My girls and their gifts.

"For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and were all made to drink of one spirit." (1 Corinthians 12:12-13 ESV)



God never ceases to teach me the lesson of faithfulness. He can't deny himself, and by nature he is faithful. And he showed me this lesson once again, yesterday.

It was set up to be a lesson for girls club that was based on Miriam, Moses' sister. I worked diligently to prepare the story, and to portray the lessons of leadership, prayer, patience, and faith. I was so excited about this lesson! But Saturday morning as I reviewed and prepared my lesson, I felt God speaking to my heart that this wasn't the right time to teach this particular lesson. I can't lie, I was a little disappointed. I REALLY wanted to share this story with my girls! But God knows best.

So I scraped the idea and began racking my mind for a new story. I had about an hour to come up with a new lesson. To say I was a little stressed would be an understatement. But God is faithful! And he gave me the idea via my roommate's mom on Skype!

The Samaritan woman at the well.

A sinner just like me, just like you, just like my girls. Someone who was thirsty. And who found Living Water.

Someone who, just like my girls, was undervalued by her society. She was mocked, scorned, and cast out. Not given a second chance, or even a first glance.

In Nepali society, women aren't important. They aren't given the time of day. Especially young women and girls. They are raised to be wives and mothers, and not much else. These girls don't understand that they have value. That they matter. That they are MORE than what society tells them they are.

And God has burdened my heart with the need and desire to show them who they are in Christ. That they matter to him.

And girls club is just one, small way that I can begin to teach them that.


For being a despised place in history, Samaria had some people who really got it right. The Good Samaritan, he had his head on straight. And this woman, this sinful, adulterous woman...she got it right, too. She used her spiritual gift of evangelism to influence an entire town for Christ! She gives an incredible example of what it means to use the gifts God has given each and every one of us in a way that honors and glorifies God.

Most of my girls had never heard of spiritual gifts. They didn't know that they were good at things, let alone things that could influence The Kingdom. No one had taken the time to show them the abilities that God has gifted them with. And I can't blame them, what a daunting task! But yesterday I set out to do my very best to teach these girls how to be the hands and feet of Jesus.

I started teaching the lesson. I told of the Samaritan woman and her faith, and taught about Living Water. I explained that God has given each person a gift or talent that they can use to glorify him. How we each play an important role in the body of Christ. We can't all be eyes, or fingers, or knees. That would be a funny looking body. We each bring something different, something necessary, to the party.

It was hard for them to understand at first. I'm not sure that they totally understood that THEY were the ones who could influence their community for Christ. That they have VALUE. That they are GOOD at something.

My heart breaks because they can't see their importance. We've talked about how God spent an unbelievable amount of time designing each of them to perfection on the outside. And yesterday we talked about the inside. What really matters. And by the end of the time we had together I think it was beginning to click for some of them.

I asked for five volunteers to share out loud what gifts they thought God had given them. No one said anything. A record breaking 23 faces stared back at me. I waited...

And waited...

And then, out of the corner of my eye I caught the movement of someone timidly raising their hand. Oh the JOY I felt right then!

"Prayer, encouragement, and teaching," were the four sweet words that came out of Sanjina's mouth.

Next I heard "service, encouragement, giving" offered by Bristi.

And as three other girls stepped up to share, I couldn't help but sit there in awe as I saw God at work in the hearts of these girls, right before my own eyes. How GOOD he is!

Girls club has been, and will continue to be, the highlight of my time here. God is teaching me a lot through these girls. Through their simple faith, their remarkable intelligence, and their desire and eagerness to learn about Jesus.

It is a privilege that I cannot describe in words to work with these girls.