Celebrating Christian Working Women

This week, iWork4Him has dedicated all our broadcast and media releases to celebrating Christian working women! These often-unsung heroes of the faith need to be celebrated, and I, for one, wanted to stand up and say thank you. As a man, I don't know what it's like to be a woman, but as a believer in Jesus, I do know this: When you became a believer in our Lord Jesus Christ and surrendered your life to His Lordship, you were gifted with a unique set of gifts, talents, and spiritual abilities, and we want to celebrate them! 

Over the last ten years, we've interviewed well over 500 Christian working women, and their stories vary as much as their hair color, but one thing rings true – each Christian working woman we interview loves her work and feels called to do it. But even more significantly, almost all of them feel underappreciated for their contribution to the Kingdom by their local body of Christ. 

I'm not a theologian, but I am full of opinions. I have witnessed the Christian working women frequently being denigrated for choosing to work outside the home. I know many incredible Christian working women in my own life. Their calling is not only to be a great wife and mother and sometimes a great grandmother but also to impact their given workplace as talented followers of Jesus. 

I thought I would highlight the stories of several Christian working women we have interviewed over the years. The first one is Holly Betenbough. Holly is Rick's wife, and together, they own and run Betenbough Homes out of Lubbock, TX. As Holly enters the workplace every day, the Holy Spirit of God comes with her. Her main role is to minister to the masses. She brings gentleness, calmness, and a willingness to pray and listen to anyone she runs into. She is, in fact, in full-time ministry within her own company. We have witnessed Holly's impact as she walks through the halls of her business. No one remains untouched as Holly walks by. 

I am reminded about Sue Wilson out of Minnesota. Sue is a CFO and as she realized that her workplace really is her mission field, she has had many opportunities to listen to people within her company from all levels of the organization and to pray with them. As the CFO, everybody knows she controls the money, but she really wants to control the culture. She seeks ways to bring peace where she goes and deliver people from suffering by praying with them. Sue sees her workplace as a mission field and knows that God has given her the talent to be a CFO so that she can be right in the middle of a vast marketplace. 

Recently, I met Brecky Johnson out of Washington state. Brecky is a mother of four and a YouTube-for-kids sensation with almost 150 million downloads. She strives to be a great wife and a great mom, and she wants to help moms across the country by providing educational and fun programming for their kids to watch. Brecky loves Jesus and wants every mom and every kid to know Jesus, too. She uses her platform to travel across the country and inspire other moms. 

Finally, I am reminded about Krystal Gonzalez. Krystal is a massage therapist and a single mom of six children. When she's not giving massages, she teaches massage therapists how to do their trade. She sees her ministry on the massage table much like that of a bartender or a professional counselor. She's a good listener, and it provides a platform to pray with people. When she's teaching future massage therapists, she sees her platform as a place to instill a sense of ministry into every massage therapist who graduates from her class. Krystal knows that God has given her the ability to understand the human body and to help people live more active lifestyles. Krystal also knows that massage therapists have a unique role in the lives of their clients as they have an hour once or twice a month where deep conversations can happen. While healing begins on the outside, it can also occur on the inside. 

Each of these women, along with over 30 million Christian working women, is gifted uniquely to execute her gifts, talents, and spiritual abilities uniquely at work. We celebrate them, and I personally ask you to encourage the women in your life as they live out their faith where God has placed them. Christian working women represent a significant portion of the workforce. We thank God for them.

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About the Author, Jim Brangenberg

Jim's Mission: We are called to be examples of Christ to those around us. With that in mind, Jim is passionate about helping Christ followers connect their faith to their work!