International (MNN) — Today is International Women’s Day, set aside to honor women everywhere.
Denise Godwin of International Media Ministries says honoring women is something Christianity has done for thousands of years. “The early Church was known in their time as being people who affirmed and took care of women. In some early church research we were doing, a source was saying they believe Christianity went from a handful of people in Rome to millions of people in Constantine’s time not because it was the official religion, but because of the principles of protecting women.”
Godwin paints a picture of what this looked like. “In the pagan community, people married their daughters off at 12 years old. The Christians had a standard that their daughters didn’t marry until they were 20 years old. The Christians also had a standard that children were born and raised, regardless of sex. Because it was okay in the Roman Empire to set the girl babies by the side of the road.”
IMM’s Women of the Bible series
IMM creates videos telling stories from the Bible and church history. A recent project highlights women in the ancestral line of Jesus.
Godwin lists four women the project has covered. “Women like Ruth, who was a refugee fleeing famine. Rahab, who was in a civil war situation. [We covered] Tamar, in danger of an honor killing. And Bathsheba was just caught in a tug of war and abuse of power. These stories are telling people all over the world that they’re valuable in the eyes of God.”
You can check out the video series and learn more about IMM’s ministry here.
The header photo comes courtesy of International Media Ministries.
