Jamaica

I don’t think any of them as well as any of us leaders expected the necklace to make such an impact on our lives as well as the girls in Jamaica. I gave my necklace to Julieanne at St. Monica’s Children’s Home. Julieanne hadn’t been feeling good and had actually been sleeping for most of the time and had missed the little devotional and explanation to the Purl necklaces that Becki, one of the youth, made. When she woke up most of the other teenage girls at St. Monica’s had already “attached” themselves to the girl that had given them the necklace. Julienanne was just sitting on a chair near the kitchen when I spotted her. I quickly went and asked Tara for the necklace I had made and went and sat beside her. We had put ‘The Father’s Love Letter’ in each of the packages as well. So after explaining that letter to her as well as the meaning behind the necklace I gave the necklace to her. In that moment when she caught on to the messages behind each of those things her eyes lit up, and she began to open up. My hope and prayer for Julieanne is that she’ll believe the message behind the necklace, and that she’ll learn to understand the unexplainable love that God has for her.

After seeing the incredible results of giving our necklaces out at St. Monica’s many of the girls decided to make more so that we would have enough necklaces for all the girls at Anderson Home.

When we headed out to Anderson, Sandy attached herself to me…literally. I don’t think I’ve ever received such a long hug and I don’t think I ever will again. Her hands grasped my backpack incredibly tightly and there was no way to get out of her embrace. I spent those 7 minutes praying over her, and praying that she would feel Christ’s love for her coming from me and just covering her. Her eyes looked so sad and empty and I desired so much to fill them with laughter and joy. A few hours later it was time to give out the necklaces and I got the privilege of giving mine to Sandy. I repeated over and over “God loves you Sandy, you’re his beautiful pearl”. I so incredibly wanted her to look at me and for me to see that she understood the message. I’ve never seen such a transformation before. She was so incredibly filled with joy, happiness, and God’s love. I fully believe that she ‘got the message’ and now I just pray that she never starts to doubt it!

The necklaces in Jamaica served as a connection tool as well as a lesson about God’s love and the beauty of the pearl. The girls we gave our necklaces too very obviously attached themselves to the girl whom they received it from. I saw such beautiful friendships being made and loved seeing a big group of Jamaica’s and Canadian teenage girls all laughing and loving each other.

Much love and blessings, Jalysia (Arbourg Youth Group)

Picture 1: Julianne and I at St. Monica’s Picture 2: Sandy’s embrace