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In 2006, I had a house full of children (11, 9, 7, and 1). My husband had a struggling business, and I was doing a variety of things to contribute financially. We enjoyed close friendships and were involved in our church and our community. Our families did not live close by, but those relationships were strong, and we spent vacations with our extended families on both sides. In the midst of what was normal life, my oldest daughter struggled. She was smart, kind, and had talents and abilities, but she often found herself on the outer circle of different friend groups. Socially, there was an immense push to be on a certain level soccer team, dance team, gymnastics team, etc. There was also social pressure to pull children out of regular classes and be placed in enrichment classes. I saw her and the girls around her striving to be identified by what they did, rather than who they were.

My mom is an artist, and she always encouraged us to be creative. As a result, I was the mom that let the kids use glitter and help me cook in the kitchen. To remind my daughter and other girls her age that they were created by God in His image for His purposes, I reached out to some other creative moms to offer a weeklong creative arts camp for girls in my home. Throughout the week, we focused on 1 Timothy 4:12, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.” My intention behind the camp was to use hands on, tangible ways to show the girls what it means to be wonderfully made by the God of the universe.

The girls cooked a meal, sewed, painted, created a photo scrap book, and made a nativity sculpture. They had fun and they loved being together, creating, laughing, and hearing truths from God’s Word woven throughout the activities.

Two years later in 2008, Covenant Presbyterian Church opened their doors to host Created for a Purpose as a summer ministry offering. Fast forward to 2024 and the Lord in His goodness and grace has grown this ministry to include a team of godly women who love God, His Word, and sharing the gospel with others. Created for a Purpose creates spiritual curriculum, project curriculum, and the resources needed for a church to offer Created for a Purpose to the girls in their church and community. High school and college women serve as counselors and women of all ages work together to make this weeklong day camp meaningful and impactful. We operate in five different states at fifteen different churches with close to 2000 girls participating in Created for a Purpose.

We recently finished our Created for a Purpose camps for this summer. We offered four sessions over a two-week period, hosting 460 girls. These campers joined us for worship, dancing, singing, projects, teaching time (GROW), small group devotional time, and scripture memory. Not only do we pour into the 3^rd– 8^th grade campers who participate but we also have an opportunity to pour into our high school and college counselors in a unique way. Intergenerational friendships are made between our campers, counselors, and women who are a part of Created for a Purpose.

One mother shared this message with me at the close of camp, “What a GIFT today was! And this entire week. I am so grateful for your gifts and vision and that so many girls get to benefit from them—so amazing! Her two leaders were so impressive, personal, and intentional when talking to me about my daughter. It was so obvious she learned who she was this week and [the leaders] were so well spoken, talking to me about her and their time this week. I am so thankful that she was able to be mentored by older girls and get to see their walks with Jesus and learn more about who He is and she is in Him this week.”

Created for a Purpose is not about performance or perfection. Our prayer is that the girls who participate in Created for a Purpose camps at different churches in various cities and states will walk away knowing more about who God is and who He has created them to be. Our hope is that they will know more about what it means to live as a follower of Christ. We desire that those who are involved in church will recognize the importance and significance of being part of a church family and that those who are not in church will come back on Sunday and worship with us because they have experienced the love of Christ, and they want to know more!

I had no idea when I started this ministry eighteen summers ago that God would use Created for a Purpose in the ways that He has. I am humbled, thankful and in awe of our Heavenly Father who allows us to participate in His mission and to taste and see that the Lord is good!

Join us at the Made for More Conferences this year where your daughters will learn more about who they are. To learn more and to register, click here. To learn more about Created for a Purpose, click here.