Partnership News

WHAT IS AN FMA?THE MINISTRY OF IPM’S FEMALE MISSIONARY ADVOCATE by Dr. Dot TaylorShe is a devoted wife and mother. She rises early in the morning and doesn’t climb back into bed until very late at night. Her days are filled with unselfish acts of service to others, inside and outside her family. She has little of this world’s goods and few modern conveniences. Yet with what l i tt le she has, she graciously opens her heart and home to others and often prepares meals for those less fortunate than herself. She often lives in a remote location, far from the conveniences that we find so necessary to our lives, even such things as doctors and hospitals. Her husband must sometimes leave her and the children for days at a time. She spends her time listening to others’ problems, worries, and cares, yet she has no one to confide in herself. Like you and I , she too has insecurities and struggles – she too grows weary in well doing.

Who is she? Though some may be a little older, live a little closer to a city, or not have any children, the above paragraph largely provides a very accurate description of an IPM missionary wife.

Anyone who has been around ministry very long recognizes well the plights of a pastor’s wife. Who can she go to with personal struggles? Who can she confide in when she needs biblical counsel on some spiritual matter? What about marital “aggravations” and problems with the kids? And, even more difficult, what about conflicts with those she’s actually there to minister to? While her husband should always be her first resource in these areas, sometimes another “woman’s perspective” is helpful and wanted. Just as pastors’ wives here in the States struggle with these issues, so do missionary wives in other countries.

Since 2007, at the appointment of IPM’s President and Board of Directors, I have been filling the role of IPM’s Female Missionary Advocate (FMA). Over the last four years, I have biblically counseled and encouraged many of our wives through some of the very struggles mentioned above. However, while functioning in my role as FMA, I was also actively serving as Assistant to the President and editor of the missionary newsletters. (Cont. on page 3)

Your Partner with National

Missionaries Around the World

IPM Inc. P O Box 337 Hanover PA 17331 www.ipmworld.org 717.637.7388

Volume XX, Issue 2September 2011

Updates and Perspectives from International Partnership Ministries

The Word from the Field...(notes to Dot Taylor from the IPM family)“You have been a major blessing in my life. It gives me great encouragement to read your beautiful post, with advice and exhortations coming from someone with a long life in the Lord. I love having across the world a very special friend, I'm sure that I will go to her anytime I feel a need.  Thank you for your love for us women that we are in God's work. There are many issues that we can never share with any women around us. I have no mother or mother-in-law, and you're someone I can trust. I'm sure all my sisters, like me, appreciate having you as FMA…” from a missionary wife “I want to thank you for your biblical meditations where I see myself so enriched by your life experiences and for me it is very encouraging to see how you dealt with faith in the Lord and His Word in those difficult situations. Then I see that your biblical meditations are enriched by a full life in Christ that you have lived and what you have faced with such tremendous pain and trials and came to Christ with total victory. Because you resist them, I am also encouraged to resist…” from a  missionary wife

“Many times the words that the Lord has placed in your heart and mind has helped  my dear wife to go thru many hard times and afflictions and make important steps in  her life as a missionary wife.  Also is a tremendous help for me because if my wife goes thru heartaches,  I also go with her…” from a missionary husband

“Your writings are unexpected blessings towards us. They help us a lot as Christian ladies and as missionaries' wives. For us who are far from you, those writings reach our hearts and help solve many internal spiritual situations we are struggling with…” from a missionary wife

 “It has such an impact (your testimony), that I share your meditations with my kids, my husband, my nephew and sisters in Latin America…”from a missionary wife.

Stand A While and Be Changed!(one of the devotionals sent out by Dot Taylor)Recently I was reading I Samuel and came upon a passage that God impressed on me in particular. In I Samuel 9, God having revealed the future king of Israel to Samuel, we find Samuel meeting with Saul and spending time with him both publicly and privately. In verse 27, we find Samuel instructing Saul, “...Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on,) but stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God.”  He then proceeds to tell him of some signs that would occur that very day. Then in I Samuel 10:6 we read, “And the spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.”  I would like to submit to you today, dear ones, that the concept of our being “still a while” that God might reveal His will and Word to us is of prime importance in our walk with the Lord. And while surely we have been made a “…new creature…” in Christ at the time of our salvation, we are continually “…turned into another man” as the Lord does His work of perfecting us into His image through the power of the Holy Spirit and His Word.  In reality, as Christians we should be continually becoming more like Christ. If we have not stretched and grown beyond who we were last year or last month or last week, our spiritual life is stagnant and our walk and life is not what God intended for us. There should be a progression in our lives that moves us ever forward and upward to the Lord. As growth in the human body comes with daily nourishment, so it is in our spiritual life. We must stay continually connected to our power source so that God can perform His good work in us. Dear sisters, there is nothing in your day more important than nourishing your soul and spirit with the infallible Word of God and time spent in prayer. It means the difference between a weak and anemic walk and a powerful, spirit-filled walk. Now you may be thinking right about now that I stress too often the importance of a daily time of communion with God in His Word and in prayer. That can best be answered by taking a good look at your life. What priority does it have in your life? How often is the importance of the necessary crowded out by the demands of the immediate in your day? How “real” is the time you spend with the Lord – has it become a ritual that you perform or is it a vital and consistent part of your day? If you, like me, want to face your failures and move forward, won’t you join me today in renewing a commitment to “…stand a while…in the word of God…” that we each might be “…turned into another man.”

IPM Inc. Your Partner With National Missionaries Around The World

(Cont. from page 1)Sadly, I felt for a long time that the FMA position was getting “the short end of the stick” when it came to my time. Therefore, in June of this year (after much prayer), I stepped out in faith and resigned from my other positions so that I could spend my time solely as FMA. My burden and passion at this point in my life is clearly our missionary wives, and I am committed to giving them whatever time and energies I have to help them experience a more productive and sweet walk with the Lord.

As FMA, mine is a missionary position, and I must rely on God’s good people to undergird this work. Counted among my responsibilities is the need to attend IPM’s two international conferences each year and hold special sessions with our missionary wives, both corporately and individually. This means I need airfare and travel expenses for two round-trip international flights every year. Unfortunately, I missed this year’s Africa conference because my travel fund is currently $1700 “in the red . ” I n add i t i on , when ou r missionary wives travel to the States, I try to spend one-on-one time with them in fellowship and prayer. Whenever I meet with our missionary wives, whether here or overseas, I give each one a “Spiritual Lift” gift bag filled with spiritual helps – books, devotionals,

CDs, etc. In addition, funds are needed to purchase good, solid, biblically-based books throughout the year in response to their needs and requests. The cost of postage then becomes an issue also.

So you can see there are many needs. Currently, I have two faithful supporters of the FMA program, for which I am very, very thankful. But friends, I need your help to continue to move forward with this ministry. Many women have been helped

through this ministry, and not just in “warm and fuzzy” ways, though it can provide that when needed. This ministry is primarily dedicated to mentoring our missionary wives in their personal and ministry lives in order to strengthen their walk and help them be more effective wives, mothers, and women in ministry.

Perhaps some churches, Sunday school classes or ladies’ ministries will consider taking the FMA on for support. Maybe there are more individuals (besides the two I currently have) who feel the burden for our missionary wives and will give monthly or occasionally to a special project like the FMA Travel Fund or the FMA Spiritual Lift program. I am not asking you to support a program that I would not. In October, I will begin personally contributing every month to the FMA program to help meet the need. I’m asking you to join me in supporting this vital program with your prayers first and then with your resources.

Next year is IPM’s Central America Conference and also our South America Conference. In order for me to attend these conferences and provide our missionary ladies with some good biblical resources, I urgently need your help. Thank you for counting our missionary wives worthy of your attention and support.

“MY BURDEN AND PASSION AT THIS POINT IN MY LIFE IS CLEARLY OUR MISSIONARY WIVES...”

If the Lord would have you financially support this vital work, please make checks payable to IPM Inc. and designate your gift for Taylor FMA Support, FMA Travel Fund and/or FMA Spiritual Lift

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A WORD FROM THE PRESIDENTHELPING THE VIRTUOUS WOMAN by Dr. Kevin Callahan It does us good to remember that the fall of Adam and Eve, as recorded in Genesis chapter 3, is not the first negative event to occur in the perfect world that God created. In fact, God Himself said so. In Genesis 2:18,

He declared, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” God solved this problem by creating Eve and performing the first marriage as a pattern for the human race to follow from that point on.

This concept is especially important in the context of local church ministry. The same God who created the woman for the man (I Cor. 11:9) also committed local church leadership to men (I Cor. 14:34-35; I Tim. 2:12; 3:2,12; Titus 1:6). Does this then mean that women have no role in local church ministry? Not at all! In addition to teaching children (the future of the church) and mentoring younger women (Titus 2:3-5), wives are the helpers and completers of the men who lead the church. Anyone who has ever been a local church leader, myself included, recognizes the immense value of a good wife. Without her, he would be FAR less effective in his own role. Let’s consider an Old Testament illustration.

Consider the last phrase in the last verse of the book of Proverbs. How would you choose to end a book that contains such immense wisdom for godly living? Here is how the Spirit of God chose to end it: “Let her own works praise her in the gates” (Pro. 31:31). Looking back over this chapter, which beautifully describes the wonderful character traits of the virtuous woman, the reader will search in vain for a reference to this woman working in the gates. How then will her works praise her there? The careful reader will notice that the phrase “in the gates” occurs ONE other time in this chapter. Did you catch it? It occurs in verse 23, which states that her husband is a leader of great reputation as he sits there amongst the elders of the land. Connecting Pro. 31:23 with Pro. 31:31 and understanding them in the overall context of the chapter leads to this conclusion: Her husband is her work who praises her in the gates. In fact, verse 27 says that he praises her. Verse 11 also says that he safely trusts in her.

Are you seeing the point? The husband is NOT the focus of this

chapter; his wife is. He is mentioned only to the extent that she has helped to make him who he is. His wife has performed a lot of behind-the-scenes work that has made him such an influential leader among leaders. His very presence “in the gates” serves as a praise to her work. He is able to be such a capable leader there because he can safely trust in his wife to capably take care of things elsewhere. When a couple such as this stands before the Lord, the wife is going to be rewarded for the leadership role she enabled her husband to perform.

Take some time to let that thought sink in, and let the reality of it grip you. Now, bring that same concept into modern life. Do you know any strong, godly, influential pastors? The vast majority of them occupy the positions they hold because they have the help and support of a loving wife whose labor, while unseen and unknown by many others, has made them the men they are today. He’s “in the gates,” but it’s her work who enables him to be there, and she’s worthy of being praised and honored for her work. Will you help to honor these wives by supporting IPM’s FMA ministry?

I have been in the homes of most of our missionaries. I have witnessed firsthand the incredible help and support our missionary wives are to their husbands. But when the “help meet” needs help, where does she get it? According to Titus 2:3-5, she gets it from older women in the faith who can mentor her. Many times, such mentoring women do not exist on the fields in which our missionaries labor. Thus, the missionary wives often find themselves without an older woman to help and counsel them in times of need. With the aid of modern technology that allows for instant global communication and fast global travel, Dr. Dot Taylor is able to cross thousands of miles to become a “Titus 2 woman” for a lonely, and sometimes even desperate, missionary wife. She loves to be the one who helps the helpers. But she needs help too. As you can imagine, it’s not inexpensive to do what she does. It costs thousands of dollars a year, and she relies on the giving of God’s faithful people to provide those dollars. Will you, by the enabling grace of God, be one of those people through your giving and your prayers?