(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.
