Daughters of the King Pt 1: Evaluation

Two weeks ago, we went on our annual mission trip. This year we traveled to inner-city Memphis. When we began planning this trip back in December, we decided that this year we were not only going to challenge our teenagers and adults with physical and spiritual tasks but also with mental ones. We decided that the best way to do this was to require them to take classes during their mornings. They were allowed the freedom to choose classes from a list of course offerings and then they were required to attend their chosen classes all week. The other ministers’ wives and I decided we could best handle our other responsibilities by joining forces to teach a girls only class. During this class the girls learned many different lessons as each wife took time to share the lesson that God had laid on her heart for the week.


For my lesson, I taught the girls about being Daughters of the King. My time that week was limited but I want to take the next couple posts that I make to further expand and break down the lesson that I presented to these beautiful young women. We all need to learn about being the Daughters of the King!

Daughters of the King Pt 1: Evaluation

How do you view yourself?

When the girls entered the room on mission trip, I handed each of them a marker and a pad of sticky notes. They were to write one word or phrase on each sticky note that she felt described herself. Once everyone had the opportunity to write five to six different things down I collected the written on sticky notes. Then the girls and I divided them into positive and negative columns and hung them on one section of the classroom wall. Let me just say that as I prepared this lesson, God used it to convict me of some of the attitudes that I have toward myself and how I see myself. Knowing the attitudes I often have, I was not surprised to see much of the same in the girls we were working with.

So what did I find…

Positive.
Let me just start by saying, I was pleasantly surprised to see more in the positive category that I hoped. Here are some of the things the girls said that were positive about themselves.

Smart                                              Good Smile
Friendly                                           Good Sense of Humor
Tall                                                  Athletic
Hard working                                   Musical
Artistic

Many of the girls had the same or similar to the things listed above so I have simplified.

Negative.
I really expected the negative column to be totally overwhelming and in truth it was better than I thought but still twice as big as the positive column. Here are some of the things the girls said that were negative about themselves.

Fat                                                 Overweight
Short                                              Zit Faced
Lazy                                               Lonely
Friendless                                       Not good enough
Impatient                                        Unforgiving
Uncommitted                                  Poor
Annoying                                        Ugly
Unemployed                                   Stupid
Critical                                           Angry
Hurting                                           Worthless
Sarcastic

Many of the girls had other things to say that I do not feel that I can share with you, but I think you get the picture.


In Summary
So today we have learned that although some of us do see a few positive attributes in ourselves we are way more willing to see and believe the negative things about us.

Tune in next time to learn more about your true identity as a Daughter of the King!

LOST

LOST the Series by ABC

As a woman in the ministry, there are more than I few days that I feel like I am on "LOST". I live on an island where no one can really reach me. I am surrounded by other ministers and their wives who have their own issues, and I am constantly being attached by the "Others". In this case the "Others" could be any number of people. Sometimes they are in your church. Sometimes they are in your youth group. Sometimes they are even in your family. The Others spy on you and report your every behavior to anyone willing to listen. There is no privacy on the island. You are surrounded by people and yet you are alone and still you have no privacy. Everyone knows your business and the Others are ready to kick you off their list with one bad decision made or one character flaw discovered. How are you to survive? There are days when I wish the giant polar bear would just attack me and get it over with! I am tired of being alone with no real friends and being condemned by the Others who surround me! I just want to get off the Island.

Missions & Ministry

This is our whole mission team. Villebrook Baptist Church & the Harrison Baptist Association.

Whew! Just got back from a week of ministry in inner-city Memphis, Tennessee. Jimmy and I took our youth group on their third mission trip this year. The previous two years we went to Springfield, Missouri, but this year we were allowed to take them a little farther out of their comfort zones.

We used the eight days that we were on mission trip to teach and reach. Our teens had classes in the mornings to challenge their brains and equip them mentally for life and missions work. In the afternoon, we took them to their ministry sites to get down and dirty with people who live in extreme poverty. One team was doing street witnessing. Whether they were feeding the homeless at Church Without Doors or handing our water bottles in the Memphis heat, their real purpose was to share the love of Jesus Christ. Our other team did a vacation Bible school for an inner-city church that couldn't afford to do one for themselves. They loved on kids, fed them snacks, taught them songs, and connected them to people in the church who would continue to help them long after we had gone.

The week was long and hot but much good was done. I saw our students gain a new appreciation for their physical possessions and for their families. I saw children who came broken hearted leave with a smile on their face because they had found a small piece of hope and happiness. I saw God move.

I would suffer all the heat and heartache in the world to have the joy of seeing people come to Jesus!

A Wild West Love Adventure

Redeeming Love is a blend of historical fiction and a retelling of the Bible story all rolled into one. You travel back to the wild west and land in the middle of the gold rush. Towns go up over night. The gold rush is booming. Men flock to the new frontier to find wealth and fame. What else do these men want besides food and gold? Women. As fast as new towns are founded so are the brothels and other houses of prostitution. That’s where we meet Angel.

Angel is a prostitute. She came to the West to start fresh after suffering from prolonged sexual abuse. She doesn’t know what love really means. Being involved with a man in any way beyond the surface is just opening yourself up for hurt and betrayal. But then she meets Micheal Hosea. She can’t her finger on it but something about him is different than the other men she has met.

It is in the interaction of Angel and Michael Hosea that we see the Biblical story of the prophet Hosea come to life. It is new and fresh and different. The story is filled with passion and love and you will learn from this story as you never have before.

I highly recommend this story to anyone who loves to read. I especially recommend it to historical fiction and romance lovers. It’s not your typical romance. Jump into the rush and go to the wild west for a whirl wind romance unlike any other. Read Redeeming Love today!



Other Books by Francine Rivers