‘Garaywa Galaxy Girls’ shine for God’s glory at Mother-Daughter Weekend

By Lindsey Williams
Writing Specialist

Every year at Garaywa, mothers and daughters stop and smell the roses together, count blessings, make memories, and, most importantly, know and love the Lord more during Mother-Daughter Weekend. On April 4-5, moms and daughters viewed each other through the “telescope” of God’s love for them.

“Our theme was Psalm 19:1, ‘The Heavens Declare the Glory of God’,” said Tammy Anderson, executive director-treasurer of Women’s Ministries and Woman’s Missionary Union at the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board. “Mother-Daughter Weekend is designed to help moms and daughters create lifelong memories and strengthen communication in a relaxed environment. A lot of spiritual growth takes place when moms and daughters are laughing and having fun together.”

Decorated with shining stars and paper planets, the spacious campsite delighted attendees, as did the ever-bright presence of the Garaywa staff and planning crew. “Everything we did this weekend,” Anderson affirmed, “was to point these girls to the truth that we as humans are not only a part of God’s creation, we are the pinnacle of His creation. If stars and rocks and flowers can glorify God, how much more responsibility and privilege do we have to glorify Him.”

Within the first day, daughters earned the title “Garaywa Galaxy Girls” or “G3,” signifying “Girls Glorifying God.” Keynote speaker Catherine Inman, LifeWay Women and Girl’s Ministry specialist, spoke on “Created to Shine: Reflecting God’s Glory in your Life.” The Garaywa Galaxy Girls learned what it meant to reflect God’s glory through true friendships, modesty balanced with personality, and serving others.

After worship Friday, participants enjoyed four activity rotations. At the camp store, galaxy girls bought Garaywa swag. In another rotation, they designed friendship bracelets reflecting on true friendships and the importance of Christian friends. They participated in “Glamor Girls,” applying sugar scrubs and fingernail stickers to consider modesty while having fun. Lastly, mothers and daughters made birthday cards for missionary kids around the world. Friday ended with Moon Pies and stargazing.

Saturday morning began with devotionals for moms and daughters to pray and read Scripture together. Four breakout sessions followed, including a low ropes course that encouraged daughters to overcome barriers while mothers attended a moms-only session led by Inman on raising godly girls amidst cultural obstacles. A third session featured Kay Bennett, former North American Mission Board missionary from Baptist Friendship House in New Orleans, who taught spiritual disciplines and evangelism. The final breakout was a scriptural scavenger hunt exploring God’s creation.

Planning team members Amanda Kilpatrick and her 10-year-old daughter, Addy, exemplified servant-heartedness. Addy shared her missional testimony. Amanda Kilpatrick said, “Addy recently traveled to Canada with a mission team from our home church, Mt. Zion Church in Brookhaven. I was so excited for her to have the opportunity to go, and then to have this opportunity at Mother-Daughter to share with many other young ladies about the mission trip.”

Amanda reflected, “Prior to Mother-Daughter weekend, Addy had never shared in a large group setting before, so to see her willing to speak in front of more than 200 people, that was encouraging for me. I’m thankful the Lord gave her this opportunity and the courage to do it.”

Addy shared, “We went to help International Mission Board missionaries with their ministries to the Persian people in their community. While we were there, we helped with a food pantry ministry, went prayer-walking, and handed out the Gospel of Luke around town.” Addy recalled being nervous but felt calm once on stage.

Mother-daughter attendees Haylee Robinson and her daughter Whitlee also experienced an impactful weekend. “I watched Whitlee step out of her comfort zone…boldly praise the Lord,” expressed Haylee. “She told me, ‘Mama, wanna know why I’m crying? Because this is the best day ever!’”

New Garaywa Program Director Hannah Counts reflected, “Mother-Daughter Weekend was my first Garaywa event…It was so special to witness these moms spend intentional quality time with their girls. This weekend reminded me how sweet camp is!”

At the end of the weekend, mothers and daughters completed a five-part covenant about love, faith, communication, prayer, and encouragement, culminating in mothers praying over their daughters and presenting handwritten letters.

Amanda concluded with gratitude: “A big thank-you to Tammy Anderson, her ministry assistant Amy Massey, Mississippi Baptists who give to Margaret Lackey and the Cooperative Program to fund Camp Garaywa, the planning team, college staffers, Garaywa staff, and all who attended! Soli Deo Gloria!”

Missed this weekend? Garaywa will host identical Mother-Daughter events November 7-8 and 14-15. Visit https://garaywa.org/events/ or contact Hannah Counts at 601-924-5062 or hcounts@garaywa.org.