(Christina Labbe attends Calgary Community Reformed Church in Calgary, Alberta. She wrote this reflection on her sleepover ministry for junior high girls. Story taken from rca.org)

Some call me crazy and others congratulate me on my bravery for running junior high girls' sleepovers for the last year and a half at our church. At first I intended to do just one sleepover, but before the first night was through I knew that there would be more. The girls' responses were very positive and the ideas started to flow. Before I knew it, I had a vision for running several sleepovers each year and ideas for the expansion of our group, even running multiple groups. A big portion of my vision was to pay attention to the small details like food, decorating, hand-made invitations, and all of the little things that make us feel special and loved. My desire is to demonstrate the love God has for these girls in very practical, fresh, and fun ways.
From the very beginning these sleepovers were intended to be missional. Each event needed to add spiritual and practical value to the lives of young women. With this in mind, each girl in our church received two invitations--one for her, and one to give to a friend. By the end of the second sleepover each of the girls was requesting two invitations to give away, so the group is growing quite naturally as the girls begin to bring friends, some with church background and some without. I did some research and discovered a bookzine called SheTeen, which contains a wealth of ideas on a variety of topics that are working very well as sleepover themes. A bookzine has the depth of a book in the format of a magazine. SheTeen is put together by Christian music artist Rebecca St. James, and it covers topics like beauty, identity, femininity, security, and intimacy. I take each topic and "theme" a sleepover around it, pairing spiritual truths and life skills, purposefully building into the girls' lives as I build a relationship with each of them.
The first sleepover was probably the easiest to design. It was themed around beauty, and our focus text was 1 Peter 3:3-4 (NIV):
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.
Our guest speaker for that sleepover is a friend of mine, a former model who is now a photographer and makeup artist. She discussed the meaning of true beauty as something that flows out of our actions and words, something that is seen by the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. We did makeovers, facials, manicures, and pedicures, and we watched movies, played games, and did a craft. We talked about skin care, self esteem, and the girls' lives.
The most meaningful part of the sleepover came when I asked each of the girls to open up to each other. There were signs around the room based on truths about what God says about each of us: you are treasured, you are beautiful, you are precious, you are loved. I asked each girl to stand next to the sign that was the hardest for her to accept. Each of the girls shared why the truth was hard to accept and read the Scripture passage that was the hardest for them. I silently had the opportunity to pray for each girl based on what they struggled with during that time. It was an incredible occasion for openness and a great opportunity to plant seeds of truth in their hearts.
This year, as we start our second sleepover group, one of the older girls from the first group has asked if she could help with the second group--she's caught the vision and wants to take the opportunity to help a new group of young women who need to hear the truths she's been learning. God's heart for these young women is to know him and his love, and it has been my joy to share that with them through this crazy, brave adventure called sleepovers.
For more information about hosting sleepovers at your church, contact Christina at ChristinaLabbe@aol.com.