Today is International Day of the Girl.

It’s a day to ask: What really is the worth of a girl?

From their earliest days, girls around the world have faced societal biases and barriers that hinder their growth and limit their opportunities. These biases can be deeply ingrained and powerfully persistent.

For example—

• Globally, according to the U.N., 130 million girls are not in school.
• Nearly 4 in 10 girls do not complete secondary school and, as a result, lack the necessary skills to get sustainable employment.
• 2/3 of the 781 million illiterate people in the world are female.
• Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, 100 million girls were at risk of child marriage in the next decade. And now over the next ten years, up to 10 million more girls worldwide will be at risk of marrying as children.

These are the types of stats that help motivate us here at Lifesong—on International Day of the Girl and all year long—to continue reaching vulnerable girls and women around the world.

But that doesn’t change the truth about the worth of a girl:

Girls are extraordinary—made by God in His image to bring Him glory—and their capacity to create change in the world is boundless.

According to UNICEF research, while girls encounter more obstacles, even one year of schooling can improve a girl’s sustainable income by 10%-20%.

Consider these statistics:

• Educated girls are less likely to marry as children.
• Educated women are less likely to die in childbirth.
• A child whose mother can read and write is 50% more likely to survive past age 5.

Educating girls is a key factor in orphan prevention, and orphan prevention is the best form of orphan care.

Why does truly valuing girls matter?

Educating girls is important for their minds, but it’s also important for their souls.

Educating girls gives them the opportunity to read, which means they can read the Bible for themselves. When a girl goes to a school that believes and teaches the Gospel, she is given the greatest escape plan from the bondage of sin and a world bent on self-destruction. She can then use that knowledge to change her family, her church, and her community from the inside out.

It has rightly been said, “Educate a girl; educate a nation.”

But it could also be said, “Educate a girl about God; educate a nation about God.”

When girls believe—heart, soul, and mind—that God loves them and sent His Son to die on their behalf, they often become mothers who teach their children the same thing.

So what is the worth of a girl?

Every girl should have the opportunity to learn and understand that she—

• was ransomed “not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19)
• is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14)
• is “more valuable than rubies” (Proverbs 31:10)

To be sure, the worth of a girl is far bigger than simply improving pay gaps or creating healthcare reforms, though these issues are important.

Every girl should be taught that she is the excellent craftsmanship of a Creator God who loves her infinitely—and when she believes that, she can more easily take hold of the truth that God has only good plans for her life.

Girls are worth far more than we could ever imagine.

When you give or sponsor a child, you make it possible for us to remain committed to providing every child we serve with quality education and a foundation for their future.

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Sponsor a girl and send her to school.

Through child sponsorship, you can help shape a child’s future. With sponsorship, you provide holistic, Gospel-centered care and education.