girls' retreat testimonies

first ever pedicures

​Last November, Chandra helped a local ministry host a girls' retreat for about 100 girls from struggling families in one of South Africa's poorer communities.  Last month, the director of that ministry shared some testimonies they had gathered from the young ladies.  So precious!  We're so thrilled to be part of God touching His children in these unique and wonderful ways.  (We've changed names in the interests of privacy.)

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• Minnie, Elaine and Debi have never eaten a meal with a knife and fork before. The care workers showed them how to use the utensils at the girls camp.
• Sandra and Lori now insist that their family sit around the table together for supper, and that they pray together first.
• Grace understands a lot more about teamwork after the girls' camp. She encourages her friends to work together as a team.
• Hannah was constantly wetting her bed before the girls camp, but has had no incidents since. Her family's care worker says that something good happened at the camp and that Hannah is becoming a confident young woman now.
• It was Patti's first time to enjoy popcorn while watching a movie.
• Tracey never knew how special she was. She left the camp feeling special and unique. She is now keeping her room clean and tidy and makes her own bed every morning.
• This was the first time that Zoe had the opportunity to sleep on a bed with a mattress.
• sleeping quartersMany of the girls don't normally get three meals a day, but at the girls' camp they got to eat breakfast, lunch and supper all in one day  . They enjoyed the healthy and delicious food.
• The game drive was the very first for many of the girls, and they loved all the wild animals they got to see.
• It was the first time that many of the girls were able to swim in a swimming pool.
• One girl had never slept on a pillow before, but now she has her own pillow to sleep on every night!
• One girl says she'd heard of pajama parties but had no idea it could be so much fun.
• Jane's mother died just after she returned home from the girls' camp weekend. She was the person who kept the family together. She was praying and encouraging everybody else. Now Jane is leading her family and others to God.
• Sally is telling other children that they should respect themselves and other children and treat people the way they wanted to be treated themselves. She tells them that they must know that Jesus is watching over them every day.