It’s Time for a Global Vision!

In the 2024 movie Cabrini, directed by Alejandro Monteverde, the Italian Catholic nun Francesca Cabrini and a handful of sisters fight unimaginable opposition when they arrive in New York in 1889 to rescue Italian orphans dying on the streets. Despised both as a woman and an Italian, Mother Cabrini faces stonewalling and ridicule wherever she turns for help. “You don’t belong here” is the message repeatedly given to her. From the archbishop to the sabotaging New York mayor, patronizing men continue to remind her that as a woman, she should retreat to a life of obscurity; however, Mother Cabrini refuses to be intimidated! Instead, she becomes creative and is headstrong enough to win the first great battle of building a high-quality hospital accessible to everyone regardless of their background. With incredible courage and a strong global vision for suffering people in her heart, Mother Cabrini goes on to build hospitals and homes all over the globe. She demanded to belong in this world, and her compassionate drive and worldwide perspective unlocked the potential within her to see the impossible materialize.

I am fascinated by the different movements that sprang up in the late 1800s through the early 1900s; Mother Cabrini was certainly not the only woman to have a significant global impact during that era. Katherine Booth also stands out as an exceptional role model. She, along with her husband, started what was to become a sweeping, worldwide organization of men and women standing shoulder to shoulder with equal rights and opportunities: the Salvation Army. It spurred significant social reform on many levels, such as curbing child labor, lowering the rates of domestic abuse, and introducing prison reforms. In Booth’s wake came other passionate believers, many of whom were Bible-believing women at the forefront of the widespread temperance, abolition, and suffrage movements. Through their examples, we can see that God thinks big and that He delivers vast, international vision to His church.

As I’ve pondered these amazing women and their stories, I can’t help but ask myself where these powerful female-led grassroot movements are today. Sadly, in some circles, social justice is looked upon as something that detracts from the preaching of the gospel. Contrary to that thinking, I say that social justice is a major way we can demonstrate the gospel! Everything we do to better this planet is God-honoring.

One issue that I believe God wants to draw attention to in our time is the undeniable magnitude of the inhumane treatment of women. Studies reveal that in some countries, gender disparities have been worsening over the last few years. Women are banned from pursuing secondary education and from working. In some places, women are not even allowed to move freely outside their homes. Harsh punitive measures are in place for those who dare to protest. Oppressive regimes are tightening restrictions, “emboldened by the silence of the global community.”^[1]

In our own United States, domestic violence has reached epidemic proportions.^[2] Shockingly, this is true even within the church.^[3] As you read this, I hope that some measure of righteous indignation rises up within you. We can no longer ignore or be ignorant of these facts. If we believe the gospel, if we are sincere in our prayer for God’s will to be done “on earth as it is in heaven,” if we believe that we are the extension of Jesus in the earth, how can we be silent? And how can we continue to ignore the pervasive message throughout Scripture to come to the aid of the oppressed and marginalized?    

As messengers of truth and love, the church should be the first in line to protest this rampant, worldwide suffering of women. God is the one who defines how we are to live in this world. Our call from the beginning has been to express God in the earth and to rule and subdue (Gen. 1:28–29). God is summoning the body of Christ to partner with him and engage. I can’t help but imagine a strong, massive movement of believers who are loud and bold enough to take action and bring desperately needed awareness and change to what Kristof and WuDunn call “the paramount moral challenge of the twenty-first century.”^[4]   

I, for one, am sensing this challenge with increasing urgency. During the early morning hours, I often feel the weightiness of God’s presence and calling. He expects something from us. There is a “wide-open space where God is spreading before his daughters a vast global vision that frees us to follow wherever he leads.”^[5] All too often, God’s daughters have been conditioned to hold back and leave the heavy lifting to their brothers. “When half the church holds back—whether by choice or because we have no choice—everybody loses and our mission suffers setbacks.”^[6] In view of such unimaginable suffering among girls and women in the world, how is it even possible that some still wonder if it is okay for women to preach? I pray we will yield to God’s heart in such a way that we see what he sees and be “moved with compassion” to act.   

I asked the members of our Women in Community Facebook group the question, “What do you think are some reasons why Christian women often shy away from global social justice, such as protesting or engaging with the atrocious treatment and systemic oppression of women overseas?” Answers included that many women are unaware of what is going on or that they don’t know how to make an impact. Others responded that they have difficulty facing the reality of such unimaginable evil, that they get triggered because of past abuse, or that they don’t want to step out of their comfort zones.

Although I believe all of the above is true, I also believe that we simply lack a global vision. Perhaps we get lost in the enormity of the task and don’t see how we can make an impact in a meaningful way. But it only takes one woman in Uganda learning a trade and teaching others to elevate a whole village. One girl in India receiving an education can go on to become an advocate for women in her country. I have become aware of many, many real-life examples such as these. I am convinced that if men and women band together and recognize the Greater One who lives in us, we can do the impossible. It is astounding what can be accomplished when even one person has a God-breathed idea and his wisdom and guidance to carry it out. The Bible witnesses again and again how God partnered with women as they boldly stood up against unrighteousness and became deliverers and messengers. We must understand the real point in these storylines and open our eyes to the possibilities of what we can accomplish in our own day.

It’s time for a global vision in the church! As women, we can no longer settle for a small vision of ourselves and our purpose. God calls us to take individual responsibility to seek him, to open our eyes to the world, and to take steps to get involved. Won’t you join me in answering his call?

[1] United Nations: “Sexism and Misogyny Heightened; Women’s Freedoms Supressed.” Accessed March 24, 2024. https://news.un.org/en/story/2021/10/1103382

[2] Rachel Graber et al., “Making the Invisible Epidemic Visible,” The Brookings Institute, 2023. https://www.brookings.edu/articles/making-the-invisible-epidemic-visible/

[3] “From Religious Leaders,” The Rave Project, Muriel McQueen Fergusson Centre for Family Violence Research, 2024. https://www.theraveproject.org/resources/from-religious-leaders/

[4] Nicholas D. Dristof and Sheryl WuDunn, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide (New York: Knopf, 2009), xvii.

[5] Carolyn Custus James, Half the Church: Recapturing God’s Global Vision for Women (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan), 26.

[6] James, Half the Church, 19.

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