Here is a wonderfully encouraging testimony we recently received from a young lady in Australia. It reminds us that the efforts of one faithful daughter can make a huge impact on her family, and that God can bring incredible blessings through any situation, no matter how dark. The faith, optimism and joy expressed throughout this story should shame any of us who are tempted to lose hope in our situations.

Dear Anna Sofia & Elizabeth,

I just want to say a big thank you for the articles that you have posted on botkinsisters.com, and for the amazing DVD “The Return of the Daughters”. Both have been a real encouragement to me, since I was introduced to them earlier this year.

Over the last several years, I have been through a real transformation in the way that I think and perceive life. I became a Christian four years ago (at the age of 15) – saved from a life riddled with rebellion against God, my parents and my Christian school. Since then I have been on an amazing journey with God, and He has taught me much.

The point of this email though, is to tell you how amazed I am at the way God appears to be moving in the hearts of daughters around the world. I grew up in a “super-church” in Melbourne, Australia. Just over a year ago, I had never even heard of the concept of “help-meet”; had no knowledge of the authority of the father in the home (my mother seemed to have more authority than my father…!), had barely heard of “submission” and what that really entailed, and was generally completely unaware that I was a real feminist-at-heart.

At school I was considered to be very intelligent, and was constantly praised by teachers, friends, my family, church leaders etc. Everyone seemed to have a different idea of what I should be in life – all of them involving a career of some sort. My chem/biology teachers encouraged me to become a doctor; my history teacher a historian; my English teacher a writer and the list goes on. But I was bored. In 2006 (the year I graduated from school), I read practically every course description on every major university’s website, and balked at the thought of every single one of them. They just didn’t seem to suit who I was – I wanted adventure, variety, something different… I just didn’t know what different was!

After getting the dux of the college, there was no question in my mind that I would be going to university. In fact, there never had been. But what to do? After much prayer, stress and anxiety I finally signed up for a Law degree in one of Australia’s most prestigious universities. I got in, but felt so uncomfortable about it that I deferred for the year and did a year of Bible college with my church instead. I now see that the Lord was strongly guiding my path.

During that year of Bible college, I was struggling to pay my fees. I had a job, but it wasn’t earning me the kind of money I needed to be able to pay my way through. Every time I prayed about the issue, a thought would come to my mind: I should work for my Dad (who owned and operated his own business)! I would constantly dismiss the thought, knowing that Dad had little money to spare and that time taken to help him would mean even less opportunity to earn money for myself.

One day however, I opened my Bible and it fell open to a verse in Proverbs. Here was the verse, staring me in the face (I had never noticed that verse before): “Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.” I instantly knew that, in obedience to God, I had to help my father in his business, regardless of the cost. I knew from Matthew 5 that the Lord would provide me with whatever I needed, and that I should not worry. So I approached my Dad about helping him one day a week – which was all I could fit into my very busy schedule (and even that was a stretch…!).

I am so glad that I did. Obedience to God is one of the most wonderful, rewarding things one can do. Here are some of the things that happened:

1) I was able to pay all of my Bible college fees (through a small amount that Dad could pay me each week, plus receiving donations from people and getting enough work with my other job)

2) The work that I did for my Dad encouraged, inspired and motivated him so much that the business rapidly turned around (he had been doing it tough for ages). Dad felt so released by the feeling of having someone to support him that he was able to get more sales, and became much more excited and motivated about his business that he had in any preceding year. And with my help (in sales, admin, project management etc.), we were able to get a lot more done as well. One example that nearly makes me cry everytime I think about it is an expo that Dad and I attended together. The year before, Dad had exhibited there, and had felt so discouraged that he very nearly didn’t go back. He didn’t get a single client there. However, I encouraged him to go and so we went together. With God’s great blessing, we picked up more clients and potential clients that day than I think Dad ever had before in his life!! God is so good!

3) Dad also felt hugely encouraged by having someone in the family not fighting against him, but fighting with him. The majority of my family complained bitterly about his desire to run his own business – we had much more money when he just had a normal job! But I really believed in his vision, and didn’t mind not having much, and I think that meant a lot to him.

4) This is probably the most exciting and rewarding one for me: in March last year I met my (now) husband at a Business breakfast I attended with my Dad. It is a long story, but to cut it short, one of the things that attracted him to me was my support of my father, his business and his vision. My husband Jonathan runs his own business too, and he wanted a woman who would work with him. Jonathan introduced me to the concept of “help meet,” taught me about submission through the Bible, about a father’s authority and the list goes on. He introduced me to the concept of homeschooling and home-making etc. etc. I felt like my eyes had been opened! I felt so excited about the possibility of living a life that I had never even been aware that I could live!

Jonathan and I were betrothed on November 24 last year with my parents’ blessing. I happily turned down my law degree (against the wishes of almost everyone I knew except my father and my husband). We were married April 19 this year, and the last six months have been some of the most blissful in my life! I am working full-time with my husband, am NEVER bored, have variety in my work beyond what I could imagine, absolutely LOVE working in the business, working in the kitchen, and doing as many things as I can to benefit my husband. Most of the people I know say that I am “wasting my life” – but I can’t help but be incredibly joyful at the way the Lord has opened my eyes and introduced me to a most fulfilling life!

Anyway, in February this year I watched the DVD you created. By the end of it I sat there in my chair with tears in my eyes – here I was, obeying the Lord, having been completely oblivious to the fact that there was a whole movement of daughters doing the same thing! It was the most wonderful realisation.

Anyway, I have now shown your DVD to one of my friends, and plan to show it to many others. I think it is a message that needs to be heard!

May the Lord richly bless you both,

K.

An email we received this morning from three male college students:

To Anna and Elizabeth,

We just finished watching your DVD, “Return of the Daughters,” and were very impressed. Having started to watch it at midnight, we decided to just watch 10 minutes of the video to get an idea of what it was like, but now at 2:05am we’re writing to you after watching the entire video, including all of the Bonus selections.

… We ordered the DVD after noticing the problems arising from young women leaving the home to go off to college and being instructed in the ways of the ungodly, leading inevitably to a breakdown in the family. Surprisingly, there is little or no information on the internet that directly addresses the question: “should our daughters go to college?” Thankfully, your DVD answers this question very well.

We have yet to see how the girls will react to this video (as well as your book), but we pray it will be received as well as it was with the three of
us men.

May God Bless you as you serve Him faithfully in your single years,

Your brothers in Christ,

L, Y and M

Dear Sisters in Christ,

Thank you for your latest posts talking about boy and girl interaction. I am only 14, however, this subject has been the talk between my friends and I as we fight against the demands of this culture. The young women in my church (including myself!) are looking for guidance in this area, and your posts have helped “spread the word”. Just today, my friend was asking if we should pursue “just friends” relationships with young men. I didn’t know, but I asked the Lord for His guidance. Later on, I looked on your website, and right there was the answer for our question. He is faithful! Thank you for all the work you do to build His Kingdom! Your work has changed my life…

In the name of Jesus Christ,

D.

This Mother’s Day we would like to re-post the tribute that I read aloud to our dear mother Victoria Botkin, a true dominion woman, on my 21st birthday:

I would like to take this opportunity to call to your attention the ones that really deserve the credit for my 21 years of life. I had very little hand in it, I can assure you.

First, my Heavenly Father, Who is the author of my existence and my future – my Sustainer and the Giver of Eternal Life.

And my earthly father, my God-ordained authority and protector.

And the woman that I call “blessed.” A woman who lost her life for His sake and found it, who made her husband great, and was subordinate to him in everything, though inferior to him in nothing.

My mother was God’s instrument to teach me what it meant to be a virtuous woman. Partly through her verbal instruction, but mostly through the silent example of her actions and deeds. Most of all, through the way she executed her duty to complement and complete my father. She is his perfect match and the sine qua non of his greatness. She delights him with her company and conversation, sustains him with her strength, stimulates and sharpens him with her wisdom and intelligence, emboldens him with her praise, bolsters him with her cheerfulness, comforts him with her love, and heartens him with her courage.

Maybe the most significant way that she contributed to his success was by instilling his vision into his children. The things she chose for us to study, the things she taught us were important, the projects she encouraged us to pursue, were all in perfect harmony with his objective for our family.

She is uniquely suited to be the teacher of his children because the qualities that our father wants his family to be known for – dominion focus, ingenuity, creativity, entrepreneurialism, love of learning, a pioneer spirit – are all qualities that our mother models in every thing that she does.

The most important things I learned come from observing her two greatest strengths. First of all, her Humility.

I see her humility in her willingness to be overshadowed by Dad. She prefers to bask in his shadow than to chase after the fame and adulation that could so easily and rightly be hers. I’ve never known a woman who cared about personal glory less, or who deserved it more. She will be remembered with more respect than her contemporaries, who fought with religious zeal for recognition and prestige, and now have no one to rise up and call them “blessed.”

The other strength I would mention is her Courage.

Like a true pioneer, Mother was never affected by the fact that she was often standing alone, being “the only one” faithful in an entire country, and doing things no one else was doing. She never even considered the wave of disapproval that came from all sides for her decision to follow Scripture instead of modern culture.

At the altar, Mother promised to go wherever our father went, and to gratefully share in whatever Providence had in store for him, sometimes respect and appreciation, sometimes persecution and rejection, sometimes a high station, sometimes a low one. It’s her calm and unquenchable energy, her willingness to forego comfort and stability, her ability to adapt gracefully to any situation, that allows my father’s heart to safely trust in her. When a man’s heart can safely trust in his wife, it allows him to be a visionary, an entrepreneur, who can live boldly and dare to do great things.

He knew, as I did, that whenever times were the toughest, that’s when Mother is the strongest. That’s why, seven years ago, Dad was not nervous about asking her to leave her country that she loved, to follow him to the ends of the earth.

Last but not least, I appreciate her courage to go through painful labor to bring me into the world. The fact that I’m here to stand before you now is a testimony to that courage. It’s that courage that I especially would like to honor today.

Dear Anna-Sofia and Elizabeth,

I recently read your book ‘So Much More’ and it was instrumental in changing my views on my role as a woman of God, and I am so thankful for it.

I live in the U.K. and in September 2005 I began attending a teaching college, and I actually completed my first year there. I was a Christian, however my contact with Christian education had been very limited and it never even occurred to me as an option – in my opinion I was going to teach in the State schools and act as witness there, I could see no contradiction between being a Christian and teaching what the State required. However my brother-in-law and sister had very different convictions on education (they have 5 children and are home-schooling the oldest three) and they bought me ‘The Philosophy of the Christian Curriculum’ by Rushdoony. Reading that book was the beginning of a massive change in my views of education, and I began to realise how essential it is to proclaim Christ’s authority in all things, of course once I realised that, I realised that I could not (without compromise) teach in the State schools. I began to discuss my new found convictions with my parents and although they understood and agreed with many of the things that I said, it was very much their desire that I should finish college and get a degree.

It was around this time that a friend told me of an American college called the Whitefield who offered courses by correspondance, and one of those courses was in Christian education, moreover my friend’s niece was planning on doing this course and so I would have someone to talk to about it! I was delighted, and my parents were encouraged to find that I could be trained in Christian education – however they still wanted me to finish my original degree. I felt torn as I did not want to disobey my parents, but I did not desire to spend three more years being influenced in humanisim at college. Nevertheless, I finished my first year at college and applied for the Whitefield and trusted that if it were the Lord’s will, He would give my parents a change of heart.

… I ought to explain that from the time I was very young, I had always maintained that I was not going to get married, and I felt that a mother could send her children to school and go and get a job herself. My sister’s example challenged this view, and on a previous occasion when staying with them I had read ‘Praise Her in the Gates’ – this changed my view on motherhood, and I was very keen to encourage my married cousins to remain in the home, but I still refused to apply it to myself and remained stubbornly determined that I was not going to get married. In my mind, marriage was for some people, but not for me.

About a month into a recent stay at my sister’s I read ‘So Much More’. I remember the day that it arrived my sister was looking through it and her first comment was ‘I like this book’ and then she sat and giggled to herself! I asked why, and she referred to your comments regarding singleness, and how it is not a gift for us to choose (my sister and brother-in-law greatly desired to see my views on marriage and femininity change). I began reading it, and was greatly convicted by it. I had thought that I was opposed to feminism and that I did not desire independence, but I began to see that there was much I did not know of myself! By the time I was half-way through your book I realised that my thoughts on marriage and my role were unbiblical and I repented of them (much to the delight of my sister). It also caused me to view the time that I would spend helping my sister in a different light, previously I had simply thought of it as helping my sister, but then I realised what a wonderful opportunity it was for training me in the running of a home and embraced it as such.

I spent six months with my sister and brother-in-law and it was a wonderful opportunity for me and from my sister’s example, and from practice at running a home (and even a house move!) I learnt much about my role – yet if it had not been for the change in my views, I believe that I would have lost much of the blessing that that opportunity afforded me.

I am now home, and my father has read parts of ‘So Much More’ (specifically the parts regarding college) and I believe that his own attitude has been changed by reading it. I’m now seeking to use my time to help my family and develop skills that will be useful to me as a wife and mother, and will make me a blessing to others.

Thank you so much for your book, it has been a blessing to me and I am so thankful that I read it! It has been such an encouragement for me to realise (through your book and your web-site) that although I do not necessarily know many people who share this vision, yet there are others out there who are living it out daily and God honours those who honour Him.

Thank you,
your sister in Christ
Rachel (19)

In the three months since “Return of the Daughters” had its grand premiere, we have been overwhelmed with letters, testimonies, questions and encouraging feedback. Letters like the ones below are the sweetest fruit of our labors.

Dear Anna Sofia and Elizabeth,

Just two days ago I received “Return of the Daughters” as a Christmas present. I have never appreciated a gift more. It touched my heart and it reminded me that I have a role that God ordained for me, as a daughter, sister, and helpmeet in training, to play. It encouraged me to remember to fall in love with Christ during my years as a single young lady…to serve and honor my father, mother, and brother. To encourage my siblings, to want to earn their respect. I feel that I have failed to fully play my role as a sister to my brother, to encourage him completely, and to respect him. I can never, never tell you how much I appreciate this wonderful gift. May it bless and encourage young women around the world. Thank you so much!

Your Sis In Our Lord and King Christ Jesus,
M.

Here are one couple’s thoughts on our documentary. Camelia, from Romania, has the unique perspective of having been raised in a communist country, and has an interesting insight into how American culture has confused the concepts of liberty and oppression.

We received our copy of “The Return of the Daughters” this week and took the first opportunity to watch the film as a family! How encouraging and provoking! I highly recommend this documentary not just to young ladies who desire to understand what God requires of them, but to families as well, who struggle with developing a Christ centered vision for their daughters presently and in the future. The content is true to the Scripture and demonstrates the blessings that come from a biblical model of womanhood and from fathers who love their daughters too much to allow them to drink the stagnant waters of egalitarianism.

For the first 10 years of my life I was raised in a communist country by parents who had been born and lived all of their lives under communism. “College and career” was one of my first goals in life because I remember thinking about a career from a very early age. I did not grow up thinking I would marry, raise godly children and be a keeper at home. Under communism women were forced into egalitarianism to be instruments of the “Mother State for the common good”. I knew I had two options: study very hard to have a good career or end up working in one of the factories. There was never an alternative presented to me. Socialist governments want women in the work force as much as men and the family is a tool of production. Fathers do not provide vision for their children, but rather leave it up to the State. I am often times shocked to see that what was seen as oppression in the Socialist Republic of Romania is called liberty here in America (even among Christians). What really hit home was a comment made by Voddie Baucham. He said, “I don’t know why we allow ourselves to be poured into the world’s mold that somehow says to go out and pour your life into a stranger in order to build the ministry or the business of a stranger, equals freedom, equals liberty, equals fulfillment; but to do so with the man whom God has entrusted you as your father is a waste.” As stated in the documentary we do live in times of transition and God has been faithful bringing me through that transition. At 19, while in college, God sent a wonderful man to me from the other side of the world. We were married when I was 20. I left college, in pursuit of my husband and have never felt that I somehow missed something or settled for less. Looking back I am thankful that God has given me a purpose so much greater than the vanity of that first pursuit. Now, with three girls and one baby boy in the way I am so thankful that, by God’s grace, our family will be the transition point to many generations to come. -Camelia

“The Return of the Daughters” provides such a timely message to a culture that has made it popular to force our daughters into an ungodly egalitarianism, thereby robbing so many of their God given liberty and purpose in our homes. This film is salt and light to an unlit Christian culture that has lost its savor. The Botkin family has done a wonderful job of bringing families together to provide a rich and powerful testament of Biblical womanhood in the Christian home! May God give an increase beyond measure. It will be a family favorite for generations to come. –Elijah

Here is a letter we just received from a pastor in India. This hurting nation should be in our prayers, not only because of the oppressive spiritual darkness there, but because it is emerging to possibly become the world’s cultural leader before the end of the century, replacing China as the strongest economy, and influencing all English-speaking nations with a barrage of new media.

Pastor E.S. has asked us to pray for him. In many parts of India Christians are martyred regularly, and women are terribly oppressed. Pastor E.S. has seen more horrific widespread abuse and devaluation of women than most Americans will ever see, either in their own country or through the politically-correct filters of American media.

Pastor E.S. contacted us out of the blue because he sees the importance of teaching fathers to value their daughters and invest highly in their extensive education and training for their important role in society.

Dear Sister Elizabeth and Anna

I am greatly blessed by your encouragement word.

As Servant of God I am very much interested to raise the Indian Women to come forward and serve Him. So many Churches have restricted women in a low estate so therefore they have no freedom of Grace. I have seen in India many pastors do not educate theirs daughters… Many Indian parents when they came know that baby is female they do abortion in City and in rural village they just kill the baby or they throw into the River.

Lord has given me the burden to stand a Candle in the darkness of all evils my primary burden is to save the female babies and women’s from family torture and worse.

Please send your DVD to me I will broadcast it in Television in India.

As women of God see how you can help our Indian women to become the Disciple of Christ.

Thanking you

Your brother in Christ

Pastor ES

Our documentary, “The Return of the Daughters,” has been completed. We thank the Lord for His strength and grace, and we thank you all for your prayers.

It is now available for sale here: http://www.firstpacificmedia.com/store/

“The Return of the Daughters” will be having its World Family Premiere at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival on Friday, October 26, 2007.

Feedback on the upcoming “Return of the Daughters” documentary runs the gamut from the good, the bad and the ugly, to the astonishingly candid. Though most of the comments have been overwhelmingly positive, we occasionally encounter frank assessments of our beliefs like the one below:

How weird. …talk about not having a life. These poor girls do not know what’s really out there for them. If you want to settle down after marrige-that’s fine but for a girl to waste the best years of her life waiting for prince charming to come rescue her from a cinderella life in the home-you will miss so much!! Dating, College, partying…the list goes on and on. … I can only feel sorry for these brain washed young women who are prisoners in their own homes!

Our trailer and updates have piqued people’s interest and sparked some interesting public debate. Are our featured girls leading boring lives? Are they spending their single years sitting around “waiting for Prince Charming”? Are they missing out on anything worth having? Are they prisoners in their own homes? Have they been brainwashed, or do they think and speak for themselves? Was this lifestyle forced on them, or did they choose it?

Why is this way of life so exciting, adventurous, and rewarding for such intelligent and ambitious young women?

You’ll just have to wait until the film comes out to find out.