Visitors—missionettes

Missionettes

Mentoring girls and young women

Changing the world – one girl at a time. That’s the heart and soul of the Assemblies of God’s Missionettes program. From the Rainbows Club for 3- and 4-year-olds to the Girls Only Club for high-schoolers and every age in between, there’s a place for every girl.

Brought to Christ

On Sunday afternoon, March 4, 2001, we received a call from a funeral home that a 10-year-old girl was struck by a car and killed. Her mother, Cecelia Garrison, told the funeral director that her daughter, Erica, attended our church.

Erica’s family had recently moved to Claremore. A neighbor invited Erica to Missionettes. Erica came and loved it and decided she wanted to become a Missionette.

A few weeks later our workers invited Erica to ride the church bus on Sunday mornings to Sunday school and children’s church. She loved those programs too. The accident happened a few weeks later.

Shortly before Erica’s death, her Missionettes sponsor was talking to the Missionettes about water baptism. Erica said, "I want to be baptized." When her sponsor explained that she needed to know Christ as her Savior, she affirmed that she had accepted the Lord into her life.

As plans were being made for the baptismal service, the accident occurred. The week after Erica died, two of the Missionettes in her club gave their hearts to the Lord and joined seven other Missionettes who were planning to be baptized. They were baptized one week after Erica’s death.

– Curtis and Leona Owens, pastors
First Assembly of God
Claremore, Okla.

"Our desire is that girls have fun while learning about the Bible and growing in their relationship with Jesus Christ," says Debby Seler, Missionettes coordinator in the national office.

Through this program Christian women mentor girls, providing encouragement, support and accountability through lasting relationships. Younger girls earn badges in a unit-based approach that makes it easy for girls to get involved from the very first week. Frequent award ceremonies provide an incentive for girls to stay involved and recognize and honor them for their achievements. The national department also publishes a quarterly magazine, Club Connection, with features such as crafts, snacks, devotionals and other inspirational material.

As the girls age, the program is designed to supplement a church’s youth program with age-relevant, discussion-oriented topics that give girls a safe and nurturing place to become godly young women. Curriculum is continually updated to help clubs keep their programs fresh and relevant.

The mentorship concept is based on the Titus 2 principle of women mentoring young girls. "It is so important to have godly women mentoring our girls," Seler says. "Building Christ-centered girls now prevents repairing broken women later."

The Missionettes program dates back to the 1950s, when women saw the need for a program to teach missions to young women and to prepare them for future involvement in Women’s Ministries. The national Assemblies of God Women’s Ministries Department developed the Missionettes program in response to this need.

The first Missionettes club was officially chartered in January 1956. Since then, Missionettes clubs continue to be organized across the United States and in many foreign countries. The purpose of Missionettes – winning girls to Jesus Christ and teaching them to live victoriously – has remained constant.

Today 167,169 girls are involved in 22,672 clubs nationwide.

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