Welcome to the Web page for the Association of Adventist Women! I am pleased you have chosen to visit our site and hope you will return. I want to share with you some of the things I have been thinking about. I would love to hear your response to the questions I will ask.

Women on the Periphery

I can see her. Hand on hip, furrow in brow, a brow that spoke of years of hard work, difficulties too many to imagine, deep sadness. Her dress could be described as tattered, worn through with holes too distorted to be repaired. The scarf around her grey hair was the color that comes and stays, after many wearings and even many washings. She stood on the periphery, watching. She wouldn’t receive any of the food that was being handed out that day to mothers because she didn’t have a child to bring.

That Haitian woman from 30 some years ago suggests to me the many, many women around our globe who are on the periphery, who watch and see but are not allowed to participate. Sometimes they aren’t even noticed. Far too often they are purposely placed and left there.

There is a growing tide of recognition that unless we address the problems faced by women, we won’t be able to solve the rest. Some nine years ago world leaders adopted eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG) developed by the World Health Organization. The target date for achieving those goals is 2015. They are listed in the box.

Virtually none of these goals is achievable without women making a difference. In fact, the MDG document states, “Every single Goal is directly related to women’s rights, and societies where women are not afforded equal rights as men can never achieve development in a sustainable manner.”

We might ask, is it possible to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger without women being involved? Hardly. What about universal education? And child mortality? When the number of mothers with a primary or secondary education increase, there is a reduction in child mortality. And when parents can read, their children are more likely to attend school. And better-educated parents have better-nourished children.

And there’s more. Education has a positive impact on preventing HIV infection. Education improves maternal mortality and increases the prospects for better jobs, which, of course, help prevent poverty and hunger. WHO states clearly, “progress in development and girls’ education go hand in hand.”

According to the End Poverty 2015 Millennium Campaign, “Countries that do not address these significant disparities risk perpetuating a ‘cycle of poverty’ within their populations.” Gordon Brown, prime minister of England, recently stated, “It is in the interests of boys and men to do everything in their power to unleash the potential of girls and women and to champion their rights, because without their contribution we are the poorer.”

The goal of universal primary education has not been achieved, nor will it be, or most of the other goals, by 2015 at the current pace of change. But has anyone given up and decided they aren’t worth the effort?

Moving From the Periphery

Now I will risk making a comparison, fully aware of the differences in circumstances. The statements we quoted refer in large part to economic development and progress in health and education, but are the principles so very different from what AAW hopes might be experienced within the church?

Although much has been accomplished, the goals of the Association of Adventist Women are not yet fully achieved.

• Do we have a clear idea of what they are or should be?
• Do we still believe they are important?
• Are we willing to continue working to achieve them?
• What spiritual benefits for our church might be reaped if it invested more fully in its women members?
• Does our church experience a “cycle of poverty” of spirit because women in large measure remain on the periphery?
• We might well ask when will the men of our church “do everything in their power to unleash the potential of girls and women” in our midst?
• When will it be recognized that until this happens “we are the poorer”?
• What actions can we take to help women in our church move from the periphery?
• What actions will you take to help it happen?

These are not meant simply to be rhetorical questions. I want to hear from you!