The Bible And Money For Women

By Oksana Makarova, Moscow, Russia

Editor’s note:

One of our goals for WomenToday.International is to provide a place where church ministers and small group leaders can go to find inspiration and ideas for events, lessons, classes –- ministry resources especially designed to meet the varied needs of women in our churches around the world.

This month, the women of the Moscow church of Christ bring us a model for a financial training for women, “The Bible and Money for Women,”  designed for their members who find themselves without enough practical knowledge to thrive in their current life circumstances. Widows, wives whose husbands exclusively manage the finances, or those who simply want to learn how to create and manage a family budget are just some of the types of people who are benefitting from this new program in the church, which is not only serving church members but also effectively reaching out to the community to meet a felt need among women.

We especially love that one of the organizers of this event is a recently widowed businesswoman, known and respected in many of the Eurasian family churches for the classes she and her husband would provide as visiting lay teachers.

Who is our audience and why we created the seminar

Resources which can help Christian women to have a strong financial foundation is very much in demand in our churches. We are experiencing severe struggles of our mature sisters who have lost their husbands; the negative results when women are excluded from the family’s financial affairs and rely too exclusively on husbands as family providers; when women are unable or unwilling to confidently manage a budget.  All these things made it clear that we must do something to change the situation in the Church. These serious problems of our beloved sisters led to a desire to figure out how the church could help. How to create the right foundation for families and their future? Our answer was to create a course of teaching.

In this course, we consider the Biblical principles of financial and property management, the attitude toward work, and the basics of financial literacy. Participants often talk about the importance of the course's impact on family relationships and changing our personal life focus. Our course is a combination of theory with practical tasks. Participants communicate in chats, in pairs and with moderators.

We get a lot of positive feedback from those who have already completed the course; they often recommend it to their friends and acquaintances.  

Participants vary widely in their knowledge of the word of God, in their level of financial literacy and whether or not they have established family principles about  handling money, but at the same time each one finds her own growth points and gains new awareness through practice and communication with other participants.

Rereading all the reviews, we are encouraged that the course is bearing good fruit and is necessary not only for Christians, but also for everyone interested in Scripture and its impact on the daily life of a person and family. 
This gives a unique opportunity to introduce women to the Bible and show Its wide range of applications in life and inspire them to study the Bible and its word.

Who are our teachers

Usually we have three speakers for each class: two regulars and one guest speaker.

The first regular teacher, Oksana Makarova, is a Moscow businesswoman who became a widow suddenly in her early forties. Her trauma over the loss of her husband was made significantly worse by the burden of the complicated financial situation of her family falling on her alone, without adequate preparation beforehand. She is a respected lay leader in the Moscow church, who, with her husband, had often traveled to other congregations to teach on various topics.  Her role is to provide the Bible study portion of each seminar session.

The second regular teacher, Victoria Zavadski, is a coach, business psychologist and financial manager. She has worked for twenty years as a corporate director of human resources and has also taught psychology. Vika serves as the administrative organizer of the seminar; in each class session she provides professional advice and also shares personally from the scriptures what underpins her convictions about finances and how the Bible helps her.

Nuts and bolts of the seminar

The course lasts six weeks. We meet once a week online for two hours. After each session there is practical homework covering the basics of financial literacy. In each class there is time for each participant to share personally, facts and feelings about their unique situation, how they are applying practically what they are learning from the course. Some of the themes we have covered are: the idea of being a “helper” to a husband; God works in all things for the good of those who love him; what is required from us as managers; debt; living within your means; financial security; how to get good advice; women’s attitude toward work; business etiquette; giving; vacations and recreation; priorities; saving; parenting and financial planning; attitude toward risk; gambling; what does it mean that God is “in control”; what belongs to God; the success of the faithful; traps; losses; work-life balance.

Participants spend time each session working in pairs, and there are guidelines to insure the success of these small groups.

The teachers’ aim with all this is to inspire the women to study the Bible for practical guidance in all areas of their lives but particularly with regard to their personal and business finances. We are praying to help the church as a whole mature through this effort.

We offer the course at no cost, but if participants want to pursue more in-depth personal consultation after the conclusion of the seminar, Vika makes herself available to them (giving disciples discounts based on need) for professional consultation or referrals.

At the writing of this article, the seminar has run three complete sessions. Over 200 women in total have participated online, from cities all over the Eurasian family of churches.
We have also recorded over four hours of question-and-answer sessions, which are available to participants as well.

Not just for members of the church

We make a special effort to invite women who are not part of our fellowship, so we can demonstrate that the Bible is not just an ancient book of religious laws, but that it is alive and active and useful to our lives today in many different arenas.

Some Testimonials

Thank you very much for sharing your precious experience, knowledge, and wisdom with us. And for doing it in modesty and love.

Thanks to all the participants for their diligence, vulnerability and desire to change for the better. Thank you for your support.

For me, this course was like a breath of clean air. The topic of finance in my life was one of the most difficult. I got answers to many of my questions.

I have gained confidence in myself and in the future, learned financial management tools. Now I feel that I am not all alone with difficulties. I also got a job.

The most striking were the discoveries that all property belongs to God, about emotional debts, that there is a lot of teaching about finance in the Bible.

Thank God for this webinar!