The intents behind teen events

It’s event season for Trek and Journey students in northern California and northern Nevada. That means that Northern California, Northern Nevada Events (NCANN Events), a ministry of West Coast Honor Camp, has volunteers, such as myself, organizing and running two Trek Weekends and one Journey Weekend from January through March. Some also volunteer at Summit (the national Journey event), which extends the event season through April. So why do we dedicate so much time and effort to these three weekends for Trek and Journey?

1. They let us share the Gospel 

This is the number one reason why we put on these events. Each of these three events has a speaker present the Gospel message — not necessarily for the participants (although one never knows), but for those in the audience. On average, 10 percent of the kids attending an Awana club don’t attend church. But their family and friends may come to watch them compete during these weekends. That means these events may be the only time some of them hear the Gospel, and it’s an opportunity we don’t want to miss.

2. They encourage fellowship 

These events give teens a chance to meet other Awana teens outside of their home clubs. Students gain an appreciation for the bigger Awana ministry, and they get a chance to expand their network of likeminded Christian peers. Many of our attendees, including leaders, establish friendships at these events with people who live several hours away. They look forward to seeing each other next year when the event rolls around again. Some, including me, see these events as a chance to meet up with friends we made at camp.

The NCANN Events team actually thought this point was so important that we put together two “Fall Fellowships” in November so there were even more opportunities for the teens to come together throughout the year. The Fall Fellowships are much more laid back, focusing mostly on hanging out and playing games like Nine-Square-in-the-Air, Gaga Ball, and Volleyball.

These events also provide an opportunity for the teens to bond with their leaders and teams. Some of our participants make it a huge deal as a team trip. We’ve had some teams come over the day before the event, either check into a hotel or sleep over at the host church, and do some other fun activities in town.

3. They encourage scripture review

In the Bible Quizzing competition, students are quizzed on memory verses, key terms, and other material from the current year’s curriculum. Bible Quizzing consists of an individual written quiz, a team multiple choice quiz (they hold up paddles with their answer), and a team speed quiz (with a buzzer to press if they know the answer). As participants prepare for the quiz competition, they review the material from the beginning of the year, which reinforces the Biblical truths stored in their hearts and minds.

4. They encourage friendly competition

These events provide a chance for teens to compete with teens from other clubs. The AwanaGames competition has teams from different churches across the region vie for first place in a standard set of games played on an Awana Game Square. Every event awards points for sportsmanship to emphasize the principle of friendly competition during the games. And as students participate in both AwanaGames and Bible Quizzing, they are encouraged to maintain positive attitudes toward God, judges, coaches, teammates, and opponents. Teens are expected to participate in a way that brings glory to God and uplifts others through friendly and respectful actions, such as exchanging high fives, giving compliments, respecting a judge’s decision, and staying optimistic when accidents happen or mistakes are made.

5. They encourage service and spiritual growth

Our events encourage students to start looking at ways they can serve the Lord and become more like Him. When students practice for Bible Quizzing, they become better prepared to share God’s message with others and are reminded of the standards God wants them to strive for in their own spiritual walks. At the Fall Fellowships, students practice showing others God’s love through a service activity, such as stuffing boxes for Operation Christmas Child. And at the Journey Weekend Fine Arts Festival, students can practice serving God and ministering to others through their talents in a fine-art category, such as piano or photography. Some submissions, such as paintings, are inspired by a scriptural concept or Bible verse, while others, such as public speaking, share a story of salvation or Christian living. The participants present before a panel of judges with backgrounds in the appropriate fine art, who provide feedback on how they can improve, encouraging the students to stretch themselves and actively seek out how God wants them to use their talents for His glory.

6. They’re fun!

Planning these events is challenging, and when the three-events-in-three-months timeframe hits, our free weekends become scarce until April. But we have so much fun watching these teams play the games they practiced before coming; seeing the students learn God’s truths by studying for Bible Quizzing; hearing the laughter among friends who have not seen each other since Camp or the Fall Fellowship; and sharing the Gospel with those who have never heard it before. And when we see how much fun the teens have and how they grow closer to the Lord each year, we’re reminded about how these events are absolutely worth the late-night preparations, coordination complications, and last-minute scrambles.

For more information about upcoming NCANN events, visit www.westcoasthonorcamp.org/ncann.
To find out about youth events in your region, talk to your regional Awana missionary.
For more information about Awana, visit the Awana Homepage.
To find a club in your area visit the Club Locator.

"The Gospel Truth about Children’s Ministry" book review

Earlier this year, Awana released a book called “The Gospel Truth about Children’s Ministry.” The book shows a summary of the findings from two surveys of over 800 children’s ministry leaders throughout the United States. Its purpose is to help remind KidMin leaders and volunteers of what’s most important in ministry and help them take a hard look at their own ministry to see if the focus is in the right place.

Here are my thoughts on this book.

What I liked:

The survey and findings are applicable to all children’s ministries. Children’s ministry leaders will relate to at least one struggle covered in the book.

The information provides a clear picture of children’s ministry’s current impact on the world, showing what leaders want their ministry priorities to be, the impact of their current ministry efforts and activities, and the outcomes of their ministries. For instance, the majority of responses rated making disciples as a very important objective of ministry. However, less than half said their ministry was actually fulfilling this objective.

The end of each section includes questions to help leaders and volunteers assess their own ministries, such as “in your program or curriculum which comes as a first priority, Scripture/substance, or subject/style?” These questions, combined with the presented findings, make it easy for leaders to determine where changes need to be made and priorities need to be shifted to make their own ministries more effective in teaching children to know, love and serve the Lord.

The infographs were easy to read and understand.

Awana was clear and transparent on how the surveys were conducted, how the results were processed, and how conclusions were reached.

What I didn’t like:

The offered solutions are Awana specific. Only including Awana material and technology as solutions made the book seem like it was an advertisement for Awana with the message, “You have a problem, buy our products for the solution.” For me, this dampened the book’s impact and slightly diminished its purpose of encouraging flexibility and proper focus for children’s ministry overall.

I think that since the study itself covered children’s ministry as a whole, there should have been resources from other ministry partners alongside the Awana options, or just general solutions that could be tried with any children’s ministry.

Conclusion:

I think “The Gospel Truth about Children’s Ministry” provides excellent insight into the challenges children’s ministry is facing. I would recommend this book for all KidMin leaders because the book’s findings can help them more easily identify where they may need to change their ministry to make it relevant to the current generation while keeping its focus where it needs to be.

A Prayer Request for Kidmin Volunteers

Our church has gone through a difficult time. We are recovering, but there are still many areas in need of prayers and aid, especially in children’s ministry. We’ve lost several of our volunteers for both Sunday school and Awana. This past week, Truth & Training had two co-directors, one ill leader, and one elderly leader in a wheelchair to work with 20 clubbers. In Sparks, I’m fairing somewhat better, with six leaders plus myself for 25-27 clubbers.

Our Awana commander also serves as the church’s children’s ministry coordinator, and she has absolutely no volunteers to teach Sunday school.

We want to reach the hearts and minds of the children in our church, showing them the love God has for them. But unless we gain more volunteers, our leaders will have to sacrifice teaching opportunities and relationship moments in order to maintain the organization and flow of the ministries.

Please be in prayer for us, that more volunteers would join us in serving the Lord through our children’s ministries.

Awana GO shows clubbers Awana clubs around the world, teaches missions

Awana recently introduced a new missions program called Awana GO, and it replaces Adopt-a-Club. The goal of the program is to help clubbers in the United States learn about and become involved in mission work that impacts fellow clubbers in other countries.

“We want this program to disciple kids in missions,” Awana GO Western Coordinator Jennifer Henning said.

When Awana Commanders register for Awana GO, they gain access to material such as short video prayer requests from other countries and to a Facebook discussion group, and they receive newsletters with information about how Awana clubs are doing around the world.

Awana GO also provides many discipleship resources, including enough Large Group lessons to use intermittently throughout the club year. Lessons teach Bible truths through telling stories of clubbers or leaders from other countries. These stories show clubbers in the United States how kids just like them are living and sharing the Gospel in other parts of the world. The goal is to inspire clubbers in the United States to become active in missions, too.

“Awana GO shows kids what Acts 1:8 looks like,” Henning said.

Other resources offered through the program include information booklets about other countries, testimonies from clubbers, testimonies from pastors and leaders, and promotional tools.

The program has a fundraising component as well, though it is completely optional. For those who do want to fundraise, Henning is partial to short-time-focus approaches, such as Awana GO’s Verse-a-Thon.

“We went from barely raising $360 in a whole club year to raising $3,250 in a single night,” she said about using the Verse-a-Thon at her club. “The Verse-a-Thon allows the kids to drive the fundraising. Because of the Awana GO lessons, they’ve seen these kids in other countries, and they know what they’re supporting — that they love Awana and hope to bring Awana to these other kids. Our clubbers also had a blast.”

Instructions for the Verse-a-Thon can be found with other fundraising ideas on the Awana GO website. Money raised and submitted through Awana GO is used to train leaders in other countries and provide them with all the materials they need to start a new club, including a four-year chronological curriculum called Truthseekers. For one child to be reached with the Gospel and to attend an Awana Truthseekers club indefinitely, the cost is only $10. 

Henning and the creators of Awana GO are excited to see clubbers engage in missions by learning from and supporting other clubs across the globe. They look forward to clubbers discovering a world outside their own clubs, churches, and lives, and finding chances to share the Gospel in new places and ways.

“We want clubbers to know how to share their faith with not only the kids in their hometown,” Henning said, “but also around the world.”

For more information about Awana GO, visit awana.org/go, or contact Henning at jenh@awana.org or 206-619-1885. Henning will also be discussing Awana GO Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. during a Google Hangout on Air. Watch the live stream here.

For more information about Awana, visit the Awana Homepage

To find a club in your area visit the Club Locator.

Encouraging leaders to teach Large Group

At the Awana club where I serve, most of my Sparks leaders are in high school or college. Many of them are still uncomfortable when speaking to a crowd — a circumstance they will likely face many times not only in school, but also once they enter the workforce.

So to help them gain more confidence, I encourage them to give Large Group presentations to the Sparks. Below are four reasons why encouraging leaders to teach Large Group is beneficial.

Practice with less pressure

Sparks are between the ages of 5 and 8. They’re still learning both Biblical and social basics and won’t care if leaders get a bit tongue-tied or forgetful. Because Sparks don’t care about the quality of the presentation, leaders can make mistakes with no fear of being graded or scored. Leaders may also find standing in front of a bunch of kindergartners is a bit less intimidating than standing in front of a bunch of peers or adults.

Practice clarity

Sparks don't understand big words like sanctification or atonement, so leaders need to learn how to fit their presentation to their audience. I encourage beginning presenters to use canned lessons so they experience what a well-organized, age-appropriate lesson is like.

Leaders who have presented more than twice before have an option to challenge themselves to create their own lesson to present God’s truth in a clear, age-appropriate way.

In school and at work, teens and adults need to be able to present ideas in a clear manner, often to people who know nothing about a topic or the topic’s jargon. An English teacher may require a student to give a presentation about an author to the class, or an employee may need to articulate an idea to a committee or project team. So why not practice now by presenting a lesson to a group of kids?

Practice precision

Sparks not only have a limited vocabulary, but they also have a limited attention span of about 5 to 8 minutes. So leaders have to both speak clearly and prepare and present a lesson that is engaging and to-the-point. Again, this is a good skill to have for school and other areas when there are time or attention-span constraints.

Practice presenting the Gospel

The purpose of Awana, or of any kids’ ministry for that matter, is to teach children to know, love, and serve the Lord. To fulfill this purpose, Awana volunteers need to understand the core of the program — the Gospel.

But knowing the Gospel and sharing the Gospel can be two very different things, and unless the leaders get opportunities to practice clear Gospel presentations, they may not be as confident, clear, or precise when children ask questions. An unprepared leader could actually make for a more confused child. By giving the leaders a chance to present the Gospel in Large Group, not only do they gain more confidence in sharing, but the clubbers get to hear God’s salvation plan frequently.

And maybe, as leaders gain more confidence speaking to a crowd, a Spark in that crowd may take to heart the leader’s message and make the decision to trust Christ.

For more information about Awana, visit the Awana Homepage.
To find a club in your area visit the Club Locator.

5 myths about Awana

When you get an organization as big as Awana, sometimes information can get mixed up or misunderstood. Below are five myths that the missionaries in my region had to debunk in their travels to start new clubs.

A town can have as many Awana Clubs as it has
groups of people willing to run them.

Myth: The official order of the colors is red, blue, green, yellow.

Fact: There is no official order.

Myth: Each town is only allowed one Awana Club.

Fact: A town can have as many Awana Clubs as it has groups of people willing to run them.

Myth: You can’t have an Awana Club until you have an official Game Square.

Fact: Some clubs run with no game square at all!

Bonus: Check out these nontraditional Awana Game areas!

Myth: Awana is only for kids within the church; outside kids cannot attend.

Fact: On average, 10 percent of the kids attending any giving club don’t attend a church at all. Awana has complete sets of resources dedicated to bringing in the outside kids, including the “Bring-A-Friend” section in the handbooks and The Great ShakeUP four-week program.

Myth: Awana can only be held in a church building.

Fact: There are Awana Clubs in schools, community centers, parks and apartment complexes, just to name a few.

Have you heard any Awana myths? Do you want to know if something you heard about Awana is a myth or fact? Share in the comments!

For more information about Awana, visit the Awana Homepage.
To find a club in your area visit the Club Locator.

Unexpected things for which to say thanks

At Awana, as with everywhere in life, sometimes thanking God for certain people, events, and circumstances is easy. At other times, it can be quite difficult. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, we're told "In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Listed below are four things to be unexpectedly thankful for, along with one thing we thank God for that makes all the good and the bad at club worthwhile.

For Commanders: Thankful for being bored on a club night. Why? Because that means your leaders are effective and handling things correctly. It also means there are no discipline problems or other disasters.

For Directors: Thankful for when a leader is absent. Why? Because you get the opportunity to interact more directly with clubbers, and you gain a greater appreciation for the work your leaders do.

For Leaders: Thankful for those kids who come without practicing their verses at home. Why? Because they are still coming to club, and therefore still learning about God and Christ. It also provides an opportunity to bond with the clubbers by working through the verses with them.

For Secretaries: Thankful for an overwhelming number of awards to prepare for the night. Why? Because it means that the clubbers are doing well with hiding God’s word in their hearts.

For All Awana Volunteers: Thankful for watching clubbers come to know, love, and serve Christ Why? Because it's why we keep volunteering even if we're bored, have too few leaders, have kids who don't practice at home, or have an overwhelming number of awards to prepare in a minimal amount of time. It's what Awana is all about, and what makes every effort worthwhile.

May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving!

For more information about Awana Clubs International, visit the Awana Homepage.
To find a club in your area visit the Club Locator.

A Commander’s Calendar

This blog was written in response to a question from one of my readers. Do you have a question about Awana? Email me at twofifteenbits@gmail.com.

Club planning is highly dependent on the club’s location (church, school, military base, etc.), the leaders, and the parents of the clubbers. As such, most of it should be done as a team, rather than a single individual or couple serving as commanders. However, all standard clubs still have elements that need to be planned and communicated in advance for the club year to run smoothly. Here are some tips to help keep you on track.

For a bit more detailed structure, you can download the Awana Commander’s Checklist here. You or your commander may need to customize the calendar and checklist to fit your club's specific situation and needs.

Taking inventory

The best way to keep track of inventory during the year is delegate the list-writing to the people using the materials — the secretaries, directors, and leaders. Have them track what they need for their jobs. You can consolidate the lists in July and December, with reasons explained in the next section.
**Bonus: One former commander I spoke with suggests having a white-board in the office where Awana personnel can write the stuff they need as they discover they need it. Come ordering time, you can just take a photo of the white board and voila: an order list to take home.

Ordering materials

Awana has been offering free shipping in July. Planning your new-club-year orders around this time can help with both scheduling and saving money. July will be the best time to order materials for the beginning of the year, such as books, uniform awards, and record sheets. You can estimate amounts based on the previous year’s counts. December is a good midway point when you can order year-end awards and any supplies running low. You will need to have a general awareness of your club’s monetary flow, whether through your church or dues or both, so you can have enough at those times to make the orders. Check awana.org/store for details.
**Bonus: If you discover your estimate was short, you can place your order after-hours on a week night, such as Wednesday night. There’s a good chance your order will be shipped the next day!

Planning themes and special events

For themes and special nights, you can hold a leader meeting about one month before the first club night and plan as a group. With everyone having a calendar on their smart phone, all can help determine what works best for the team and kids. At that time, you can either plan for the whole year or up through Christmas, then hold another meeting during the Christmas break to plan for the remainder of the year. If you don’t already have someone on the church staff as a leader, invite someone with knowledge about other church events, especially if you’re planning something for a non-club night.
**Bonus: More people planning the calendar means more people brainstorming new theme night and event ideas to keep each club year fresh and exciting.

Training your leaders

New this month, all the Getting Started training videos for new leaders or leaders needing a refresher are available online at awana.org. Hands-on trainings can also take place any time your leaders are available, whether during the summer or club year. Talk with your Awana missionary, and they can either direct you to a Getting Started Training at another club, or help you schedule your own. Missionaries can also tell you when regional trainings are, including Awana Ministry Conferences, Commander Colleges, and other information-relaying and team-building trainings.
**Bonus: If you have specific questions about any part of the club night, you may find your answer through Awana’s Club Clinic videos. Role books are also available for purchase.

Optional: Inviting guest speakers

Sometimes you may want a guest speaker for a special night, such as a military veteran on Patriotic Night or a missionary on Culture Night. You should confirm their availability and willingness to teach three months to two weeks before the night they present, and confirm with them one week before they’re scheduled.
**Bonus: When the scheduled person cancels last minute, it’s good to have pinch-hit resources available. Consider the Sparky’s Adventures books by Larry Fowler, or other children’s faith and Christian-living books by an author approved by your church.

Optional: Planning a multi-club event

In recent months, Awana has turned regional events over to the individual churches and communities. That means if you want your Sparks to play in Sparks-a-Rama or your Trek clubbers to have a Bible Quizzing competition with other clubs in your area, you and the other club commanders need to plan it.

For more information about Awana Clubs International, visit the Awana Homepage
To find a club in your area visit the Club Locator.

Taking Command of the New Awana Year

In many ways, Awana commanders are like mini-missionaries: they cary many of the same responsibilities of the three Northern California, Northern Nevada Awana Missionary couples, just on a smaller scale. For instance, commanders' summer duties include planning the new club year, coordinating with their churches, and recruiting new leaders. And for many commanders, this is a summer-long, ongoing process. Some even schedule time for Commander College.

Awana commanders spend much of their summer planning, coordinating,
ordering new supplies, and recruiting leaders, plus much more.
Some even take time for Commander College.

Melissa McMullen, who is beginning her 13th year as an Awana commander and second year as a commander at Wheatland Baptist Church in Wheatland, Calif., said her responsibilities do not stop once the club year ends. "Although I give the staff the time off of thinking about the club and such," she said, "I continue to plan for the upcoming year." Along with the normal inventory check and calendar planning, she uses summer time to plan a balance between the personalities of her leaders. "Many of the leaders are sprinters, so they are on fire at the beginning, but they burn out quickly. The long-term leaders are slow and faithful, but sometimes lack the fire needed to get the kids really excited." Because the sprinters burn out quickly, they often look for other activities to keep busy and be involved, so McMullen continually has to recruit new leaders.

Hilltop Community Church Commander Matthew Beier, in Carson City, Nev., also finds himself constantly thinking and planning Awana throughout the summer. Beier, preparing for his second year as a commander, uses the time to focus on paperwork — setting up an attendance file with formulas for averages, updating clubber and leader files, creating forms and filling in the club calendar. His biggest challenge is identical to Awana Missionary Mike Sexton's: leaving Awana long enough to spend time with family. "I set a specific time to work Awana stuff, which keeps it off my list for a certain time," Beier said about how he balances family with Awana. He also has a problem similar to Missionary Joel Cook's: contacting people. "It's harder to get a hold of parents to finalize information for camp and other events."

And yet, commanders still manage to find a fair amount of time to breath. For Penii Jo Trautwein, commander of Sierra Bible Church in Reno, Nev., the summer months provide a period of down time. In fact, her problem is starting up again.

"During the club year," she said, "everything is very structured and I know what needs to be done each week to be ready for upcoming events, weeks, and club nights, while in the summer I have down time, which is needed and enjoyed. I have to get myself motivated to get back into the office and get things ready." Her definition of "getting things ready" is cleaning up the mess in her Awana office (in shambles after Award night), sorting records (some get filed and others get moved for continued use in the new year), taking and organizing inventory (stuff needs ordered, the Trek and Journey materials need replaced), and creating the calendar (regional events, national events, and club events, coordinating as best as possible with the church's events).

Then there are commanders with different types of Awana clubs, like Jim Disbro's. Disbro serves as commander for the Mountain Warfare Training Center Chapel in Walker, California. This club doesn't have a church where it meets. Instead, the families from three churches in the community come together for a club that meets right at the base. This club still faces similar challenges, such as coordinating and creating a calendar and recruiting leaders. However, the reasons for these challenges are quite different.

"Because club is on the base, we have three churches who contribute leaders and supplies," he said, "most clubs are run by one church at the church. The base is also a government facility, which means we have to make sure we have permission to use it. We also need to let the guards know that we're coming onto the base."

Also different is the fact that not only does his club have difficulty recruiting leaders during the summer because of vacations and other travels, but also the fact that the military families move to a new base every three years.

To maintain the connections throughout the summer, Disbro send out the KidsPrint and Sparkles Newsletters, available through Awana ART. He also encourages the leaders at the different churches to establish relationships internally at their churches to recruit.

At every level, from leader to Awana missionary, some degree of Awana continues year-round.  Awana still remains in the minds and living rooms of the commanders, like at my house with Good Shepherd Wesleyan Church Commanders Randy and Shirley Moore, where new inventory accumulates, old records shift, and new plans grow.

Please pray for our Awana clubs as the pre-planning ends and the new Awana year begins.

For more information about Awana Clubs International, visit the Awana Homepage.
To find a club in your area visit the Club Locator.

Preliminary Warm-Up

Now that August has arrived, churches all over the region are gearing up for the start of the new club year. Last post, I shared how the Awana missionaries for the Northern California, Northern Nevada region prepare during the summer for the upcoming year. One of the bullets in their long list was the planning and running of 11 team building dinners.

Pastors, commanders, directors, and key leaders attend these dinners, which accomplish several goals. The first is to excite the leaders with an opportunity to fellowship, share ideas and have some fun. The dinners also serve as a time to impart news and information about what Awana Headquarters is doing different for the new year. Finally, these dinners serve as a chance for the backbone of the area's Awana ministry to pray for the surrounding clubs that are about to begin.

Tomorrow is the team building dinner for my area, and I will be using the opportunity to talk with commanders about what they do for Awana during the summer and what they're doing to prepare for the new Awana year.

Check back next Monday to find out what I learned! In the meantime, what are you and your churches doing to gear up children's ministries for the school year?

For more information about Awana Clubs International, visit the Awana Homepage.
To find a club in your area visit the Club Locator.

"Awana Never Stops"

Throughout the Awana club year, Awana commanders, directors, and leaders pour energy, sweat, and heart into teaching the children. Then, when the year comes to a close, whether it be summer or a couple months at some other time of year, they welcome the break. Awana Missionary Joel Cook sums up the sentiment, "When I was a commander, I told the workers and myself I wouldn't use the 'A' word throughout the summer."

Joel and Virginia Cook, along with the other northern
California, northern Nevada Awana missionaries,
help start new clubs during the summer.

Yet, he also pointed out that now as a missionary, "When the club year ends, planning for the next year begins." For the three Northern California, Northern Nevada Awana missionary couples, the summer is just as busy as the club year.

Missionary Mike Sexton agreed. "I always laugh when people say, 'Awana's closed down for the year, you must be on vacation.'"

Joel and Virginia Cook, Mike and Becky Sexton, and Jeff and Judy Gilpin have three focus areas during summer: New club development, event planning, and church care.

"Ministry never goes away," Sexton said, "there are always people to talk to, to encourage, and to challenge. We want to become a partner with the local church, encouraging the pastor and pastoral staff. Sometimes we're even called to help with personal issues."

The Sextons often help in the role of church care by making presentations, meeting commanders, and establishing between three and six substantial contacts with each of the churches.

"I also want to connect with commanders, kids who grew up in Awana and are now married, and long-time leaders who are no longer leaders" he said. "That's what it's all about, connecting with people. Summer's also a time when we, through various avenues, connect with our ministry team and ministry partners, like by attending West Coast Honor Camp for a day."

Along with communicating with churches, the families work together to plan the different events through the year, including coordinating the 11 team-building dinners and making the new commander packets.

Mike and Becky Sexton take the leading role in planning the next calendar of events. They have to talk with the facility heads, check facility calendars, get contracts for the gyms, and recruit workshop teachers for the three conferences.

Sexton also maintains the special role of planning and coordinating the Commander Colleges for the southwest ministry teams, which includes California, Nevada, and Hawaii. This means he also has to coordinate with the missionaries for those areas and work with their schedules. In the last five years, there have been about three Commander College 101s and one Commander College 201.

"I'm the main point person for all of those missionaries," he said.

And yet, even with all of these areas of summer ministry, there is one other area that takes an extreme amount of focus. New club development peaks during the summer months, as the missionaries use this time to canvas areas and make communication with new churches, get the word out about Awana, and start training new leaders.

Jeff and Judy Gilpin brainstorm procedures to make the
limited summer time more efficient for the missionaries.

"The summer months allow us to take club visits off the agenda so we can focus on helping clubs start," Cook said. "Summers are when churches learn about Awana and contact us about Awana, because they want to start their new club at the beginning of the new year." This summer, from May until the beginning of July, he made two church presentations and spoke at three churches for Awana. At the time of this interview, he was preparing for a training one week away.

Unfortunately, reaching out during the summer takes its toll. Even though summer is the peak of new club development, only about one or two churches can start at a time. Therefore, this summer Jeff Gilpin is brainstorming procedures for exponentially increasing the number of new clubs. "Currently, if we have a church that wants to start the program, we hold a training on one Saturday for that church," he said. "As a missionary, when you have to train a church, it takes away time from talking to a new pastor."

Gilpin's vision is to teach the members of the Northern California, Northern Nevada Ministry Team how to train a church, and then hold three regional trainings three times a year.

"This way, when new leaders come on, we can send them to the trainings so they mix with established leaders and ministry team members."

Gilpin also has a vision for training the Ministry Team to help with the church care. "We want to give away more and more ministry, because then overall ministry in northern California and northern Nevada can be bigger," he said.

With the amount of things to do and the challenges to face, sometimes the missionaries feel overwhelmed. Gilpin sometimes finds himself second guessing his presentations, thinking "If I would have..."

"At those times, I try to relax and have faith, remembering that I'm planting the seeds and need to let God do the work."

Mike Sexton faces the challenge of balancing ministry
with home repairs and family.

For Sexton, his biggest challenge comes in trying to balance the ministry with family time and home repair time. "I could work all of the time and still not be done," he said. "I'm still leaning when to wait." He also continues because of 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, "For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again."

And for Cook, one of his biggest challenges is making the connections during the summer. "I find it rather difficult to make contact during the summer with commanders, since they are on break," he said. When things get difficult for him, he turns to his "Rainy-Day Binder" — a collection of all the letters he's received from kids. "I respond to each letter within 24 hours of receiving it," he said. "I also keep the originals in this binder. When I'm feeling down, I read the binder to remind me why I continue in the program."

The missionaries ask that we continue praying during the summer, because "Awana never stops."

For more information about Awana Clubs International, visit the Awana Homepage
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