In a bombshell announcement Friday, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sent shockwaves through its global ranks by dropping the minimum age for female missionaries to 18. Yes, you read that right—now, young women can pack their bags and hit the mission field just after high school, matching the long-standing age requirement for men. The move comes as one of the first major decisions made by newly-minted president Dallin H. Oaks, signaling a push toward greater gender equality in the worldwide faith—best known popularly as the Mormon church.

The shakeup responds to a surge in interest from young women eager to answer the church’s call for international outreach, joining the ranks of nearly 17.5 million members spanning the globe. Within LDS circles, embarking on a mission is more than volunteering—it’s a coming-of-age tradition, an immersive experience that broadens horizons, solidifies faith, and often paves the way for future leadership inside their communities.

The last time the church rewrote the missionary age rulebook was back in 2012, when it stunned followers by lowering the starting age for women from 21 to 19, and for men from 19 to 18. That landmark pivot unleashed a flood of applications, doubling the number of young women signing up, practically overnight.

Fast-forward to today, and the stats speak volumes: Women currently make up 29% of the church’s 85,000 missionaries—about 25,000 in total, according to spokesperson Sam Penrod. That’s a leaps-and-bounds rise from the mere 12% of women who served before the 2012 shakeup. For a decade, those numbers have held steady, now poised to climb higher than ever as the church flings open its doors to a new generation of teenage female missionaries eager to make their mark.