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Out of Eden gives girls godly advice with ‘This Is Your Life’

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–As teenage girls struggle to find their identity, navigate between the challenges of relationships at school, church, home and in the world, Out of Eden is helping show girls the right path.

The contemporary Christian trio of sisters has developed a six-session, video-driven Bible study for girls called “This Is Your Life.” With a copy of the curriculum, a video and a CD, youth leaders can host their own version of the series for teenage girls in their church or community.

Out of Eden presented the featured concert during this summer’s “SyncoNations”/Acteens conference in Nashville sponsored by Woman’s Missionary Union for girls in grades seven through 12.

This Is Your Life is designed for flexibility so that it can be utilized as Sunday School lessons for girls, a weekend retreat, small Bible study groups, once-a-quarter sleepovers, or a one-day event.

Whatever method is chosen, girls will study six lessons from God’s Word, including discovering life’s purpose, finding security and acceptance, maintaining modesty and fashion in today’s world, discerning God’s views on dating and sexual purity, overcoming abuse and sorting out parental relationships.

The lessons correspond with Out of Eden’s This Is Your Life CD of 11 pop songs with lyrics that directly address societal pressures, family conflicts, peer pressure and personal commitment to God.

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A corresponding six-session video includes an introduction, interaction between Out of Eden and four young women in Nashville, “on-the-street” interviews and guest appearances by experts and artists.

Girls participating in This Is Your Life will receive a devotional journal that allows them to record their private thoughts, write about what they’ve learned, admit issues they need to confront and pray for a changed life.

The goal of This Is Your Life is to remind young girls that as they grow in Christ, they will mature into godly women who will impact their families, schools, communities, churches and culture. They will “shine like stars in a very dark world as representatives of a loving, caring God.”

During the session on “Discovering Life’s Destiny & Purpose,” girls are reminded that “trusting God with our lives requires looking beyond our immediate situation and believing that God really has the best plan in mind. He won’t necessarily show us all the details, but He will lead the way.”

The text for the lesson comes from Jeremiah 29:1-14 and emphasizes that “despite poor treatment, imprisonment and rejection from his own friends and family, Jeremiah remained faithful to God’s calling as a messenger of truth to God’s people.”

The “Finding Security & Acceptance” session identifies three traps that teenage girls often fall into: the approval/appearance trap, the performance/perfection trap and the shame trap.

In session three, girls learn to identify some of the messages society sends about the importance of outer beauty, and then they learn to identify what God says about true beauty. The session discusses modesty, image and beauty from God’s perspective and reminds girls that real beauty is worth far more than merely looking good.

“Discerning God’s Views On Dating & Sexual Purity” seeks to weave God’s truth into conversations about relationships by showing girls specific passages in God’s Word that address sexual purity. Girls will learn that no one is immune to the consequences of sexual immorality, boundaries must be established, minds must be kept pure, God supplies the necessary tools for avoiding pitfalls, and going against the societal norm is required.

The session titled “Overcoming Abuse” seeks to raise awareness about the issue of abuse among adolescent women and to gain insight into God’s perspective on abuse. Nancy Alcorn, president and founder of Mercy Ministries of America for young women, provides insight.

“It’s almost like there’s a bottomless black hole inside of them; they feel so bad about themselves, they try to find something to fill the void, something to make them feel that they have more value,” Alcorn says on the video.

Girls will be instructed about what to do if they have been abused or if they know of friends who are facing the hardship.

The final session, “Sorting Out Parental Relationships,” emphasizes the fact that parents will fail their children and make mistakes, but God will always love His children and never leave them. Girls will search God’s Word for passages regarding forgiveness, sin and acceptance, and they’ll be able to talk about and sort out issues they have been struggling with concerning their parents.

Each session is complete with ideas for hands-on activities such as playing a board game, “The Game of Life,” before the session about life’s purpose, having the girls cut body images out of popular magazines and make a collage of what the media says their bodies should look like before the session about modesty, and playing a form of musical chairs called “Burned” before the lesson on sexual purity.

After girls go through the entire This Is Your Life series, they are encouraged to use the remaining five songs on Out of Eden’s album to create their own series. The girls can pre-plan each session and then film “man on the street” segments and make appointments with local pastors or youth directors to tape their statements regarding the topics of “Positive Attitude,” “Devotion, Quiet Time,” “Testimony, God’s Faithfulness,” “Love for God” and “Restoration, Healing, Repentance.”

For more information about This Is Your Life, contact interl’inc at 1-800-725-3300 x225.
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(BP) photo posted in the BP Photo Library at http://www.bpnews.net. Photo title: THIS IS YOUR LIFE.