Ella Es...Pochocuape Edition

Yesterday I had my first young women's event at the church in Pochocuape.  I was blessed to have a great group of ladies to help me make this day possible.  The five of us were able to speak and show and be Christs love to thirty-five girls and it is our prayer that they felt it.  It is my desire that these girls are able to understand that they are so much more than this world tells them.  Some of them are starting to have children at the extremely young age of twelve and are told that if they aren't married and starting a family by 18 that they are worthless.  They are told they are useless and ugly and unwanted, the list could go on and on.  That is why I chose to take a day and try to help them they are loved, chosen, and blessed.  I pray that they would be defined by that instead of the worldly standards! 

We broke the day up into three different sessions.  A session contained worship, a message, and some small group time to discuss. We played some games to start the day.  Between the sessions we had some activities for them to do.  They got to paint a canvas, we painted their nails for them, and we did a photo shoot.  They all really enjoyed painting the canvas and getting to make it their own, we had written "Loved, Chosen, and Blessed" on all of them so that they would have a daily reminder of these truths.  Nobody here really has many pictures of themselves so we took some single shots and some group shots for them.  And who doesn't love to be pampered a little?!  They really like bright colors so most of them left with neon nails!  We had a great lunch made by a woman named Kathy, she is a fantastic cook! 

God blessed the day and gave it to us without rain!  We don't have a building in Pochocuape yet so rain would have given us some great difficulty.  They seemed to really enjoy the day and I pray they did.  Not everything went as planned, but nothing ever does and I learned from it!  I will have two more days in different communities with the same goal of showing them they are loved.  I ask that you would start praying now for those days.  For the girls who will come, for the women who will help, for the churches they will be held in.  Pray that God would start softening hearts and opening ears.  I know that God will use these days.  Thank you in advance!  Will you praise God with me for what He did yesterday??!!  And is doing each and everyday of our lives!  

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.  If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing."                                                                                                                                  1 Corinthians 13:1-3