How can you participate?

     Once when I was young, a friend told me: "Someday you will find your other half of the orange." In Spanish we have a saying that implies that together a man and a woman form a whole orange.
     To form a whole orange, a man and a woman have to be well matched. Even though it is said that love is blind, when young people start looking for a partner, they look in the other person for those traits that are similar or complementary — or at least that don't collide — with their own. Unfortunately, sometimes that is not enough for a marriage to succeed.
     All women are not alike. All men are not alike. Men and women are not alike. That is not news. However, we human beings have been created male and female in the image of God. Does this mean that God includes feminine and masculine traits? Is there a feminine quality to God? You don't need to be a feminist to affirm this idea.
     Then why is it that, in general, fathers feel prouder when they have a baby boy? Particularly if the first child is a girl, many fathers almost excuse themselves by saying they have had "una chancleta" (a "slipper"). Are there exceptions to this rule in cultures other than Latin American — or even within Latin America? And could it be that, when this feeling is taken to the extreme, the contempt that it shows against women could be at the root of violence against women?
     Elizabeth Soto Albrecht participated in a consultation on this subject in Scotland on behalf of Mennonite World Conference last August. You can read a report of the findings of that consultation on page 13.
     In Galatians 3, we read that in Christ there is neither male nor female; we are all one in Christ Jesus. Other New Testament passages such as 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4 support the same idea. Against this background, Nancy Heisey singles out six gifts women bring to the church — gifts given to them by the Spirit (see page 3). Are our churches fully aware of these gifts from God that women are sharing quietly and naturally? Perhaps feminine sensitivity allows women to exercise God's gifts in a way that is subtly different but no less important and needed than the way men exercise their gifts.
     Mennonite World Conference is currently working at ways to share the gifts of both women and men for the sake of Christ and the church. Called the Global Gifts Sharing Project, look for reports on what is happening through this work in various parts of the world in future issues of Courier. Sharing gifts with each other will also make the next MWC global event, "Africa 2003," a truly wonderful and enriching experience.