During the past many months of columns, we have interviewed three men who represent national men’s ministries to develop men as leaders in their homes and churches. This is important, and we certainly didn’t mean to leave women out of the picture — they are equally essential to the Body of Christ. This gap was filled when we met Wendy Wilson, who lives in and telecommutes from Coeur d’Alene.

Wendy is the executive director of “Women’s Development Track,” a faith-based, nonprofit that seeks to serve the Great Commission community by encouraging and equipping women in missions, church and local ministry. My wife, Jane, and I sat down with Wendy to find out more.

Wendy, before we begin finding out more about your organization, we would like to know more about your background and how you were led into this ministry.

After graduating from college with a degree in business and a master’s in Biblical studies, I went to work for a mission organization that supported underground churches behind the Iron Curtain before the fall of the Soviet Union and in the two complicated decades afterward. The focus of our mission team was training pastors and providing materials for these struggling churches. Because of the culture almost all pastors were men with families, who were ministering to several churches, working full-time and now involved in more training. Over time their absence from home was putting a strain on their marriages, and their wives got little support. In fact, women in the churches overall were quite neglected. I moved into a role of designing a process for helping married couples see their ministry as a team, and to provide ways to train women with shepherding gifts to care for and value all of their women.

What we have found since then is that intentional development of women is a common oversight facing women on the mission field and in churches, and even more so in countries where women are treated as second class citizens or even property. We offer hope and change through a biblical view of women and men both as equal bearers of God’s Image, with full humanity and dignity, serving His gracious and holy purposes in the world together with honor, love, and respect.

The church has marvelous stories of women in evangelism that are amazing! Gladys Aylward, Amy Carmichael, Elisabeth Eliot, Lottie Moon — to just name a few. Sometimes the church forgets that supporting single women on the mission field has had miraculous results, even founding and leading important gospel movements. How do you come alongside those in that situation?

We work with women of all ages and stages to fulfill what God has gifted them to do — married, single, with children, without children. Young women preparing for a lifetime of ministry, young women at home with children who can be better encouraged and connected during this important but often demanding and lonely time. Mid-life women whose families are raised and they are now in a stage of life with more time and experience to give but lack confidence and/or training to step out. Women retiring and wondering how to best spend these very available years with more limited energy but more abundant life experience! Really, women in transitions of various kinds, wondering about “what comes next?”

Do you partner with organizations or churches to provide the training and education?

Very much so, I am the Mission Advisor for Development of Women for MissionNexus which is a collaborative network of 300 North American mission organizations. In fact, I will be leaving again in September to go to Orlando and Charlotte to facilitate women’s development events hosted by Wycliffe Bible Translators and SIM in their headquarters. We use resources, facilitators, and materials developed by a variety of member agencies so we can make more offerings available to more women — collaboration is a key value! We have a number of modules we offer depending on the need and request.

How long are the retreats and training events you are part of?

We primarily offer one-week modules, as a way to allow women to be undistracted from their regular responsibilities for a time that is devoted to their own personal and professional growth. We also advertise a variety of development resources and experiences by other partners so more women can find what they need at a given time in their lives.

If people want more information how do they contact you?

Thank you for your encouragement, Bob! I have been supported by so many good men and women over the years who have also recognized this important need. You are so right about women all through the Bible having important roles, and they have continued to throughout history to the present!

For more information or to contact Wendy please visit our website www.Womens DevelopmentTrack.com

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Bob Shillingstad’s religion columns appear Saturdays in The Press. Email Bob: [email protected]

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