purpose and worth. God created her part nurturer and part warrior.

Let’s face it. If you defeat the woman, you can attack marriages, families, and communities. My friend Barbara, who ministered for many years in the inner-city, once said it this way, “If you take down the mamas, you will take down the babies.”

This week we will continue to look at real life women—ordinary heroes who live out the biblical definition of being a woman of valor.

It’s time to reclaim the woman of valor. Our world needs women who are full of strength and gentleness. Both tough and tender.

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This Moment of Hope is adapted from Woman of Valor, Discovering the Courage and Strength God Gave You, by Marilynn Chadwick. For more inspiration or to order the newly Revised Edition of this book, please click here.

 

Women of Valor: A Tough and Tender Warrior

by Marilynn Chadwick

One of the most inspiring “real life” women of valor I have ever known was Barbara Brewton Cameron. This vibrant and joyful woman with an easy laugh and a giant heart was a powerful leader in her community. She became a dear friend, mentor, and role model. During our fifteen-year friendship, Barbara opened my eyes to the powerful impact that one ordinary woman can have on her family, her community, and an entire city.

Years before I met Barbara, her husband had been gunned down in a drive-by shooting while walking home from work, leaving her with three small children to raise on her own. “He was a wonderful man—a good husband and father—and I was devastated,” she said. “I didn’t even want to go on living.” The community in Charlotte where Barbara lived was described by The New York Times as one of the most violent neighborhoods in America. An “an open-air drug market of heroin and cocaine,” gunfire was common around the small, graffiti-marked houses. It had one of the highest murder rates in the country.

After her husband’s murder, Barbara fled to a safer neighborhood to raise her three children. But God began to pursue her, and several years later, she accepted Christ into her life. “I began to hear his voice,” she said. “I knew there was a far greater plan that God had for me.”

“God told me to go back to the old neighborhood and rescue the children. And so, I did.” Barbara said the Lord spoke to her through Matthew 25:35-36: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me” (ESV).

She sensed God’s unmistakable call through the words of Scripture: “If you've done it to the least of these, you've done it to me” (v. 41).

Barbara was affectionately known throughout her community as “Pastor Cameron.” She understood firsthand the hopeless despair faced by her community. “I thought of the single moms who were being used and abused by drug dealers...and I thought about the babies.” To Barbara, all children were “babies.” It was those children that Barbara was going back to rescue. She found a small, dilapidated house to rent in the neighborhood and turned it into a mission home to care for children each afternoon. “I gave the little ones baths and helped the older ones with homework. I fed them, too, since they were always hungry.

In time, Barbara’s ministry grew, and she became known as the woman who defied drugs and gangs. The drug dealers who controlled the neighborhood began issuing threats. Years later, a former hit man told Barbara that he had been hired by a drug dealer to kill her because she was hurting business. He would sit outside the open window listening to her preach the gospel. He told her that something inside would not let him carry out the hit. Later, the man accepted Jesus.

Barbara opened Community Outreach, a church that continued to expand the impact of the gospel.  She received national acclaim for the work she did fighting crime. City officials renamed the area Genesis Park, symbolic of its new beginning. When Barbara died in 2008, the church was filled to overflowing. Pastor Cameron is remembered as the Mother Teresa of Genesis Park. The once forgotten community is an example of how God can do mighty things through one ordinary woman of valor.