The Development team was charged with making sure our older teen girls received some well needed attention and encouragement as they make their way from childhood to adulthood in challenging circumstances. We decided to model our time with these girls based on the “Be With” factor rather than focus too much on structured activities and agendas. In order to facilitate relationship building, we designed a craft project where we could all hang around and work on “needle work” bracelets and hang out and chat. Eighteen girls and various Capital team members have been “hanging out” over the past three days. We sit, we sew, we hang. I have also had the opportunity to learn many new dance moves in a circle game where you have to dance and then choose someone to “dance for you”. Those of you who know my dancing abilities will see the humor in this! Amidst all this hanging out, I have been able to interview most of the girls one-on-one. This has been a time to ask them some questions about their lives, their hopes for the future, and their faith.
At the end of our personal “talk” I have also asked if I can pray for them. The look on their faces as we pray together and I ask God to let them know how precious in His eyes they are, is both humbling and life altering. These girls rarely get kind words of encouragement. Developing a relationship with them this trip has been a privilege and an honor. Tomorrow will be a hard day for me as I have to say goodbye to eighteen new friends (and all the adorable small children I have carried around this week)!
Before I end, Tara told me I need to mention that I reunited a baby goat and its mama today after listening to the poor baby goat cry for hours. After the baby goat tried to tear through a wire fence to get to his mama, I had had enough. We cornered the baby goat and carried him to his crying mama. If you think I used the term “baby goat” a lot it is because when I first used the word “kid” in this post, I realized people who skim this post might think I was talking about one of our carepoint kids. New experiences...
