Dear Local Coordinator:

Another year has flown by! That means it’s time for a new theme for the 2008 Girls’ Ministries Week and the new school year that’s just around the corner. Yes, I realize that summer has just begun, but I also realize that planning ahead is the key to success. Therefore, this GM Week section of the website introduces the new theme for the 2008-2009 school year!!

Girls’ Ministries Week, September 14-20, 2008, is set aside as a time to refocus on the ministry to girls and to share their accomplishments with your local congregation. The theme “Hidden Treasures in Jars of Clay” sets the framework for giving the girls a glimpse into what God created them to be and do. They will learn about the motivational gifts given to each person. We’ll also take a closer look at how these gifts play a significant role in the personalities of your girls as well. Help them discover their God-given gifts and then make ways for them to function in those gifts in your clubroom and in the local body over the next year.

Some of the material used in this year’s packet comes from a book which I discovered several years ago about children and their gifts. Discover Your Children’s Gifts, by Don & Katie Fortune, talks about the inborn gifts given to each person and how those gifts (Romans 12:6-8) help form our personalities and characteristics. The book about children and their gifts was a by-product of their first book, Discover Your God-Given Gifts which was written for and about adults. Both of these books would be well worth your time and money in helping to prepare for this GM Week and for taking it beyond the week’s focus into the year. Find these books at your local bookstore or visit their website (www.heart2heart.org/books.htm) to order online. Testing materials for groups are also available from their site.

There are also two books written about these seven ministry gifts by IPHC authors: Spiritual Gifts–Ministries & Manifestations, by B. E. Underwood, and Spiritual Gifts: Your Job Description from God by Owen C. Weston (www.lifespringsresources.com/store/products/filter.aspx?filter=Books&page=4). Both of these books offer insight into the spiritual gifts which the Fortunes refer to as motivational gifts because of how they shape and mold our personalities and motivate us to achieve our purpose and goals in life.

May God bless your efforts for this generation of girls and may He pour out His Spirit among you as you teach the girls how to idently and use their God-given gifts!

Irvina Parker
GM Coordinator

Planning Kit

The GM Week planning kit was mailed to all chartered Mpact groups through the conference Girls’ Ministries coordinator or other WM personnel. The version offered on this website is a pdf file which would allow you to print all or part of it in color if you have access to a color printer. Download the 1.5 MG pdf file here. However, if you have a slower internet connection, click here for a smaller size to download.

Support Your Conference

I would like to encourage you to support your conference GM by supporting them with your quarterly tithes, conference project, etc. Remember, it is a biblical principle with tremendous promises attached!

Website Offers Bonus Items

Click on the appropriate links on our website to download art files of the theme logo and a colored copy of the planning kit, if desired. I hope to be able to develop a few bonus ideas over the next few weeks as well. These are available only through the website and are pdf files that you can download and/or print. Click on the Bonus Ideas for GM Week button to access those ideas. There are currently four bonus items available. (You will need Adobe’s Acrobat Reader to open the pdf files.)

See You at the Pole (SYATP)

Encourage your girls to participate in SYATP on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2008. This is a tremendous opportunity for the girls to use their gifts to help plan this event at their schools. At the very least, encourage them to join their fellow classmates and make a bold stand for Jesus Christ around the flagpole. For more information on this year's SYATP theme, visit www.syatp.com.

Continue the Theme

You are encouraged to emphasize this theme throughout the 2008-2009 Girls' Ministries year.

Girls’ Ministries Day Offering

Thank you in advance for supporting this IPHC ministry by receiving an offering on GM Day for IPHC Girls’ Ministries. This offering allows us at the RDC in Oklahoma City to develop new resources for the local church. Check out the idea in the Planning Kit for using 35mm film canisters for collecting quarters for the offering. The photo at the right shows completed film canisters from a couple of different brands of film. You can click on the blue link above or the photo at the right to download a master file for printing the labels you see on the canister.

We challenge you to present the need to your congregation and let them respond after seeing your girls in action. Send the offering to your conference WM/GM treasury as soon as possible.

Evaluation Time

Let us know how your GM Day & Week went. Did you enjoy the materials? Were they adequate? We want to hear from you. Click on the Contact Us button at the top of the page to give us your feedback and to report your successful GM Week. We would love to see pictures!!