Princesses from a Hostel

This evening I was finally able to have the first Bible study with some girls who live in a boarding hostel right across from my house. For months I have been chatting with the hostel parents - Joseph and Sarah, and they thought it would be a great idea if I have a Bible study with the girls, but then school break happened. Then I was gone for a bit... and then last Monday the girls just hadn't "organized" themselves yet. I was ready, but they were not. I have a feeling the girls were just shy, so I made sure to stop by the hostel occasionally so they would get to know me better. There are 68 girls boarding on this small compound. They eat beans and corn meal 6 nights a week. They sleep in rooms that have bunks as high as four up, with three or four bunks per room. Crazy squishy... all just to go to secondary school here in town and not in the village.

Well, tonight at 7 I walked across the street and chatted with Sarah until Jesca came up and said "We are coming, but we have not eaten yet. Can we please have 25 minutes to get organized?" I thought, o, here we go again, another delay. But while I was chewing a cob of roasted grain corn Jesca brought me a list with 15 names. All the girls who would be coming to my house. Wow! 15. I went home and quickly made name tags for each of the girls and put 16 chairs around my living room.

At 7:30 the girls came across the dark street in a shy huddle. Not too many people come inside a mzungu gate and they were sort of nervous. But they soon learned that I am okay... actually, rather humorous :) and they made themselves at home. (Actually, a 16th girl decided to join, so we made sure there was room for Lucy). They were excited about each having a name tag. Thankfully I had some extra Bibles in the house because six girls needed a Bible to borrow as we studied John 1. We looked at who Jesus was and is. We talked about what it means to be a child of God. I mentioned that since Jesus is the King of kings and we are children of God, then we are all princesses. And woah, their faces lit up with such joy. As I walked them home after the study, they kept saying "I am Princess Stella!", "I am Princess Lucy!" etc. They felt so royal.

They also now know that they are welcome anytime. I told them that if they ever needed a space to study, rather than on their bunk bed they were welcome here. Jesca said, "Really, when does that offer begin? Can we come tomorrow?" I really hope they do. I would love to build a relationship with these girls from the village. My home shall be a welcome home for them!! Please pray that God will bless the days and conversations ahead.