By Clare BruceTuesday 7 Jul 2015Hope MorningsChristian LivingReading Time: 3 minutes
For decades, teen girls in Australia have struggled to find a magazine that isn’t focussed on celebrities, fashion, and sexualised content.
MICI Girls intends to change that.
The magazine was launched recently by Janelle Knox, founder and director of the already existing MICI magazine for women.
Janelle said the title stands for “Made In Christ’s Image” and sums up the heart of the magazine’s messages.
“We launched with MICI Magazine and our heart was to bring the message of being made in Christ’s image to girls from 16 to 60,” she said, “but we found that so many younger girls wanted to be included, that we split the magazine into two.
“So MICI Girls focusses on 9 to 16 year old girls and bringing content that is relevant to their age demographic and the issues they’re facing.”
Reminding Girls Of Their Great Worth
Encouraging: MICI Girls reminds teens and tweens of their God-given value and worth
She said the magazine aimed to be an alternative to offerings like Dolly and Girlfriend and help them to remember their worth.
“God created us with His characteristics within us – characteristics of kindness, mercy, grace and beauty and value and purpose,” she said.
“We really want to encourage girls in this demographic to understand those intrinsic characteristics.
“He created them uniquely beautiful, uniquely gifted, uniquely purposed, and that’s the whole message in MICI.
“I think for girls in that age demographic they just want to fit in and blend in and not stand out too much. We’ve been there as teenagers ourselves and we understand there are true and real pressures on their choices around that age.
“We really want to encourage them to be strong, brave and courageous in who they’re created to be, that their voice matters, that they actually have a voice, their opinion counts, and that the way that they like to do life counts.
“If a girl’s out there and she is arty and crafty, and if there’s a girl out there who’s sporty, and if there’s a girl out there that likes to bake, intrinsically those unique giftings and talents matter to God.”
Helping Teens And Tweens To Make Good Choices
Fresh alternative: The magazine encourages girls to have a relationship with God.
Janelle said she wanted girls to know that discovering their unique identity in Christ, and making Godly choices, was a journey.
“It’s not something we’re just going to download on one day and understand and be able to walk in straight away. It’s about daily submitting yourself to God, knowing that He has created you unique for a reason and being OK with that today, and doing that well each day.”
She also hopes the magazine will provide girls with a sense of community.
“I think sometimes when you are facing really hard choices and situations in your world, especially in that younger age, you can feel so alone in it,” she said.
“And so the heart behind MICI is to know that there are other girls out there just like them. That they’re not doing this alone.”
MICI Girls Study Kit For Girls’ Small Groups
MICI Girls Curriculum: A 10-week study for girls’ small groups
A 10-week study kit called MICI Girls Curriculum is also available, including journals, facilitator t-shirts and guides, online resources and certificates for various stages of the course.
MICI Girls magazine and curriculum, as well as MICI women’s magazine, can be purchased from Koorong online or MICIMagazine.com.
You can connect with the MICI Girls community on their facebook page.