Soul sisters - creating a space for girls

It was a fulfilling Malaysia Day weekend for 50 girls and young women as the annual girls’ camp, Soul Sisters,took place for the third time.

Nov 17, 2018

By Vanessa Stacey
It was a fulfilling Malaysia Day weekend for 50 girls and young women as the annual girls’ camp, Soul Sisters,took place for the third time. Soul Sisters, a sub-ministry under the youth ministry of the Church of the Divine Mercy, started back in 2016 as an initiative to provide a space for the girls of the parish.

The stay-in camp saw participants andcore team alike opening up and journeyingwith one another to discover their identities,relationships, sexuality and supporting one another in this journey towards Christ.

The message of the camp really drove home the mission of Soul Sisters which is to create aspace of belonging for every young girl to be worthy of her calling to be a missionarydisciple.

The programme was jam packed withexciting moments. The camp kicked off with ice breaking games, praise and worship and an introduction session. For the next two days, the sessions, based on the teachings of the True Beauty study, were conducted by Amanda Fernandez and Fiona Biggs, with the topics being Heart of a Woman, Passion &Purity, Broken, Healed, Holy and Sisterhood.

Each session had a brief address on the topic, followed by a testimony from a coreteam member. Testimonies have always beenan important part of the Soul Sisters camp asthey believe that testimonies show the realityof what each person is going through and the visible sign of God in that struggle.

Aspart of the session, the testimonies proved to be help ful and power ful as many of the participants were able to relate to it. It also gave some the assurance of knowing that they are not alone in their struggles. On theother hand, the courageous girls who shared their stories, first time for some of them, were also able to receive healing and relief after choosing to bring their story to light.

The highlight of the Saturday programmewas creative night, with dinner followed by performances to which their parents were invited. The parents were also invited to write affirmation letters for their daughters.The organisers felt that it was important tobuild good loving relationships between parent and child.

During the one-hour session with the parents, they were led to reflect back onthe growth of their daughters and were encouraged to put into words all the good things that they hadn’t had a chance totell their daughters. When asked what here motions were when she read the letter written by her parents, Ezra Fredericks shared:

“I was really emotional and I finally felt loved by my parents because I did not expect much from my parents. My parents usually do not say I LOVE YOU, and when they actually wrote that in the letter, it really meant a lot to me.

”Following that was prayer night. The girls were led by the praise and worship team in to a more reflective mood. They were given a rock to represent their struggles and pain and were invited to place the rock at the foot of t he cross as a physical surrendering to allow Jesus to help carry their burdens and easetheir load.

The activity was healing for manyand for some, it was their highlight.There is an activity that the Soul Sisters never fail to do each year which is to perform a flash mob after Sunday Mass, dancing tothe Soul Sisters theme song, Destiny Child’s When Jesus says Yes. The girls, as well as the parishioners, thoroughly enjoyed it. Some parents took videos of the moment.

Embracing true identity as daughters of a King

As the camp came to a close in the evening, hugs and phone numbers were exchanged. It is, however, not the end as bi-monthly gatherings will still happen throughout the rest of the year for the larger Soul Sisters community as a whole (participants from the first year right up till now) and a Whatsapp group to keep in touch with one another.

When asked what she had gained from her experience, Sharlyn Christina shared that “It was a great experience that allowed me to meet friends and build bonds to last a lifetime with girls that I can journey with together and that I’ve grown as a woman in Christ.”

Although the age group for the camp has always been 13-17 year olds, limited spaces were opened this time for those above that age group as the team felt that there are still many girls that are in need of a community and have yet to find one.

Chloe Wong, one of the older participants who joined again this year, shared that “Despite the different age groups, we all had one thing in common: to find a safe space to express ourselves and embrace our true identity as daughters of a King – a title which I hold close to my heart since the first Soul Sisters camp. It was really fulfilling and so rejuvenating to be with this sisterhood (again) because I was again reminded of my identity in Christ.”

Overall, the camp was a success which wouldn’t have been possible without the effort and commitment of the organising committee. The core team had prepared for this camp since March where they had gone through formation using the True Beauty series from formed.org as well as How to Find your Soulmate Without Losing Your Soul by Jason & Crystalina Evert. Prior to the camp, the core team also had a one-day retreat with Fr Kenneth Gopal OCD where he focused on Pope Francis’ latest apostolic exhortation Gaudete et Exsultate (Rejoice and be glad). The message was simple: holiness is meant for all to achieve. The hope is that this camp was able to plant seeds in the different journey each one is taking in their path towards holiness.

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