What Can a Mother Do?

by Voon Yee Bin

Whenever mothers are encouraged to be involved in the work of evangelism, they would most likely give either one of two responses. Some mothers would insist that they are already too busy and caught up with raising their children. Sharing the Gospel would only be possible after their children have grown up. Others are likely to be more ambitious and would really want to be involved. However they are frustrated because they feel constrained by their children and thus unable to develop a personal ministry.

Many parents do not have a clear goal in their life and as a result, some parents have the tendency to place their children as their life goals. They become so emotionally and mentally bound together with their children that their emotional health and lifestyle are very much at the mercy of their children. However, parents who realize that children are gifts entrusted by God would approach the whole matter with a different attitude. They will try to be the best steward of the children whom God has entrusted to them because they know that these children belong to God. Their objective in nurturing their children is to lead them to God so that He would use them one day.

The idea I wish to emphasize here is this: We must embrace the above mentioned attitude that our children are entrusted to us by God and that we are His steward. Only when we raise our children with this attitude will we be able to enjoy the peace and joy of working together with God. Then the calling of evangelism would no longer become a burden to parents, but a mission. God ordained the institution of the family and He has destined our children to be our first disciples. Therefore, parents should realize that their main responsibility is to teach their children to integrate spiritual truths into their daily life. This must be done through the parents' words, action and lifestyle. The bible says, "These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)." The greatest thing parents can do for their children is to lead them to receive the salvation of Jesus.

A pastor-speaker at a Global Mission Conference shared a similar idea when he said: "When we talk about mission, we have to look at it from two dimensions. The first is the horizontal dimension, that is, to share with those around us, even in a cross-cultural context around the world. Yet we shouldn't forget another dimension, that is, the vertical dimension. This is to share cross-culturally with our next generation. This generation would be about 10 years culturally different from us. For this reason, sharing with the younger generation is also considered a challenging cross-cultural mission.

As a result, even as a pastor, I dare not treat this mission lightly or take things for granted. Although my husband and I are pastors, I would never dare to say that my children will naturally end up as Christians. Nor would I dare to assume that by reading God's word daily to them, my children will automatically listen to God's word and choose His way. My daily prayer is: 'Lord, help our children to know you personally … and take the initiative to invite you into their hearts … to be their personal Savior and Lord … and be willing to be used by you.'"

When my eldest son Matthias was still an infant, I would read to him the word of God and pray for him on a daily basis. He became very familiar with the bible stories. At three, he started attending Sunday School, and on one occasion his Sunday School teacher was giving away candies to encourage the children to respond to her questions. Matthias answered so many questions that the teacher had to restrain him and said: "Matthias, please don't answer anymore so that others will get the candy too." I was there and felt very proud of him, yet I knew that I must not let the incident go to my head and assume that the boy knew who God is. Later in the same year, I realized that he had gained a clearer picture of who God is. So I shared with him the Good News using a Good News set (an evangelistic booklet for children). Matthias testified that he wanted to receive Jesus and with his simple faith he followed after my prayer word for word to receive Jesus as his personal Savior and Lord.

When Matthias was still little, I would always bring him along with me (I did the same with my second son and youngest daughter) to share the Gospel and give away Gospel tracts. Together with my husband, we would teach them to see the children around them from God's perspective and to also pray for them. To celebrate their birthdays, we would organize birthday-evangelistic parties so that their classmates would have a chance to hear about Jesus.

In May 2008, we celebrated their father's birthday. We were on our way to a restaurant and Matthias (then 10 years old) was sitting beside me. With a serious look he pulled my blouse gently, "Can I ask you a question, mum?" I replied: "Sure!" Then in tears, he asked the important question: "How can I know that I am saved?" I was so pleasantly surprised because that was the question that I have been waiting for! At home that night, I helped him receive the assurance of his salvation with the use of the Four Spiritual Laws booklet. Praise the Lord! Yet I knew that the things I need to do in this boy did not end there. There is a still a long way for me to go, till I see him and all my children learn to respond to God's calling and serve Him wholeheartedly as they grow up.

In my opinion, God has given a unique and extraordinary ministry to mothers. Mothers have a limitless sphere of influence. A mother's sphere of influence may potentially include her children's classmates, school teachers, parents, their neighbors, community and church. In reality, mothers are positioned to be in touch with a variety of people. I once had the opportunity to befriend a Taiwanese mother. Since I spent several years studying in Taiwan, I could identify with her struggles with life in Malaysia. I took the initiative to show my concern for her and shared with her some of my views on life, spiritual principles on children discipline and marriage. She loved to read books on parenting and marriage and I would share my books with her. We became very good friends. Four years later, she asked about Jesus. As a result I had the opportunity to share the loving grace of God with her.

God has also given me opportunities to share biblical parenting principles with non-Christian parents in unexpected situations. I remember an encounter at a park where I did not realize that a mother was observing my interaction with my children. She asked me how I managed to train them to be so cooperative. I could see that she was concerned about her child's disobedience. I shared with her some parenting principles and even suggested that she send her daughter to Sunday school. She responded very positively. I also have many other opportunities to come into contact with non-Christian families in my children's primary school and Sunday school. These are the unique opportunities that God makes available to us mothers.

Is serving the Lord solely the responsibility of ministry experts or professionals? Is ministry not entrusted to mothers also? Surely it is! Every child of God is called to live out a supernatural life, bearing His name to serve Him wholeheartedly.

What are some ministry opportunities that God has prepared for you? These opportunities to serve could be something formal and structured, such as being part of the evangelistic activities in church, leading a mothers group, educating children or helping the needy in our children's school. I am sure there are also many other informal and unscheduled opportunities too: helping a lonely neighbor on the street, comforting a mother who had just had a miscarriage, accompanying a young lady abandoned by her husband, taking care of a home-alone boy, addressing injustices in society, and etc.

There are times when we can take part in some form of social ministry, and there are also times when we can plan for evangelistic outreach. But what should never change is no matter where we are, we are ever ready to serve wholeheartedly and to touch lives. Opportunities are always available in every mother's daily life.

For further reading:

What can a mother do? by Judy Downs Douglass, published by Campus Crusade for Christ.

Voon yee Bin is married to Impact! Ministries staff Tan Sin Guan. They have three children. She has a degree in Counseling from Taiwan Normal University and an MA in Biblical Studies from East Asia School of Theology.