“For the Girl,” held on Feb. 13 at Southport Presbyterian Church, was an event that was part of a tour through Delight Ministries for the book, “For the Girl.” Delight Ministries is an all female registered student organization where female students can meet to establish relationships with other woman on campus and strengthen their relationship with Christ. Delight is a nationwide ministry based out of Tennessee, according to founders MacKenzie Baker and MacKenzie Wilson. “For the Girl” is a book about dating and relationships. This is the third stop out of eight on the book tour.
Photo by Tony Reeves Before the event started, members of Delight spoke with the girls in the crowd personally. The Delight members asked about the panelists’ past.
Each chapter of the book relates to women in different circumstances. According to senior nursing major Adrienne Henke, some of the chapter subjects include for the girl who is heartbroken, for the girl who is single, for the girl who is dating a non-believer. Henke said the goal of the event is to promote the founders of Delight’s new book. She said she hopes that girls were encouraged and feel loved, regardless of relationship status.
Baker and Wilson hosted the event, along with a few of their friends. The event included a panel of men who were asked questions about relationships. Some topics discussed during the panel included opinions on what is found most attractive in a woman and relationship advice. According to Baker, their mission is to help women find relationships while also maintaining a relationship with Christ.
Special guest Sean Hanson was one of the men on the panel. He said he has been talking to various students at the University of Indianapolis about bringing a Bud group to campus, which would be the same thing as Delight, except for men.
Hanson said he is someone who never thought that they would go into ministry. He started the program at Pepperdine University in 2014 for men who did not have a specific men’s ministry to be a part of. Senior nursing major Dawson Harris, who was a part of the panel, discussed the importance of communication in a relationship. He said being able to tackle difficult topics instead of sweeping things under the rug is vital.
Senior nursing major Adrienne Henke said that Delight at UIndy is welcome to all women and is all about Jesus. The event was a way for the women in Delight to see the founders of Delight, get advice about relationships, learn about Christ and connect with other women in the area, according to Henke. She has been a part of Delight throughout her entire college career and said she joined because of the connections she could make.
“I just wanted a group of women that I could talk to. I was kind of stuck with my freshman roommates, and I wanted another group of women, godly women, that I could talk to about life or anything that was going on with the times that you have in college,” Henke said. “Then Delight opened up and I was so excited, because it was all women and it was all about Jesus… I was able to just connect with God, the girls, the stories of other people and know that I wasn’t alone.”
Henke said Delight is a way to connect with other girls and form strong friendships. She said Delight is always an honest and safe environment for women to come together and worship God.
“You don’t have to know anything about God,” Henke said. “You can start here and continue to grow or you can start from the beginning.”
