Girls Discipleship, Part Three

I wasn't intending to write a part three for this, but I got a comment on Part Two that I just had to respond to!

Certainly something to think about. How do you go around discipling the younger girls? Do you just wait for them to ask you? (It's not likely the people I know would do that)

Just wondering how you came to be doing that.

Love Lisa

Lisa, those are some great questions! A discipling relationship doesn't form overnight, as you know, and you are right, it isn't often that a girl out-right asks to be discipled.

The first girl I ever started discipleship with (we'll call her Bella to make it easier :)) saw me reading I Kissed Dating Goodbye and said "Eiw, why would you ever want to read that book?!" I replied, "Why don't you think you would like it? Have you read it?" She admitted that she had not, but she said she didn't want to give up dating before she even tried it. So I offered to do a book study with her so that she could see what the book was really like and give it a fair hearing. She turned me down initially, but then a few weeks later, she asked me if I would still like to do the study with her. I was elated!

After reading the book myself, I thought maybe she should be a little older before reading it, but I e-mailed some adults and interviewed my parents on dating and relationships. Since then, I've had Bella over about once a month. She spends the night at my house, which gives us plenty of uninterrupted time to talk. Her being accountable to someone has really helped her! When we started accountablity she was almost always obsessed with one boy or another, but now she tries to evaluate relationships biblically. Her progress is really exciting!

So that's one story of a possible pattern: You attract a girl's attention by the difference of your lifestyle from the world's and go about showing her why purity is so wonderful.

If you want to disciple someone, the best thing you can do is ask her what you can pray about for her. Ask her what she's learned from a recent message, her devotions, or a youth seminar. And of course, make sure that you remember little things like her birthday :) Send her random cards, or give her a note when you notice her pursuing holiness avidly. These little things really touch the hearts of most girls.

I really hope this post helps you, Lisa! *hugs!*

Every blessing,
~Nella Camille