By Rana Costa, Missionary to the Middle East

I am a Woman Ministries, or IAW, was established in Lebanon in 2006. Its goal is to empower ladies and give them an opportunity to belong to a like-minded community. The ministry started in the capital city of Beirut. After sixteen years of ministry within the city, the IAW team revisited its strategy and began heading out to various areas in Lebanon to offer courses in collaboration with the local churches. 

The vision for the ministry continued to expand, and in October of 2023, IAW launched new ministries in Egypt and Jordan under the auspices of Grace Baptist Church in Amman, Jordan. The work of IAW was presented at a small start-up event. The ladies in attendance were introduced to the idea of holding courses for women of all ages to be trained in diverse skills that they could use to start an income-generating business, to learn something they like but have never tried, to become trainers in a certain field, or simply to fill their time and create new friendships within a secure and supportive community.

Each course at IAW is offered once a week for a span of four to six weeks. The session lasts about three hours and includes a clear explanation of the subject matter with a chance to practically apply what each lady has learned. During the session, there is also time for a short break where ladies can have a cup of coffee or tea while enjoying a casual chat about topics that impact their lives spiritually, psychologically, and emotionally. At the end of each course, the ladies enjoy a simple graduation to celebrate their achievements. In addition to the different course offerings, IAW organizes regular gatherings and seminars throughout the year. 

At the request of the trainees, IAW has also started a Bible study held at the Grace Baptist Church offices. Similar to IAW Lebanon, we aspire to become mobile in order to deliver our message to the world. We offer IAW services to all Jordanian governments in collaboration with the local churches. To stay up-to-date with our most recent news, be sure to follow our Facebook and Instagram pages. IAW Jordan is still young, but with collaboration, participation, and prayers, we can grow together to reach the ladies of Jordan. It’s been a great blessing to our lives to get to meet these women and have them share. The coffee break is usually a very special time for them. They come in not really knowing what to expect. We advertise it as being a ministry of the church, so they know it’s a Christian context, but they don’t necessarily realize they’re coming to meet new people. They’re not sure how it’s going to go. And very quickly, they’re immersed in whatever skill they’re learning but also in these new relationships. 

To help with that, we always have  people from our church who are there to start conversations among the ladies. Some of the trainers are part of our church. And because of IAW Women Ministries, three women and their spouses have started attending our church. The community in Jordan that would come to something like this is probably a quarter believers, two-thirds nominal Christians, and maybe a very small percentage of Muslims. Many nominal Christians have questions: What is Baptist? Evangelical? What does that mean? What does that look like? And what they’re asking really are technical questions that we take advantage of and present a clear gospel that doesn’t offend them because they also believe in Jesus and the Bible, but  we make it clear that it’s not about the name, where you were born, or the church you belong to. It’s a relationship. That can be tricky, but we make use of any conversation to present this to them.

During coffee break, there is usually a biblical message, a small devotion, a small message of encouragement. But every two or three coffee breaks, we have a pretty clear gospel message. The ladies hear it, and we’ve sown that seed. We follow up on it by visiting, spending time with them, and by giving them community. Many re-register for other courses and ask us what’s coming up next. What haven’t I taken yet? I want to learn this. I want to learn that. Some do it even if they don’t care about the skill they’re learning. They just want to be with other ladies and listen to what we have to present. 

It’s interesting to see how they interact, because there’s a lot of young moms with kids at school. But there are older moms who have not been working and feel their degree is no longer relevant. So they feel useless. There are several widows and older, retired ladies, widows, and those who just want to fill their time because they feel alone. But when they come to the first session and meet the other ladies, they end up in tears, because they realize their stories are the same. My story is just like hers. She’s been through something I’ve been through. She’s lost a child. I’ve lost a child. She doesn’t have a job. I don’t have a job. I feel like I’m stuck at home. She feels like she’s stuck at home. And this has brought everybody together. And a lot of their stories are similar to ours as well. 

One of our trainers who is now part of our church was an atheist for a long time.   She lost her husband, who was a believer, and was left with three children ages two, three, and four. She was very bitter and very angry at her husband and at God. But to honor her husband and the faith he believed in, she took their children to Sunday school because she wanted them to know their father’s faith and know what their dad used to believe. She would also stay and attend Sunday school but mostly just to argue and make sure everyone knew that what the Christians believe is just not true and that she did not believe the same thing. To make it even more complicated, she also attended church and I AM A WOMAN ministries, which is through our church.

Finally, she came to know Jesus on her own just by fighting her way through. She said, “I realized I couldn’t fight anymore, and these Christians are real and not faking the belief they have in God.” So her anger went away when she gave her life to Christ. Now she’s tried her best to be involved in the ministry and is now our baking trainer. Anytime she has the chance, she’s up there telling those ladies what happened to her and sharing her story, which was incredibly transformational. 

She was always so angry when she came to church. You could not look at her face. She was just bitter and upset at everything. When you look at her now, she’s a changed person. Her testimony has been amazing with these women. We have a few others who have also come and gone and are also part of our church, but she’s the most consistent and most available lady in our group. Stories like that are really encouraging to us. As you can imagine, there are often many tears shed and hugs given. These women are a blessing.