Ministry Opportunities for the Stay-at-Home Mom

Earlier this month, I offered some ministry opportunities for those who are single. Today I am shifting to stay-at-home momma's. I was raised in ministry and I grew up traveling the road. Now that I am more at home than out and about, I can understand the mothers who don't believe that they have much of a mission field. Let me tell you, YOUR POTENTIAL IS HUGE! And you are needed. 

Here are just some of the ministry opportunities for a Stay-at-Home Mom.

• Use your gifts in your Church. Can you teach? Do you sing? Can you play an instrument? Can you help clean? Do you have organizational skills? There are so many ways we can use our natural, God-given gifts and talents to bless our Church. Look around or ask your pastor where a need is in the Church, then pray and see if God wants YOU to meet that need. It may be working with children or teenagers. It may be a mentoring ministry. Or it may something as "small" as keeping the kitchen stocked with plates and cups. Pray and let God show you what to do.
      
• Practice hospitality. My husband and I have been talking about this recently. Probably because we are finally about to move into our home! Hospitality is a ministry. I have walked into a home where I felt uncomfortable and afraid to touch anything for fear that I would break it. It left me feeling stressed and, quite honestly, like a burden - even though I was invited there. I have also walked into a home that felt warm and where the conversation felt like cool water on parched lips. Practice welcoming people into your home. Invite that exhausted new mom over for tea or coffee and a long heart-to-heart. Invite that family with five little children over for dinner and genuinely love on them. Open up your home with warmth and it will go a long way in blessing others.
             
• Sponsor an Orphan. Anyone - single and married with children - can sponsor a child. Current statistics show that there are over 150 million orphans in the world today. If they are not helped, they will continue in poverty, human trafficking, slavery, and other desperate circumstances. You can help them. Visit Cry of the Orphan, His Little Feet, World Orphans, Danita's Children whom we support, or All God's Children to learn how you can sponsor a child. It usually doesn't require much money at all. Make it a family project and include your kids in the process.
       
• Help the slaves. Take a good look at your children. Can you picture your precious little boy brainwashed and turned into a solider? Can you imagine your sweet little innocent girl enslaved and sold into prostitution? It's happening every day to millions around the world. Human trafficking is the 2nd largest criminal enterprise in the world. So what can you do? We support Project Rescue which rescues and restores victims throughout India, Nepal, Moldova, Bangladesh, Tajikistan, and Spain. Consider Project Rescue or visit Glue Boys, Slavery No More, U Count Campaign, International Justice Board, or She Has a Name to learn more about their ministries and how you can help.
        
• Foster/Adopt. If only one family in every Church in the United States adopted one child out of the foster care system, there would no longer be any children waiting for adoption. Let that sink in. Now, I understand that not every family is able to foster or adopt. But those that can, should! James 1:27 tells us to look after widows and orphans. Pray and ask God to show you how you can do this. If He leads you to adoption, visit Hope for Orphans, All God's Children, Adopt Us Kids, Bethany Christian Services, Lifesong for Orphans, Project 1:27, or Christian Alliance For Orphans. You can't do everything. But you can do something.
       
• Donate to Shelters/Give to Orphanages. I regularly go through my kids' toys and clothes (as well as my own) and give away what isn't needed. I encourage you to do the same. Pass it on to another family. Donate to shelters or ministries. You can also give to Orphanages. At Orphan's Heart, you can see a list of materials needed. Buckner has a gift catalog where you can choose the amount you are able to spend, and then shop online for supplies, care, and gifts. Shoes For Orphan Souls is a ministry that provides shoes for poverty stricken children. Gain USA is another place where you can give aid to children and children's homes.
      
• Go into the prisons. My husband has a prison ministry and I remember being humbled when I first went with him. In the late 1700's and early 1800's, Elizabeth Fry - a wife and mother to 11 children! - worked to reform the prisons of England. She brought clean clothes and food to the prisoners, she began a Bible study, and she founded a prison school for the children who were incarcerated with their parents. Maybe the Lord is calling you to minister to women in prison and bring them the Gospel. Another way you can help the imprisoned is by writing to them. In more than 40 nations around the world today Christians are being persecuted and imprisoned for their faith. In Hebrews 13:3, Paul instructs us, as believers, to remember our brothers and sisters who are in chains "as bound with them." You can go to PrisonerAlert.com to learn how you can 1) write to fellow Christians in prison for our faith, how you can 2) contact government officials to ask for their release, and learn how you can 3) give money to support the prisoner's families. "...I was in prison, and ye came unto me." Matthew 25:36
      
• Write/Blog. If you enjoy writing, then open up a Blogger or Wordpress account (both free hosting blog domains) and get to it! Share your testimony. Share Bible devotionals. Write candidly of what Christ is teaching you i your journey as a wife and mommy. Be an inspiration to others. Share Biblical wisdom that can help and reach hearts. I read blogs every day - my favorites are sent straight to my email account. Some of my favorite blogs to read are: Revive Our Hearts, Growing Home, Biblical Homemaking, I Take Joy, and The Modest Mom. 

• Bake to bless. Are you a good cook? How about baking a cake or cooking a meal for a widow? Has someone in your community or Church recently had a baby? Bring that momma some food so she won't have to cook. What about a family that might be struggling? Someone who recently had surgery? Bless them with some goodies.
           
• Disciple your children. Sarah Mae wrote in the book, Desperate, "The God who gave you your gifts and talents is the same God who gave you souls to bring up, train, invest in, and disciple. I don’t know what His “dream” is for you, but I know that Scripture is filled with admonitions for a mama to make her home her focus and bring up her children. A mama’s primary domain is her home. This doesn’t mean you don’t have another purpose that God wants you to fulfill while you’re breathing on this earth, but your first and main purpose is to deeply invest in the souls He’s given you….” I can't put it better than that. No matter what He calls us to do, we can't neglect our prime responsibility which is to raise up Godly men and women who will be followers of Jesus Christ. In truth, that is the whole reason God designed us to procreate. It wasn't to simply experience the miracle birth or snuggle with cute kiddos. It was to bless us with the opportunity to disciple and train our little ones to love Him and make Him known to the world.