Divine Health for teens recap

Our "Divine Health for Teens" event last night was WONDERFUL!!! The Lord packed the house with beautiful teen girls, ranging in age from 13-19. It was so great to see some of our older girls return for the event. Liz Ditcheos drove in from Wilmington to join us! The evening was packed with all kinds of fun things and it flowed as smooth as silk as the power of the Holy Spirit was guiding our steps. We ate, we laughed, we cried, we prayed, we hugged, we shared, we lifted up, we encouraged, we spoke life! It was POWERFUL!

Our leadership team arrived at the house at 5:00 to get set up and have a few minutes to pray together before the girls arrived. We started the evening with half an hour of food and fellowship, giving the girls a chance to eat and chat. They enjoyed pizza, fruit, chips and pretzels on the beautiful veranda outside. A big THANK YOU to Wendy Schenck and Jen Ward for providing the food and serving the girls. RIta Hanshumaker was our MC and did a wonderful job introducing our guests and keeping us on track for the night. Judith opened our evening with a beautiful dance, welcoming the presence of The Holy Spirit. Liturgical dance is a powerful form of worship and was the perfect way to set the stage for our event. We then enjoyed a fabulous fashion show by our very own personal stylist Karen April. She demonstrated that you don’t have to be immodest to be in style, explaining to the girls that the way they dress matters to God and is a reflection of how they feel about themselves. It was powerful! It was amazing what she was able to do with a simple black dress and some fun accessories. Olivia modeled five different outfits with the same dress...using different hats, belts, sweaters and scarves. Tracy Margosian, our color expert, then explained to the girls how to pick the right colors for their skin tone.

After the fashion show it was time to dig into God’s Word, revealing to these young women their identity in Christ. The foundational verse for our ministry is John 8:32 “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The truth about you who you...who God says you are. Your identity is at the heart of every challenge you face and is the key to making good decisions. We talked about the impact of social media on our self esteem and how to decrease our screen time and increase our face time with Jesus. We discussed about beauty and how the world defines it versus how God defines it. Jesus doesn’t want us competing and comparing. Comparison is the thief of joy. He wants us running our own race and embracing our own sparkle! Every woman has a beauty unique onto herself. The world tells you that you have to listen to this music, wear these clothes and hang out with these people in order to be cool and fit in. Once you understand who you are in Christ you no longer want to fit in. You want to stand out! Like the sun, moon and stars God has created us to be different from one another and He has done it on purpose. Each of us meets a need, and we are all a part of God’s plan. When we try to be like others we lose ourselves, and we grieve God.

We then took a fifteen minute cookie break, stretched our legs and enjoyed a little more fellowship time. We returned to hear Olivia sing “All This Time” by Britt Nicole. This set the stage for our next speaker who impacted us deeply all with her powerful testimony. Leah April is a junior at Cedarville University in Ohio. She is a former GRACE student and a strong leader in our teen ministry. This was the first time Leah has shared her testimony in a group setting and she did it with such grace, humility and strength. Her words pierced our souls like a knife. Her story was POWERFUL and the girls were deeply touched. She shared about the pain and heartache she experienced in high school and how the Lord brought her through it. Her story is shared by so many other teens throughout our nation, girls that are being bullied and made to feel worthless and devalued. We are in a spirit battle my friends and we must teach our girls how to fight God’s way. We must stand up against the enemy and shine light into the darkness.

We then ended our evening with forty-five minutes of teaching on perfectionism, your divine purpose, the importance of being kind and avoiding gossip, why hurting people hurt people, the power of our words and the importance of forgiveness. They were so engaged and soaked it all in. This generation is hungry for truth. When the Lord first placed it on my heart to start this ministry He told me that He would send the LEADERS to us...the ones He was preparing and equipping to lead His kingdom army. And indeed He has! The room was filled with His young warriors...strong girls that He has called to step and stand out. As God’s Word was spoken to them and over them you could see their spirits come alive. Many were seeing themselves through the lens of Christ for the very first time. It was beautiful to behold. Truly beautiful. It was a life transforming night! We ended with prayer and gave the girls some resources to take home with them. I recommended they put the affirmations on their bathroom mirror so they could start their day speaking God’s Word, reprogramming their minds with who they are in Him.

Please check out all of the pics from the event on our Sherry Braswell Ministries Facebook Page.

This morning my inbox was full and my phone has blown up with texts asking when our next event is. Praising Jesus for this as it’s an answer to prayer! This brings such joy to my heart as I know the Lord is doing mighty work within the hearts of these young girls.

THANK YOU to our leadership team who played such a vital role in making this such a special night and to all the mothers who brought their girls out. We love you and look forward to seeing you at future events!

If this ministry has impacted your life we personally invite you to become a Partner of Hope with us. Your monthly financial partnership is vital to our growth. We want to have more events like these, expanding our teen ministry into communities and schools. Every gift, no matter the size, is needed and appreciated. Click HERE to donate.

God Bless You,

Love,

Sherry :-)