Social Justic Feature: Beautiful Unique Girl
01-04-2008
by Kevan Breitinger
Beautiful Unique Girl (BUG) ministry founder Malynda Zacharias is quick to give all the glory to God, calling the initial question that led her in the direction of BUG a “God moment.” The popular Canadian singer/songwriter was asked what thread kept reoccurring in her life, and when she gave the question the thought that it deserved, she realized the passion of her heart was to bring hope to girls, to help them grow in their understanding of their worth and value in God’s eyes. From that realization sprang the seeds that would grow to become Beautiful Unique Girl, a young but vital ministry that is changing the lives of young girls and women across Canada and will begin impacting the US with their first tour this month.
Zacharias formed her non-profit ministry under the covering of Family Life Network, an international multi-cultural Christian media production agency dedicated for the past 60 years to strengthening relationships between God and people in various cultures, including the teen culture where young girls are constantly bombarded with skewed messages that attack their self-worth. Specifically, BUG falls under the oversight of Avante Records, Family Life Network’s recording arm, which is where Amanda Falk comes in. Amanda, 2005 Covenant Award winner and the 2006 Juno winner for her self-titled debut album, is one of Avante’s lead artists, and a dedicated member of the BUG team for the past two years. CMCentral spoke with her recently to get a sense of the particulars of BUG’s unique ministry, and found her obvious enjoyment of the work to be very infectious.
BUG offers internship programs to girls in teams of six who come to live in their Winnipeg headquarters and participate in mentoring programs. During this ministry training period they tour for short periods with the BUG teams, putting on Beach Party, Pajama Party, and Mega Party events. The Mega Parties are larger conferences, but the Beach and Pajama Parties are more intimate evenings where the emphasis is on building the girls up in terms of self-image and self-worth.
Amanda also makes it clear that it is just as much fun as it is effective. “I’m on the PJ Party Team,” she says, her voice bubbling over with excitement. “Every night we roll out the shag carpet and our backdrop setting with lava lamps,” she laughs. “We order in pizzas, and have a chocolate fondue fountain. The message is given throughout the night. The basis of it comes from Genesis 1:31: that God created us intentionally and that is why we are very good. God wants His girls to understand that they are valuable and beautiful because He created them that way. That is one of our founding Scriptures,” she adds, “and the other is Psalm 139, that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. I get excited about the evening every time, and the way God uses our girls. Our mentoring program offers various speakers, and we study different books and work on Scripture memory. When we’re on tour, one girl will serve as the hostess, another will be in charge of hospitality, others do food, registration or merchandise. Another girl handles the sound and mic, and another one will lead the discussion.”
“It’s been incredible to see the movement of it all,” Amanda continues. “The whole night is interactive. Even in the speaking
sessions, we stay on the same level physically, eye to eye instead of speaking from a podium. We make ourselves very approachable, looking for every opportunity to hang out and talk with the girls.”
This aspect of intimacy is important in combating the detrimental messages these same girls get daily from a bombarding media. Nine out of ten girls aged 14-15 claim to have suffered depression at one time. Eighty percent of girls are dissatisfied with their appearance. In Canada, suicide is the second highest cause of death in youth aged 10-20. It is this environment that BUG seeks to dismantle with their message of self-worth and acceptance. Amanda describes what such a moment might look like during a Pajama Party event. “A truth might come forth from the speaker up front, reminding the girls that as creations of God they are good. And a youth worker sitting next to one of his or her girls might nudge her and say, ‘see, I told you so.’ It would affirm what he has already been speaking into her life.”
“Every night is different,” she goes on. “We’ve not seen two nights that are the same, because every single girl is different. But ultimately what is similar is that there are champions in every single town that we can move forward with. We recognize that ours is a traveling ministry, so we link arms with those who are established in their community, and hopefully encourage them in doing well. The pastors and youth workers,” she adds, “they are the ones who love on their girls every single day, who walk through the tough times of life with them and speak to them.”
A typical Beach Party or Pajama Party event might involve 30 girls, aside from the BUG team members, although Amanda is quick to point out that they’ve had anywhere from 15 to 70, as they are not willing to ever turn anyone away. In the past year the relatively new ministry has put on around 150 such events. The Mega Party events seek to reach up to 250 girls aged 12-17, offering a night of music, equipping sessions, and various activities to empower teenage girls to “discover their beauty, walk in freedom and live with purpose.”
If the BUG members are all as enthusiastic as Amanda Falk it is easy to see why girls respond so openly to the message of affirmation. “It’s fun and it’s good every single night,” she says, the passion palpable in her voice. The BUG ministry has had significant results in Falk’s own life. “My heart has always been there,” she shares. “And it has started coming to the forefront of my own music. When Malynda started Beautiful Unique Girl she was speaking things that resonated deep within my own heart, things I realized I had a voice to speak to as well. This message is universal: God created us and said we are good. That is our core message. This is what I love to do,” she adds, “in any form, for the rest of my life if I can.” Amanda’s own recent release, Beautiful, overflows with much of this same empowering message. (See review here).
It’s hard to argue with passion like that. But why would you want to? For more information on Beautiful Unique Girl ministry, please visit www.bugirl.com.
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