Daughters of St-Mary

“Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity”. (1Timothy 4:12). This is the theme verse for the Daughters of St. Mary this year.

Girls ranging in ages from 10 to 15, composed from eight different villages surrounding Maseno, a rural area in Western Kenya, make up the Daughters of St. Mary. This support group was established in December 2005 to address the challenges young girls face and encourage them to keep themselves pure, stay in school and grow in Christ’s love. In Kenya, the pressure on girls to have sex at a young age is very high. Pre-marital sex has become an accepted and expected part of society, causing some to feel outcast if they choose to remain a virgin. Furthermore, many are pressured to prostitute themselves for money. The end result is a high rate of teenage pregnancy and school drop out, propagating the cycle of poverty.

Every girl that joins the Daughters of St. Mary gets a pink T-shirt imprinted with the theme and logo. In addition, the group has a secret handshake to remind them of their promises. The idea is to use positive peer pressure to encourage the girls to be proud of their commitment. By God’s grace, the program has become an enormous success. The girls simply love being a Daughter of St. Mary and eagerly wait for their monthly spiritual days.

Close to 120 girls gather in Maseno monthly for their spiritual day. The day includes songs of praise and prayer, a talk given by one of the leaders, discussions that encourage honesty, a craft or related activity, sports and lunch. A small gift related to the topic and to the girls' needs is given at the conclusion of the day. The day provides an opportunity for the girls to have fellowship together, to discuss specific challenges faced during the month and to renew their desire to live pure lives modeled after their their patron saint. In addition to the spiritual day, the girls gather monthly in their own villages with their local leader to reinforce the message of the month. This smaller gathering allows more personal attention and gives the leader a chance to individually follow-up with each member.

The program also encourages the girls to do well in school. Every term, the top three girls from every village are given prizes of recognition for their hard work in school in order to encourage others to work hard in school.

While it has never been stated explicitly so as to not stigmatize members of the group, one of the important objectives of the group is HIV prevention. Last month for example, the topic of relationships was addressed. The story of Isaac and Rebekah told in Genesis 24 was used to illustrate how to build a God centered relationship, how to develop important qualities as a young Christian girl and how to look for important traits in a boy when choosing a life partner.

The upcoming meeting will mark the end of the group’s first year and will include a graduation celebration for those who are older than fifteen. The graduating girls will start a new group called Sisters of Saint Mary. This group will continue with the goals of Daughters of Saint Mary with the emphasis on building up these girls to be future church leaders.

Get Involved

With your prayers, we would like to extend this project into new villages and countries. Please pray for all the girls and their continuing success and growth in God’s abundant love. Also, if you feel inspired to do this kind of service, please contact us via the E-mail Contact Form.