September 17, 2012
-
Girls’ Slumber Party Fun
After Vacation Bible School, I did not 
have 
specific plans of continuing ministry to the 
adolescents of the village- but the Lord had other plans! A group of the girls, who visit my dorm weekly now just to chat and hang-out, suggested that I host a slumber party to get everyone together again. 
Great idea!
Though the church had planned
slumber parties before, the parents of the village were resistant to their daughters 
spending the night at the church. However, 
God’s grace was on us, as I went to meet the parents of each of the adolescent girls in the village (which only takes about an hour in a village as small as Boca del Rio). Consequently, almost all the parents allowed their daughter to come to the party!- and it was a great way to initiate relationships with other adults in the village. It was a crazy, girly, night! We played a ton of games: photo scavenger hunt around the church grounds (which resulted in tons of laughter and wild photos!), pictionary and charades, card games, the cup game, and more- until 3am. I was also able to share my testimony of how the Lord changed my life from my adolescent days into the person I am now. It was definitely an awesome time of strengthening relationships! The very next day, the attendance at the adolescent Bible class doubled!
In general, adolescent girls in Boca del Rio and in the U.S are the same. However, I was surprised by a couple differences- 1. The head lice (most of the girls are infected. I did not get any sleep that night, as I did not want to lay down beside them!), 2. Money- a third of the girls did not even have $1 to contribute for snacks because of the difficult financial situation of their families before shrimp season starts. How lightly I take for granted having $1 for a party! God touched my heart through the experience.
