International Women’s Day is quickly approaching on March 8, and we’re excited to celebrate. Past and present women in the U.S. and internationally make the world a better place in many ways: human rights work like Harriet Tubman’s fight for freedom, medical advancements like Tu Youyou’s discovery of a new Malaria therapy, lifting the human spirit like Marge Villa’s baseball career, and political achievements like Jeannette Rankin’s suffragette work.
Most importantly, women historically and currently impact missions work around the world. Keep reading to celebrate women then and now.
History of Women in Missions
Early Church (1–100 A.D.)
Women have been a part of mission work since Jesus’s day. Mary Magdalene was the first person to proclaim the resurrection. Soon after her, Lydia was the first European Gentile convert and a likely financier of the early church, which impacted Paul’s mission work. Luke writes about the community impact of Tabitha’s (Dorcas’s) charitable mission work in Acts. Timothy’s mother and grandmother, Eunice and Lois respectively, largely influenced his faith and mission work.
Late Classical Antiquity (100–476)
Throughout early Christianity, we know of some female Christians, especially martyrs for the faith. While some are more legendary than factual, we know the names and martyrdoms of many who publicly proclaimed faith in Jesus, living as evangelistic missionaries until the very end. Felicity and Perpetua (182—302) are two examples, persecuted and imprisoned under Roman Emperor Septimius Severus. Perpetua’s prison diary detailing their experience is considered one of the earliest known Christian writings by a woman.
Empress Helena (246—328) was not a martyr but the mother of Constantine the Great. Her mission work focused on church building and public advocacy on behalf of Christians and Christian freedom, including a famous pilgrimage to Israel.
Middle Ages (476–1492)
In the Middle Ages, we know of noble women who lived like missionaries, such as Clotilda, Queen of the Franks (474–548). She helped her pagan husband convert to Christianity and was financially generous to the church.
Religious women in abbeys and nunneries often offered spiritual counsel, performed charity work, and even wrote encouraging Christian books that you can still read today. Julian of Norwich (1343–1416) offers one of the most famous examples, Revelations of Divine Love, because of this popular quote: “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”
Modern (1492–1945) and Contemporary (1945–2025) History
With the Protestant Reformation in 1517, mission work grew. While men dominated missions at the time, we have records of female missionaries as well. Some of the first cross-cultural Protestant missionaries were French Hugenots, including women, who settled in Florida for religious freedom (1564). While they initially had positive relationships with the local Timucua tribe, food scarcity and other problems strained the relationship.
Spanish settlers, who were Catholic, were charged with settling Florida soon after and removing the Protestants, who they viewed as heretics. The Spanish martyred most of the men and returned the women to Europe.
Rebecca Freundlich Protten (1718–1870) was one of the world’s first native missionaries, doing mission work among enslaved Africans in the Caribbean, where she had been born enslaved and later freed. After she was widowed and spent time in Europe, she and her second husband ran a Christian school in modern-day Ghana.
One of the most famous female missionaries from this time period is Lottie Moon (1840–1912). She was one of the first unmarried women that the Southern Baptist Convention Foreign Mission Board commissioned, and she spent 40 years in China as a teacher and evangelist.
Lastly, a native missionary who bridges modern and contemporary history is Esther John. Esther, born Qamar Zia in Pakistan (1929), attended a Christian boarding school where she was saved. She eventually ran away from home after facing marriage to a Muslim man and did mission work in an orphanage, a hospital, villages, and cotton fields, especially amongst women. She was found martyred in her home in Pakistan in 1960. In 1989, Westminster Abbey unveiled her statue along with 9 others above the great west door.
Celebrating International Women’s Day with Female Missionaries
Today, ANM partners with female native missionaries around the world to spread the Gospel. We celebrate them and all that God is doing through them this International Women’s Day.
Krupa co-leads remote village ministry in South Asia.
Hannah co-leads a multifaceted ministry in Cambodia.
Sharon celebrates 50 years of ministry in Myanmar, including through the Evergreen Ministry to seniors.
So Phally assists with orphan ministry in Cambodia.
Leeybi works with Deaf and disabled children in Honduras.
Sonu ministers to women and works with missionaries in South Asia.
Marina is a church leader in Kazakhstan.
Archana leads a home church and prayer ministry in South Asia.
Anju co-leads Southeast Asian missionaries from her home base in the U.S.
Dr. Joy does medical missions in the Philippines.
Amna leads a school in South Asia.
Bintou is empowering women through ministry and skill training in West Africa.
Asma leads a hospitality ministry in South Asia.
Melati does village ministry in Southeast Asia.
Damara co-leads a church and counsels abuse survivors in Mexico.
Aziza co-leads European missionaries from her home base in Ireland.
