Introduction by Tony Lynn: Every now and then you see the right thing. That is how Grace Ferraro, her family, and her church captured my attention. This 11 year old has been shaped by God through the ministry of her family and church. I am dreaming of a day when all of our families and churches are developing more young women like Grace.
GARDEN CITY, MI – Hi, my name is Grace Ferraro and I would like to tell you a little bit about myself. I am 11 years old and I am in the 6th grade. I live in Garden City, Michigan. I am a member at Merriman Road Baptist Church. I am homeschooled along with 5 brothers and a sister. In my free time I enjoy doing ballet. I love missions and telling people about Jesus.
I will first tell you about how I made jewelry for the More Beautiful than Diamonds Boutique. At a women’s event at our church I was in the kitchen helping to cook the food. I saw the ladies out in the gym selling items. I asked them why and they told me they were giving it to a shelter for women and girls who were taken and forced to do things they did not want to do. I wanted to help so that weekend I went home and made about 30 pieces of jewelry for the boutique.
Another mission activity that I did was help my dad with a backyard Bible club in Dearborn. The kids that were invited were Muslim, and some of them did not speak English. To tell the Bible stories we used a big picture Bible. We played games, made cupcakes, and colored with chalk. The children were happy that we came even though most of them did not understand us.
My dad and I also got to attend the North American Mission Board’s SEND Conference in California. The first night we were at dinner and we invited our waiter Saul to the conference with us. He had attended Bible College and was very excited to go with us. I really liked hearing David Platt speak and hearing the bands. It was a wonderful experience.
On Wednesday nights, at my church, I attend Girls in Action. During our class we study missionaries, pray for them, and do mission projects. This past year we collected food for the food pantry, hosted a tea party for the girls who attend our Vacation Bible School, we went to the nursing home to hand out Christmas mugs, decorated bags for children in foster care and filled them with items that would be their own, we hosted a car in our city’s Trunk or Treat, handed out water at the local 5k race, and we made cards for our pastors to hand out when they visit the hospital. My teachers, Mrs. Maureen Gray, Mrs. Jessica Kogelmann, and Ms. Erica Horton take a lot of time to prepare all the mission activities we do with our group. I learn so much about doing and giving to others.
I also enjoy reading missionary stories with my family. We usually read these with my mom before bed. My mom also took me to a women’s retreat at the Bambi Lake Retreat and Conference Center where I learned and talked about missions.
My favorite missionary story is Temple Runaway. It is about Amy Carmichael. When she was a young girl she wished she had blue eyes like her mother. She prayed over and over again that God would change her eyes blue. Amy grew up to become a missionary in India. God used her to help save almost 1000 children from slavery in Hindu temples. If God had changed her eyes to blue, she would not have been able to sneak into the Temples dressed as an Indian woman and save the children. It makes me sad that girls and women are being kidnapped, children are forced to be slaves, and people die because they are Christians.
If I could have my mission dream it would be to start a church among the Amish. My favorite time period is the 1800’s. I love the way they dress, how they cook and grow their own food, how they have farms, the way they go to school in a one room schoolhouse, and the slower way of life. The Amish live very similar to the way they did in the 1800’s. The Amish need a missionary that is willing to live like them, so they would be willing to listen to them. I pray that God would open the door one day for me to go and serve among the Amish.
I hope that churches in Michigan keep giving to our missionaries so they can keep helping the woman and girls that are being kidnapped, children that are stuck as slaves, and people that die because of their lack of faith in Jesus Christ.
If you want to know how to impact girls in your church contact Sue Hodnett, our BSCM Women’s Ministry and Women’s Missionary Union consultant at sue@bscm.org.