GT Testimony Tuesday | feat. Savannah Goode
Over the last year we have been celebrating 10 years of Girl Talk Ministries! In February 2013, the vision was born and in May 2013, Girl Talk as we know it, little did we know, began. It has been amazing to look back on so much of what God has done and we have not even gotten to touch the surface yet through our Where Am I Now? series of all the amazing ways the Lord has used Girl Talk in the lives of the girls who have been with us from the beginning. Going into our second decade, we want to also share with you testimonies and stories from our girls who are involved with Girl Talk now and also, those who are serving with us now. We are seeing God move in their lives through Girl Talk Ministries in so many ways and we cannot wait to share it all with you. We will call these GT Testimony Tuesdays! This month, we are talking to Savannah Goode, one of our GT college girls who serves as one of our Girl Talk interns.
We met Savannah in one of the coolest ways! One of our GT families sent out an email to the moms of the girls in their daughter’s grade. On that email was a mom whose family was getting ready to move to Savannah, Georgia. She got in touch with us about the possibility of taking Girl Talk with her. We went to Instagram and posted if anyone was in Savannah or knew girls there, and one of our OG girls had served on missions in Africa with girls from Savannah, Georgia. We got to connect with Savannah and fell in love with her! This past semester (Fall 2023), we made the connection that her boyfriend actually goes to Samford University in Homewood, and we got to meet face to face! We cannot wait for you to hear more of Savannah’s story and fall in love with her too!
Girl Talk (GT): Savannah, we are so thankful for you and your willingness to lead girls and help us grow Girl Talk in Savannah. When we were first getting to know you, in our interviewing process for interning, we loved your depth of understanding and love for Jesus. When did you first understand Jesus and how has He shown Himself to you?
Savannah Goode (SG): I had always grown up in church and was baptized in 2012 when I was 7 years old. I began to volunteer at my church in middle school and all through high school and helped teach large and small groups. I received the opportunity to go on a mission trip for winter break of my senior year and that is when I felt a magnitude of growth in my faith. Through the two weeks I was in Africa, I was able to be more in touch with the Holy Spirt than I had been ever before and it was so amazing!!
GT: We absolutely can relate that serving out our purpose is one of the best ways to understand and experience Jesus because this is how He lived out His Life. We are so thankful for how you have jumped in and gotten involved with Girl Talk and helped us lead. How has being a part of Girl Talk and our growth in your hometown impacted your life?
Savannah Goode (SG): Girl Talk has been such an amazing reassurance and a way to get a good group of girls together and not only talk through Bible studies but to grow real connections with the girls and talk through experiences that they are struggling with that I had also been through! Girl Talk has shown me how the Lord is truly so intentional with the situations He allows to happen in our lives to be able to equip us to also be intentional with these girls!
GT: You summed up our heart for girls through Girl Talk. Growing closer to Jesus as we grow closer together. We love how you brought girls together in your hometown the summer before college and you invested in the girls around you who are trying to understand Jesus too. One of our favorite aspects of Girl Talk also is being a part of seeing moms and girls and their families come to know Jesus more together. How have you seen the understanding of Jesus change your family?
SG: Growing up in a Christian household really helped shape my view on what a relationship with Jesus looked like. By watching my parents handle so many different situations going on in our family's lives gave me such a great example of what it meant to 100% trust in the Lord for all guidance and never to worry because His Plan is so much better than ours could ever be.
GT: We are so thankful for your parents and how they have led you. Growing up seeing this has not only helped you walk the struggles but also with Girl Talk, it has helped you walk with girls through their struggles. What struggles did you face in middle school and high school? And what struggles have you seen in college?
SG: All throughout middle school and high school I had always struggled with making good fruitful friends. I constantly would have feelings of being left out and never felt like someone’s first choice. Now that I am in college that doesn’t just disappear.
GT: One thing we love about Girl Talk and want to keep at one of our focuses always is helping girls through those friendship struggles. We all struggle with it and you are right, they really do not ever fully disappear. We are all girls, human, struggling and trying to figure it out too. We have bad days, but also we have good days and we find those friends who are the fruitfulness we need. What breakthroughs have you seen in your friendships?
SG: Yeah, even though my struggles don’t just disappear the older I have gotten, something I learned is that I was just in a time of waiting and The Lord will be intentional with whoever He placed in my life. Throughout all the trials and struggles with that, I have found I am not the only one that had gone through that. I have been able to pour into others that are going through similar situations and I have felt so much joy to know why I went through those hard times, to help others by showing how we can lean and trust Jesus through it all.
GT: Yes! Our struggles are not caused by God but they are used by God every time. When we let Him use us! We have to swallow our pride sometimes of being offended or not being chosen first or not feeling included and see all God is doing in those times. And sometimes realizing He might have just wanted us to be with Him before we can truly be fruitful in our friendships. Through those breakthroughs and being used by Him in so many ways to walk with girls going through the same, what victories have you seen in your own life?
SG: There have been so many victories!! One story I think of is one I saw after I came back from Africa —
When I got home, I had a few friends very interested in hearing about my trip. I was able to have a few very deep and great conversations about my time in Africa with a few people, and two to of them then felt led to go through, Africa Freedom Mission, the organization I went with and take a trip that summer. The one story that I saw a huge breakthrough was with one of my long time friends. When she texted me that she wanted to hear about my trip, I was so overjoyed because actually before I left Africa, God placed her name on my heart. I was able to talk to her all about all the breakthroughs of the trip and then after hours of talking and answering questions, I had the opportunity to pray over her. I was not quite sure what the Lord had planned for her but I had a great feeling that the Lord was about to do some major work in her heart. A year later, we met in the same coffee shop to catch up and talk about the trip that she ended up going on this summer. She shared that in Africa, she encountered the Holy Spirt in so many ways that she never knew to be possible and ended up getting baptized in Africa!
When she came back, there were a lot of things she wanted to adjust. She wanted a lifestyle change and to walk with the Lord and keep everything she learned with her. Then in the fall, she ended up going to an AFM conference and she said she was truly able to let go of the chains that she had been holding on to for so long. Throughout her telling me this I could not help but notice how different and confident she had become from just one year! It was truly so remarkable. At the end of her sharing how the Lord had been working in her life, she thanked me. This caught me very off guard, but she explained that if it were not for me believing in her that time in the cafe a year ago, she would have never taken the steps she did to get where she now is in her walk. I knew though, that it wasn’t just me believing in her, but how the Lord so intentionally placed her name on my heart in Africa, and only through Him I was able to pour into her. [This is also why I feel so led and called to Girl Talk because if God can do that through me, how much more can He do?] I always feel Him moving every day in every way.
GT: AMEN! We are so thankful for all the Lord has done in and through you from Africa to Savannah to college and everywhere in between. Continuing to walk with Him, listen to Him and trust Him is not only changing your life but changing the lives around you! You are finishing your freshman year at Georgia College & State University. Over this year on campus, how has the Lord been using you?
SG: Right now, the Lord is using me on my college campus as one of my sorority chaplins. When applying for chapter positions, I did not expect myself to become a chaplain my freshman year, but after lots of prayer, I felt led to apply for the position and I am praying that the Lord moves in this sorority and on this campus.
GT: We are so proud of you and how the Lord is using you in so many ways. You continue to trust Him as He calls you to big things. As one of our interns, even now in college, you are always so great to get all your girls together. What has been the biggest thing God has done in your relationship with Jesus through Girl Talk?
SG: I think the biggest thing God has done in my relationship with Jesus through Girl Talk is properly equip and prepare me in so many ways for the next chapter of life that I stepped into which was college. He opened up so many doors and through Girl Talk, it gives me the confidence in my relationship with Jesus to say yes to opportunities that I would have maybe been too fearful to say yes to before.
GT: We are so thankful for all the doors the Lord has opened for you and how He has prepared you for all He has called you to and will do through your obedience! We love having you lead with us through Girl Talk and we are so proud of you!
Savannah is getting to go back to Africa this summer! We would love for you to pray with us for her as she prepares to go and as she is there. Read below about her trip and what she will be doing, where she will be, when and how you can support her!
As some of you may remember, I visited Lusaka, Zambia last year on a mission trip for 2 weeks. It was your love, support, and prayers that made this trip possible. Those two weeks were filled with so many amazing testimonies and overflowing joy. I experienced the Holy Spirit in ways I never could have imagined.
This summer, I would like to travel back to Zambia, Africa with a mission team for 2 months. Once again, Jesus is using us to spread His word and love to others. We will be traveling around Zambia and working with a variety of ministries (street kids, churches, community schools, etc.).This ministry opportunity is very exciting and I feel compelled to be part of it to spread the word of Christ. My hope is for everyone in this area to know Him as our Lord and Savior and I am so thankful for the opportunity to share His love for us.
Leading up to this trip I am presently preparing myself spiritually for this journey. Although, I know God will watch over me, I would like to request your prayers for me, my family, and all those traveling with us to Africa. The date of my trip is May 22 through July 29. The trip will cost each team member approximately $7,000. I would like to ask that you prayerfully consider the opportunity to participate financially in this mission. There are payment deadlines quickly approaching. At the end of 2023 is when I need enough donations completed to purchase the airline ticket and to pay for other aspects of this mission trip.
If you wish to donate, you have options. You can give online, send in a check or venmo me.
To give online, go to: https://afm.gomethod.app/!/32092/2024-8-week-team/participants/383808/donate (this link is also in my Instagram bio).
For checks, make payable to:Africa Freedom Mission
PO Box 2461 Summerville, SC 29484
Please write “F.B.O. Savannah Goode” in the Memo section of the check
To Venmo me: @savgoode
In closing, I would like to say "thank you" in advance. Thank you for your kindness, love and generosity whether for prayers or financial contributions. My hope for this trip is to show others the wonders of God's love and the sacrifice Jesus made for all of us!
In Christ,
Savannah Goode
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations…”
Matthew 28:19
Are you a girl? Do you know other girls — your age or younger? While we are all gifted and called differently, we are all called to lead, if you would like more information about leading a Girl Talk small group in your city, visit our Start Girl Talk in Your City! page. If you are a mom, we would love to come alongside you and your girl to build your relationship with Jesus together and with each other while building Christ-like community with the girls and moms around you! Get In Touch With Us for more details and we cannot wait to connect with you! Read more about Girl Talk Ministries on our main page. We would love for you to follow us on Facebook and Instagram and share with your friends!
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