God s Design for His Daughters Directions and Script for Retreat Emcee

Transcription

1 God s Design for His Daughters Directions and Script for Retreat Emcee Some thoughts before you begin This experience has profound potential to impact each participant s faith walk. Every preteen girl needs a strong emotional connection with her mother. When that connection is also spiritual, she can make it through all sorts of challenges in the years ahead. But some girls at this life stage are beginning to pull away from their moms. Your primary objective as you lead this experience is to help moms and daughters connect emotionally and spiritually in a deep and lasting way. The retreat components will help you take them there. Your leadership style is a key to the success of the retreat. You set the tone First, the moms and daughters need to laugh. Laughter helps us let down our guard and gives the Holy Spirit an open door to our hearts. Second, as emcee you set the spiritual tone. Expect that these moms and daughters want to connect with God at a deep and personal level, then take them there. When you pray conversationally at various times throughout the retreat, you communicate to the participants that prayer is a natural part of the Christian walk. The blessing experience at the end of the retreat is wonderfully intimate and spiritual. Third, retreats are all about getting away from the tyranny of schedules and obligations. Help participants relax and settle into the experience. The schedule is a close approximation and not a tyrant to be obeyed. Read the group and adjust the schedule according to what you sense is needed. To prepare, you will need to preview the Video Presentations for the Retreat and study all the instructions for the retreat activities. You may choose to lead all the activities yourself, or you can share the leadership with others. The words in boldface below are suggested script for the emcee. These are guidelines only. Don t feel obligated to use them and be sure you make them your own and NOT reading verbatim Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 1 Copyright 2011 Kids Kount Publishing, Omaha, NE 68137, Permission to photocopy Faith Legacy materials granted to purchaser only for local church use

2 Friday Night: 6:00 Welcome everyone to the retreat: Welcome to God s Design for His Daughters. It s going to be a great weekend. We re going to laugh and play. We re going to listen for God s voice. We re going to pray. And through it all, my prayer is that every daughter and mother will grow closer. It is also my prayer that all of us will learn more about what it means to be a woman of God. Opening prayer: Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift that these moms are to their daughters, and we thank you for the gift that these daughters are to their moms. I pray that you will help them grow closer to each other this weekend, and that you will draw them closer to you as well. Give directions for dinner. Help us discover what it means to be your daughter. You are the Lord of the universe. And yet you call us your children. Thank you, God, for your love. Thank you for Jesus, whose death set us free from slavery to sin. Help us to live as your children. Fill us with your Holy Spirit every day, that our lives would reflect your love to the people around us. And now, as we begin this retreat, we pray that you would bless the food we are about to eat. We thank you for it. In Jesus name. AMEN. 6:30 Community Builders: Go to Three Truths and a Fib and Concentric Circles. Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 2

3 God s Design for His Daughters Community Builder 1 Three Truths and a Fib Goal: Help girls and moms get to know each other a little better while having fun. Preparation: The leader should write three truths and a fib about herself on a sheet of paper. Have daughter-mom sit 3 pairs per table. Be sure each person has a sheet of paper and a pencil. Instructions: We re going to learn a little more about each other at our tables while having some fun. Let s see how well you know the other people at your table. This game is called Three Truths and a Fib. Each person will tell the others at your table three things about you that are true, and one thing that is not true but you will say it like it is true. The objective for the listeners is to guess which statement is the fib. Your goal is to fool the others at your table even the one who knows you well, so you want your true statements about yourself to not be obvious. After everyone has written four statements about herself on the sheet of paper and numbered them, the daughter who is oldest at your table gets to start by reading her statements. The rest at the table will guess the numbered statement she thinks is the fib by holding up the number of fingers that corresponds to that statement. Let s give this a try. Here are my three truths and a fib Read your pre-prepared four statements about yourself. Then say If you think my fib was my first statement, hold up one finger when it s time to vote. If you think it was number two, hold up two fingers. The same for statements 3 and 4. After everyone has cast a vote, reveal which was the fib. Explain a little more about the fib to let your audience know you a little better. That is what you will do at your tables with one exception. If the person talking is your mom or your daughter, you have to wait to vote until after everyone else has voted. Then you say which statement you think is the fib. Debriefing the Game: If you have time, and you won t debrief the next community builder in the same way, ask the following questions of the whole group: Whose answer (truth or fib) made you laugh? Whose answer (truth or fib) surprised you the most? Who did you discover you had something in common with? Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 3

4 God s Design for His Daughters Community Builder 1 Concentric Circles Objectives: Help participants discover things about each other in a non-threatening way. Starting with safe questions, establish an atmosphere of openness to maximize the effect of later conversations. Instructions: 1. Arrange chairs in two circles. If there are six moms and six daughters, put six chairs in a small circle facing out, and six chairs in an outer circle, facing in. This allows each person in the inner circle to sit face to face with a person in the outer circle. You can mix and match the generations, allowing anyone to sit anywhere. Or you can put moms in one circle and daughters in the other. Once everyone is seated, encourage them to scoot their chairs close enough that their knees are almost touching. 2. Start by saying: It s time to introduce yourself. Look the person across from you in the eye, shake her hand and tell her your name. This teaches the girls how to meet a stranger with self confidence and grace. (If moms are meeting girls, we recommend the moms introduce themselves with their last names: Hi, I m Mrs. Jones. ) 3. There are four levels of questions below. For each pairing, ask 3-5 questions, starting with safer surface questions, then moving to Going Deeper, then Deeper Still. For the first pairing (as participants are getting used to the process), you may want to ask only level 1 and 2 questions. 4. After 3-5 questions, have everyone in the outer circle stand and move one or more chairs to the right, then sit back down. Have them introduce themselves again. Each time either group moves, repeat the introduction process. 5. After several moves, you can start with one surface question, then move immediately with the second question to a deeper question. 6. After about 30 minutes of conversations, stop and ask the debrief questions at the end, allowing participants to respond to the whole group. Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 4

5 Surface Questions: Name your favorite fast food restaurant and what three items you especially like on their menu. What s your favorite color? Why? What s your favorite ice cream flavor? Why? What s your favorite subject in school? Why? What would you be doing if you were home right now? Describe the ideal menu for your birthday meal Name one of your favorite movies and say why Name one of your favorite TV programs Why? Describe a birthday or Christmas gift you really appreciated Describe a birthday or Christmas gift you loved giving A place I d love to visit is... Explain. What is a favorite thing you like to do on weekends with friends or family or by yourself? A favorite Bible story when I was young was Why? What pet would you have if you could have any pet in the world? Why? Name a favorite cartoon character Why? Name what you like to eat for breakfast Name your favorite sport to watch. Why? What s your favorite sport to play? Why? Name your favorite musical group or singer. Tell why What city would you like to visit? Why? What s your favorite season of the year? Why? Are you a morning person or an evening person? Explain Going Deeper: (These are taken from u talk i listen cards 2010 by Kids Kount Publishing) Tell about a favorite vacation memory when you were very young One of my favorite things to do with my Mom or Dad when I was really young was When I was younger, what I wanted to be when I grew up was What is one dream or hope you have for your future? Who do you know that is a good listener? How does this person make you feel? What is one of your best qualities? If I get married someday, three things I d like to be true about my husband are If you were President of the U.S., what is one thing you would do? If I could travel anywhere in the world to see something, I would travel to see If you either could go to college or straight to a high paying job, what would you choose? Why? If someone asked you to explain the secret of happiness, what would you tell them? What is the best age to get married? Why? If you could trade places with any person in history for a day, who would you trade places with? Why? What would most kids say is one thing their parents do that bugs them? If I had $10,000 to spend on a vacation, this is what I d do Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 5

6 Deeper Still: (Taken from u talk i listen cards 2010 by Kids Kount Publishing) Who do you talk to when you re angry? What is something you are afraid of? The compliments that mean the most to me are What is something you find all too easy to judge others for (look down upon)? What is a bad habit that you d like to leave behind or have left behind? Explain What is one thing that makes you feel peaceful? What do you think that God has been trying to tell you lately? If you could ask God one question, what would you ask Him? If God suddenly gave you $10,000 and told you to spend it on doing something important for him, what would you do? Where is your favorite place to go to be alone? Why? If you could help any group of unfortunate people, who would you help? Explain What do you think teenage girls worry about most? Girls - Do you think it was easier or harder to live a Christian life when your parents were your age? Why? Moms Do you think it was easier or harder to live a Christian life when you were your daughter s age? Why? If you were God, what one thing would you do tomorrow? If you could be the greatest at one thing, what would you like it to be? Debrief Questions: Have people share with the whole group the person s response Whose answer made you laugh? Who did you discover you have something in common with? Whose answer surprised you? Why? Whose answer intrigued you and made you want to know more about her? Whose answer inspired you to want to do the same thing? After community builders: 10-minute bathroom break. During the break, have retreat folders distributed to the tables. 7:30 Legacy Point 1 Be a woman of God. Be Cherished. (video) Welcome back. Now we will view a video that introduces what it means to be a woman of God. These retreat videos feature a wonderful communicator, Gretchen Jameson. She will tell us some stories from her own life and share some truths from God s Word. Gretchen remembers what it was like to be a fifth or sixth grader. She also works with teenage girls every week at her church, so she knows very well what you girls will be experiencing in the near future. Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 6

7 Explain that each folder on the tables before them is to be shared between a mom and daughter. Inside are handouts for each of the three videos that will be viewed during this retreat. Invite participants to take notes as they watch the videos. Begin with prayer then start the video Heavenly father, we open our hearts. Speak to us about what it means to be a woman of God. In Jesus name. AMEN. You may follow along with the participant handout notes. Here are the time segments for each video section. Each segment is followed by a Talk Time between mothers and daughters. Video - Truth #1: We long to be cherished. (8:47 minutes) Talk Time: Mom and Daughter alone Moms, tell your daughters about a time when you were alone with either your mom or your dad and you felt special to them Daughters, tell your moms about a time when you were alone with either your mom or your dad and you felt special to them For each Talk Time throughout the retreat, the screen will freeze on the discussion question. At this point each time, just step up and encourage them to have a great conversation. Tell them that you ll call everyone back together when it s time. Allow 5 to 10 minutes for each Talk Time throughout the retreat. Keep an eye to their discussions. If it looks like a number of conversations have finished, it s probably time to get everyone s attention and start the next component Video Truth #2: Caution: Our need to be accepted can lead to regrets. (6:23 min) Talk Time: Mom and Daughter alone Moms, tell your daughter about a time when your desire to fit in or be accepted (cherished) led you to do something that you later regretted. Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 7

8 Video Truth #3: God has designed us to be cherished by him. (14:11 min) Talk Time: All Moms and Daughters at Your Table Tell about a time when you felt close to God and his love for you. This might be a profound, life-changing experience or it could be as simple as watching a beautiful sunset or an answered prayer or taking a walk out under the summer stars. Video Wrap-Up: Taking It Home (4:00 min) 8:30 Cherish Time This last part of the evening is Cherish Time time for the two of you to find a quiet, private place. Girls, your moms have some things they want to say to you. Dismiss the group for the evening reminding them that the retreat begins again at 8:00am with a continental breakfast. If a mom isn t quite sure what s supposed to happen now, remind her of the following privately Mom gives her daughter the bracelet and reads letter(s) to/with her daughter. Mom prays for daughter, thanking God for the things in the letter(s). Mom asks daughter to pray for specific things in her life. Daughter prays 9:00 Time for beauty sleep Saturday Morning: 8:00 Continental Breakfast 8:30 Legacy Point 2 Be a Woman of God. Be Pure. Give participants a few minutes to share with others at their tables what they did after leaving last night. It could be fun to find out who stayed up the latest. Then: Begin with the Poster Project Activity: Beauty in America - Picture Perfect (30 minutes) Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 8

9 God s Design for His Daughters Poster Project Activity Beauty in America Picture Perfect Objectives: Start Saturday morning off with energy let s wake up! By creating posters that exemplify beauty in America, daughters will consider the difference between inner and outer beauty. Participants will consider how God describes a woman s beauty. Materials: Poster board one per table Magazines that include pictures of beautiful people at each table Glue sticks Scissors one per daughter Instructions: Explain that the assignment for each table is to clip pictures out of the magazines that participants think represent beauty in our society hair, make-up, clothes anything that s beautiful. Then make a collage by gluing the pictures on the poster board and labeling it, Beauty in America. After minutes, have each group select one or two speakers from their table to explain why they chose these pictures for their collage. Be sure not to pass negative judgment on anything presented, no matter how distasteful it is to you. You ll have opportunity shortly to editorialize. Ask the representatives from each table: What is one thing on your poster that reveals what Americans think is beautiful? Or Tell us about something beautiful on your poster. After every collage has been shared say: Well done, ladies very insightful. We now have a complete picture of what is beautiful. And what have we learned about beauty? Every one of these pictures is focused on what? (Appearance, outward beauty, etc.) Society tells us we need to look good on the outside to be beautiful, right? We need to look a certain way, dress a certain way, in order to be beautiful. What do you suppose God says about beauty? Do you think God has anything to say about this? There are two Scripture passages that speak to all about godly beauty. Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 9

10 Read these verses or have a two girls read them: Proverbs 31:30 says, Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. 1 Peter 3:3-4 says, 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. According to these verses, what does God say about beauty? How do you think his perspective is different from society s definition of beauty? After a few daughters have spoken, invite a couple of moms to share their thoughts. Ask for one mom to describe someone they have known who maybe wasn t considered beautiful on the outside but who was beloved by many because of who they were on the inside. Or talk about someone you ve known. Close this section with a prayer like this: Good morning, Jesus. Thank you for a good night last night and for a great start this morning. It is so reassuring to know that your love for us does not depend on how we look. Many of us have believed the lie that says the only beauty that counts is what we see on the outside. Forgive us for the times we have judged other people on the basis of their appearance. Help us to see each other with your eyes eyes that see the inner beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. Holy Spirit, please fill us with your gentleness and your quiet spirit. Help us to love ourselves the way you love us, and to be content with the way you have made us. Help us to value the gifts you have given each of us and to use those gifts for your glory. We pray in Jesus name, Amen. Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 10

11 Introduce the video How You Are Changing : Last night we saw how Jesus treated women in a revolutionary way. He cherished the woman at the well in a way that she probably had never experienced. She had been married five times. No doubt she was hoping with each marriage that this one would last, this marriage would make her happy. We all want we all NEED to feel cherished, to feel loved. When we think of love, we think of marriage. We think of romance. When a man and a woman grow to love each other, they want to be together. It feels good to hold hands, to touch each other. That creates a sense of belonging, of being cherished. This is God s design for men and women. So this morning we will talk about how God made man and woman to desire each other. We are going to talk about God s gift of sex. Society has made sex something dirty, but sex is really God s idea. In fact, it s one of his better ideas! After He made Adam and Eve, he told them to Be fruitful and multiply. That meant that Adam should plant a seed inside Eve that would grow to become a child. Children are the fruit that comes about when a man loves his wife and plants his seed in her. We discuss sex at this retreat because if you are to be a woman of God, you need to seek to be pure in the area of sex, just as God instructs in His Word. Next, we will watch a video that explains the basic facts of how babies are made, and it will also talk about the sex act. Show the video, How You Are Changing - Girls Edition (8:38) Panel discussion Part 1- Physical Changes (45 minutes) Have panelists come forward and be seated and then begin with prayer: Thank you, God, for the gift of sex and romance. Please bless this discussion to help these moms and their daughters be more comfortable talking about this very important life issue. Holy Spirit, please fill this conversation with your wisdom and grace. In Jesus name. Amen. To help us make sense of what we just saw, we have invited some ladies to answer some questions about sex and dating and romance and God. Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 11

12 Let panelists introduce themselves. At this point invite the panel moderator to take over. For your reference, the panel moderator s beginning script is printed below Panel moderator introduces the process: 10:00 Break (10 minutes) Here s how the panel discussion will work: You see some slips of scrap paper on your table. There s enough for everybody to write several questions. Girls write any question that comes to your mind. You can ask questions about your bodies, or boys bodies, or sex, or what God says about sex. Moms, you re invited to write questions too things you think these girls need to hear today. You might want to write questions about what girls should wear, how they should relate to boys, questions about fashion or when they should see a gynecologist. Whatever is on your heart. During the break, set out Unwrapping God s Gift materials on tables 10:15 Learning Activity: Unwrapping God s Gift (see below) Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 12

13 God s Design for His Daughters Learning Activity Unwrapping God s Gift Supplies: Each group will need a gift-wrapped box decorated with a bow. The box should be taped so securely that the paper must be torn to get to the box. Inside the box should be two lumps of different colored clay. Your goal in the following activity is to get the students to unwrap the present and mix their lumps of clay together before it is officially time to begin. Then they will be challenged to try to get the clay and the gift box put back into their original state. Read quickly and with excitement in your voice. We are going to have a contest to discover what is wrapped up in this box. You will race other groups to see which group can complete this task first. Listen to all the directions before you begin. Are you ready? 1. Quickly unwrap this present. Pause briefly so that the kids complete this direction, even though, officially, they are to listen to all the directions beforehand. Pause shortly after each of the following directions so that they complete them as you read them. 2. Divide the clay so that each child has a small amount of each color. 3. Mix the pieces together and make a heart composed of the two colors of clay. These hearts remind us of love. Because of God s love for us, he gives us gifts to make us happy. As you make these hearts, think of gifts that God gives people that bring happiness. Now that you ve listened to all the directions, you may begin by quickly unwrapping the presents and making the multi-colored clay hearts. Oops. I see that you have already unwrapped the present and mixed the clay. Remember, at the beginning I asked you to listen to all the directions before starting these tasks? What will we do now? Let me check the directions again. It says, if you have already opened the present and made your clay hearts, then we must try our best to patch things together the way they were before. Each person must now pull their hearts apart, putting them back into the two original colored lumps. Then put all the clay into two lumps together. Place them back in the box and rewrap the box with the wrapping paper that was originally on it. Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 13

14 Have groups continue the effort to separate the clay into two lumps and to rewrap their present. While kids are doing this, discuss some of the following questions. Give me examples where people don t treat sex as the gift God intended. Let s see if we can come up with ten ways. Think of examples on TV and movies that say it s okay to have sex if you aren t married to each other. Let kids talk about specific shows or movies that are not God pleasing. What about songs on the radio? Can you think of any songs that send the message, Have sex before you re married. If possible, cite specific examples. What about commercials? Do they ever use sex appeal to sell things? The kids may have a hard time understanding this concept, but you can give an example. Do you think kids your age can commit adultery? What about telling dirty jokes? What about looking at sexual images in magazines or on the Internet? Any time we let Satan make God s wonderful gift of sex seem cheap, we break this commandment. After kids have rewrapped the gift boxes, show some examples of what they now look like. Are any rewrapped well? Then ask: How is this box like committing adultery? (The gift was unwrapped before it was time and therefore became damaged. It could not be put back together like it had been before. Stress that even looking at images we should not see hurts our spirits.) Do you want to give your future husband or wife a gift that has been damaged, or do you want to save for them the very best of yourself and present it to them at your wedding? Remember God s warning is for your protection: *Never commit adultery. Closing Prayer: Thank God for the gift of sex and his protection of it in marriage. Thank God that he wants what is best for us. Pray that all would rely on the Holy Spirit and God s word when faced with sexual temptation. This lesson is from Never Commit Adultery, Lesson 39 of Kids Kount Publishing s Kingdom Quest Curriculum for 5 th -6 th graders, Winter Year 1. Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 14

15 10:30 Panel Discussion Part 2 Life Choices (30 minutes) Panel moderator or emcee introduce this section 11:00 Break 11:15 Gretchen Jameson video- Be a woman of God. Be Pure. Follow along with the participants handout: Video - Truth #1: Purity is about your heart, soul, and body. (17:42 minutes includes Video Truth 2) Video Truth #2: Sex is an incredible gift from God. Talk Time: All Moms and Daughters at Your Table (5 minutes) What are some things that moms and daughters can start praying for that future husband, for that boy? Video Truth #3: Christ helps us be pure. (4:14 min) Purity is hard. We are surrounded by images that can lead us away from sexual purity. It s not about our strength. Christ helps us be pure. Jesus gave the woman caught in adultery the strength to go and sin no more. Jesus loves (cherishes) us so much that he doesn t leave us as we are. He wants us to be more Talk Time: All Moms and Daughters at Your Table (5 min) As a group at your table, make a list of things you can do to help yourselves stay pure Wrap Up: (6:55) Noon: Lunch on your own Give instructions for lunch, i.e. when to return. You may want to ask God s blessing on the food before everybody leaves Before moms and daughters return from lunch, set out two rolls of toilet paper at each table for Project Runway! Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 15

16 Saturday Afternoon: As participants return from lunch, have them refer to the following in their retreat folders: Explain God Talks at Home: When you go home later this afternoon, the retreat doesn t have to end. There are three devotions you can do in the next few weeks. Each devotion relates to a retreat legacy point: 1. A woman of God is cherished. 2. A woman of God is pure. 3. A woman of God is faithful to the end. You might want to consider inviting a friend over to have these discussions, girls. Or maybe you ll want to involve other members of the family. Ask for evaluations to be completed by moms and daughters before leaving today. 2:00 Community Builder: Project Runway! (see below) This activity is a great way to kick off the Saturday afternoon portion of the retreat. Moms and daughters will be returning from a long lunch. They may have gone shopping, gotten manicures or pedicures, or just enjoyed some time in a park. Project Runway will energize everyone and get them ready for the final video session. Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 16

17 God s Design for His Daughters Community Builder 3 Project Runway Supplies: Toilet paper (2 rolls per table group) Watching the Project Runway video clip on the Retreat Leaders DVD will help you visualize this activity. Introducing Project Runway : Today we have been talking about romance and how someday you may get married. To help you start to plan your wedding, your table group is going to design and create a wedding dress. This is a game that is sometimes played at a bridal shower. You may have noticed that at your table you have got some toilet paper. Your challenge as a table group is this: you are going to create a wedding gown and accessories...out of only toilet paper! You can design veils, jewelry, bracelets, headpieces anything a bride would wear or carry with her. Decide in your group who gets to be the bridal model. The model must stand very still while the rest of you use the toilet paper and create the gown on her. You will have fifteen minutes to create this work of art. Then we will present our wedding dresses to each other so we can admire each other s work! Ladies It s Project Runway! BEGIN After enough time has passed for each group to have a semblance of a gown put together (no more than15 minutes), call the creative process to a halt and have the brides come forward and model their gowns while everyone applaud each other s efforts. Transition to video: What beautiful brides we have with us today. I know each is looking forward to a lifetime of happiness with their grooms someday. In wedding ceremonies performed around the world, the bride and groom promise to be faithful to each other their whole life long. The rest of this afternoon, we are going to consider what it means to be faithful to the end. Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 17

18 2:30 Legacy Point 3 Be a woman of God. Be Faithful to the End. Gretchen Jamison video Follow along with the participant s handout. Video Truth #1: To be faithful is to BE THERE. (9:38 min) Talk Time: All Moms and Daughters at Your Table (5 min) Tell about someone who was faithful to you during a difficult time, someone who was there for you. Video Truth #2: To be faithful is to trust. (4:11) Trust Walk This happens before the last segment of the video. See below. While the mothers/daughters participate in the Trust Walk, have someone set up the craft tables for decorating the journals. Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 18

19 God s Design for His Daughters Mother-Daughter Retreat Trust Walk Prepare in advance View the final three video clips on the Demonstrations of Large Group Activities DVD. Choose the physical area for the trust walk, which ends at a large upright cross. The walk should begin some distance from the cross so that it will take minutes for the moms to lead their daughters to it. The walk could take place all inside, all outside, or a combination of both. Encourage the mothers to take a route which includes obstacles - anything which causes moms to tell their daughters to stop and go around, climb over, crawl under, back up, etc. Supplies needed: A from me to you journal for each mom-daughter pair. Most of these should have been given out at the moms orientation meeting. A blindfold for each daughter. These can be strips of old towels or sheets A facial tissue for each daughter s blindfold. (Explanation below ) Transitioning from the video to the Trust Walk The trust walk takes place at the end of the second video segment ( To be faithful is to trust. ). The video will pause with a graphic Activity: Trust Walk. Then continue with: To be faithful is to trust. We are going to do an activity now to help us better understand the importance of trusting. One leader takes the moms aside and reminds them how the trust walk works. A second leader takes the girls to the beginning point of the trust walk, then she helps the girls blindfold each other: 1. Tear a facial tissue in half, wad each half up lightly. 2. Each daughter holds the tissue wads over her eyelids while someone else places a blindfold over the tissue and secures the blindfold so it won t slip off. (They re not able to peek since the wadded-up tissue forces their eyes closed.) Guide a brief conversation with the daughters: Invite them to tell about a time when they were lost Or you tell about a time when you were lost Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 19

20 Cue Starting Question Once moms are in place, ask the daughters this question: If you were really lost and didn t know where to turn, whose voice would you trust to lead you out of it? Motion to the moms to start calling to their daughters by name. Doing the Walk: The mom s have retrieved their from me to you journal and are keeping it in her free hand during the trust walk. They are all spread out and positioned about 50 feet from their daughters. Once the cue question has been asked they begin calling for their daughters by name. Each daughter needs to distinguish her mom s voice from among the other moms as she is called. The mom will move far enough away from her daughter and speak softly enough, that her daughter will have to strain to hear and follow. The mom takes her daughter on a long walk, around & over many obstacles. The more challenging, the better. This should take a minimum of 10 minutes. Some moms take 20 minutes or even a little longer depending in part on how adventurous their daughter is. Leading her to the Cross: Toward the end of the walk, the mom positions herself no more than 20 feet from the cross, lets her daughter get close and encourages her to reach out her hand. The mom places the from me to you journal in her daughter s hand while still holding onto it herself. The journal is used to lead her the last few steps to the cross. There should only one mom and daughter team there at a time. The mom has the girl reach out with her free hand and grab hold of the cross. While she s holding onto both the cross and the journal, the mom takes off the girl s blindfold. As soon as the girl sees what she is holding onto, both should move away from the cross so other moms and daughters can touch it. The pair then goes somewhere to talk privately, while staying within earshot and a visual line of sight so you can all gather when it s time. Mom and Daughter debrief the Walk together: The goal of this discussion is to let moms and daughters share the fun of what they experienced and tell some insights they gleaned from the walk. Mom s have questions they can discuss with their daughters in Orientation handouts Trust Walk and Anticipating Conversations with Your Daughter. Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 20

21 Group Debrief: After the last mom-daughter pair has come to the cross and then moved away to talk, give them a minute or two, then gather everyone for the group debrief. Let s talk about what just happened. What about the trust walk was fun for you? Was any of it a little scary? Who has a story? (Invite moms to talk too ) How was the trust walk like your walk with God? Why did your mom lead you to the cross? What did it symbolize when your mom had you grab hold of the from me to you journal? Let daughters (and moms) give their answers. Ask if anyone wants to tell how the two of them intend to use the journal. Then ask if anyone wants to share anything else before they finish watching the video. Watch the final video segment together. That will lead to the closing prayer, which Gretchen leads on the video. Video Truth #3: To be faithful means to hope. (8:17 includes posture prayer) The Closing Blessing Have daughters form a circle, turn around (facing out) and link arms. Moms should form a circle around their daughters, holding hands and facing in. Say: This is a picture of the body of Christ we are here for each other. Then say the blessing a phrase at a time having the moms echo it, speaking as a group to their daughters as a group: I bless you to be a woman of God You are cherished Be pure Be faithful to the end. Have each mom now embrace her daughter and speak the personal blessing she has been preparing since the orientation. Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 21

22 Then it s the daughters turn: Girls - Take your mom s hand or put your arms around her or touch her in any way that s comfortable for you. Look her in the eye or whisper in her ear Repeat after me Thank you for cherishing me I love you. Thank you for showing me how to be pure. Thank you for following Jesus so I can follow him too all the days of my life. Now daughters you say any words of appreciation or blessing that you want to say to your mom right now. Activity: Journal Decorating Craft supplies should be set out for decorating the journals while the trust walk is happening. Suggested supplies: glue, glitter, craft-duct tape, ribbons, costume jewels Direct everyone to the craft table(s) and get them started decorating their journals. Wrap things up Remind everyone that moms are going to bless their daughters one more time at a worship service on (day and time). Remind them to wear their charm bracelets and bring their journals to the service. (It might be a good idea to give them a printed note with this information.) Take a group picture. Ask again for evaluations. Collect blindfolds and ask for help cleaning things up. As each mom-daughter pair prepares to leave, take a picture of them with their journal. Print these photos and give them to the moms and daughters as a special memento of the weekend. Post these pictures, and others from the retreat, on a bulletin board or video display the next week or two at church. Faith Legacy Series: Direction and Script for Retreat Emcee - 22

23 God s Design for His Daughters Blessing Script in the Worship Service At the end of the retreat, invite the girls to bring their from me to you Journals and wear their charm bracelets to this blessing event Needed: Faith chest from me to you Journal to hold up Pastor: Invite retreat participants to come forward. Introduce faith step coordinator, who continues with the following: Introduction: (Faith Step Coordinator) These young women and their moms recently participated in a retreat called, God s Design for His Daughters. They talked and prayed and played together and celebrated the bond that God gives to moms and their daughters. This event was part of our Faith Legacy Series, which helps families grow spiritually together. Some of these girls may have a faith chest at home like this one, where they can store any faith objects that they treasure through their growing up years. When they leave home a few years from now as young women of God, they can take their faith chest with them to help them live out the legacy of faith that s been passed down to them from their parents. Summary of Retreat: (Retreat Facilitator, if different) A key goal of the weekend was to open lines of communication between moms and daughters about things like physical changes in adolescence, sex and dating. To help make that happen, the moms gave their daughters a from me to you journal like this. (Hold up a journal.) The idea is for mom and daughter to write messages back and forth to each other throughout the teen years. At the retreat these young women learned that a woman of God is cherished by God, pure in Jesus, and faithful to the end. A woman of God is Cherished. They considered the Samaritan woman at the well and how when she met Jesus her life was changed because Jesus cherished her like she had never felt before. Faith Legacy Series: Script for Blessing Event in a Worship Service - 1 Copyright 2011 Kids Kount Publishing, Omaha, NE 68137, Permission to photocopy Faith Legacy materials granted to purchaser only for local church use

24 A woman of God is Pure. When a group of religious leaders brought to Jesus a woman caught in adultery, Jesus didn t condemn her, but he didn t excuse her either. He told her to go and leave her life of sin. The moms and daughters were reminded of how our purity comes from God s mercy in Jesus. A woman of God is Faithful to the End. They reflected on how Jesus mother was there when he was crucified. Mary s life had been totally transformed by knowing Jesus more intimately than anyone. Just as Jesus was faithful to her to the end, so he is faithful to us. And we are called to be faithful to him in return. At the retreat the moms gave their daughters charm bracelets. There are three charms on the bracelet written on each charm is one of the three words: cherished, pure, faithful. Pastor s Blessing to the Moms: (Pastor) Moms, we commend you for taking seriously your responsibility to help your families grow spiritually in the home. Receive this blessing: May God abundantly pour his Holy Spirit upon you, that as it says in Proverbs you may speak with wisdom and give faithful instruction to your daughter, that she would know, love and follow Jesus, and that she would come to you with her questions and concerns, no matter what issue she faces. Amen. Mothers Formal Blessing of their Daughters: (Retreat Facilitator) Moms, now face your daughter and place a hand on her. Repeat after me... Say your daughter s name You are a treasure. (Moms repeat...) A gift from God. (Moms repeat...) It s my job to love you (Moms repeat...) To nurture you (Moms repeat...) To guide you (Moms repeat...) Through the teen years ahead. (Moms repeat...) I bless you to be a woman of God. (Moms repeat...) I bless you to know that you are cherised. (Moms repeat...) I bless you to be pure. (Moms repeat...) I bless you to be faithful to the end. (Moms repeat...) Faith Legacy Series: Script for Blessing Event in a Worship Service - 2

25 Mom s Blessing and Presentation of Journal: (Pastor) To the congregation: It is time for these moms to speak a personal blessing to their daughters. While they are doing that, let s all pray for these families. Option: Congregation, if you would like, you may extend a hand toward these families as you pray for them. Moms, you may again face your daughter and speak your blessing. Allow a minute to complete. Another option is to use a microphone and listen to each parent s blessing, though this takes more time. Pastor s Prayer and Blessing: (Pastor) Heavenly Father, thank you for cherishing us all! I pray, help these young women be beacons of purity in a world that needs the light of your love. And most of all, help them to be faithful to the end, as Jesus was faithful for us all the way to the cross! We pray in his name Amen Girls Faith Promise: (Retreat Facilitator) Girls, hold the arm with your charm bracelet up high. Everybody including everyone in the congregation - repeat after me: I am a child of God (Everyone repeat ) I am cherished by Him... (Everyone repeat ) I am pure in Jesus (Everyone repeat ) I will be faithful to the end (Everyone repeat ) As he has been faithful to me (Everyone repeat ) Oh, and one more thing (Everyone repeat ) We don t give in to peer pressure (Everyone repeat ) In Jesus name (Everyone repeat ) We create it! (Everyone repeat ) Pastor: Let s thank the Lord for what he s doing in the lives of these moms and daughters, and for his great faithfulness to us! (Applause) Faith Legacy Series: Script for Blessing Event in a Worship Service - 3