5 ways to encourage clubbers to finish their books

Clubbers who complete their books can squirt a candle that
 a leader is holding.

Many Awana clubs are either nearing or entering the last quarter of their club year. This means it is time to more actively encourage clubbers to complete their books. Here are five ideas you can use. Each of these reward ideas works best when implemented or advertised several weeks before the end of club.

With any of the ideas below, please bear in mind that we would prefer to have the clubbers understand the verses and not finish the book rather than finish the book and not understand the verses. Also, leaders should always have the option to not participate in any given activity. Do you have a favorite way to encourage clubbers to finish their books? Share in the comments!

1. Candy Jar Guesses

What you need: 1 jar; enough candy to fill the jar; method of tracking clubbers’ names and guesses.
Prep: Count each piece of candy as you put it in the jar.
How it works: Every time a clubber passes two sections, he gets to guess how many candies are in the jar. On the last club night, give the candy to the child whose guess was the closest (you may want to keep the jar for next year).
Alternative: Have a different jar and candy for each age-bracket (Sparks, T&T, etc.)

2. Drawing

What you need: big-ticket, gender-neutral prize (e.g. scooter, giant Star-Wars Lego kit); slips of paper for recording names
How it works: Every time a clubber passes two sections, she gets her name in the drawing. On the last club night, draw a name.
Alternatives: Have more than one prize, have a drawing for each age bracket

3. Squirt the Candle

What you need: willing leaders; several stick candles; a lighter; either squirt guns or spray bottles; water; plastic trash bags with head-holes.
Prep: Fill the squirt guns or spray bottles with water. You may designate a runner to refill the squirt items.
How it works: On the last club night, clubbers who finished their books get the chance to try and squirt out the flame on a candle. The catch: leaders hold the candle. Call up the same number of participants as leaders. Give each participant a squirting device and have them stand about five feet from the leaders. Instruct the kids to aim at the candle flames and squirt until the flames go out. Relight the candles and call up the next group of participants. Have leaders hold the candle by the base directly in front of them. Leaders may drape the plastic bags over their upper body, and they may also shield their eyes.

4. Pie the Leader

What you need: willing leaders; either a grassy area or an area covered by a sheet of plastic; empty pie tins; several tubs or cans of whipped cream; plastic trash bags with head holes; towels.
Prep: Fill each pie tin with whipped cream. Have leaders sit or kneel on the grass or plastic sheet, as the whipped cream my drip. Have leaders slip on their plastic bags, covering their upper body and arms.
How it works: On the last club night, clubbers who finished their books get to pie a leader in the face. Call up the same number of participants as you have leaders. Give each participant a whipped-cream-filled tin and have them stand directly in front of the leaders. Instruct kids to gently push the cream onto the leader’s faces—no slamming or throwing, as we don’t want broken noses. Once participants have emptied their tins, call up the next group. At the end, let leaders wipe off excess cream.

5. Party Privileges

What you need: Year-end party with food (e.g. pizza or ice-cream sundae makings, etc.)
Prep: Arrange food buffet style.
How it works: Clubbers who finished their books go first in line. There could also be a book-finishers-only dessert or ice-cream toping.

*With any activity using food, please be conscious of the allergies of the participants and the possibility of staining clothes or carpets.

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

What is love?

With Valentine’s day next Sunday, I got to thinking about how much love is discussed in the Bible. Love is such a big Biblical theme that people even refer to the Bible as God’s Love Letter to us. It covers all kinds of love: brotherly love, tough love, romantic love, and even sacrificial love. It also defines love and shows how love should be used. This week, I want to share with a small sampling of verses that define love, show how God loves us, and tell us how we should love others. Don’t see your favorite verses about love? Share them in the comments!

What is love, and what does it do?

It’s a result of the Spirit
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” – Galatians 5:22-23

It builds us up
“We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.” – 1 Corinthians 8:1b

It brings peace
“Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.” – Proverbs 10:12

How does God love us?

Christ died for us
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8

He will deliver us from our enemies and rejoice with us in our salvation
“The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” –  Zephaniah 3:17

He never stops loving us and always seeks to draw us close
“The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.’” – Jeremiah 31:3

How should we love?

Love God first
“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.” – Mark 12:30

Love as God loves us
“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” – John 15:12-13

Always, without excuse, act with love
“Let all that you do be done with love.” – 1 Corinthians 16:14

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Super games for standard equipment: Pins

Some clubs don’t have a big enough budget to purchase unusual game equipment. Other clubs may not have space to store more than just the standard game equipment kit from Awana. And sometimes, clubs just like using familiar equipment to try something different. In such cases, game directors have to think outside the Awana Game Box and come up with new ways to use basic equipment. Here are a couple games using Awana pins.

Game One: Pin-up

Materials Needed:

• 1 player per team
• 4 circle pins
• Scoring pin and beanbag, or 4 scoring pins
• Game Circle

Play begins with circle pins laying on their sides where their matching colored diagonals intersect the circle. Players start at their team’s color diagonals. At the whistle, players run one lap around the circle. When they reach their colored pins, they sit down and use only their feet and legs to stand the pin up. For Sparks, once a player’s pin stays standing, the player runs in to grab the scoring pin for first or the beanbag for second. In T&T, Trek, and Journey, the first player to knock over his or her scoring pin with his or her hand wins. Players may only use their feet and legs to stand the pin upright.

Game Two: Pin Defender

Materials Needed:

• 1 player per team
• Whole teams
• 4 pins
• 2-4 foam balls
• Game Square

Begin by placing a pin in each team’s small triangle in the center of the Game Square. One player from each team comes to the center and either straddles or stands in front of his or her team’s pin facing the circle. The remaining players stand outside the circle. At the whistle, players on the circle throw the balls and try to knock over an opponent’s pin. Players in the middle defend their teams’ pin. When a pin is knocked over, the player who was defending said pin returns to his or her color line. Last team with their pin standing wins. Players in the center may not leave their small triangle unless their pin is knocked down. If a player accidentally knocks over his or her own pin, he or she is out.

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

Fear God. Honor the king.

“Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.” – 1 Peter 2:13-17

One of my years as a counselor at West Coast Honor Camp, we had a Bible lesson that discussed Romans 13:1, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.” As the teacher explained the idea of being subject to all those in authority, one of the junior high campers asked, “even Obama?” The teacher paused, took a deep breath, and reluctantly answered, “Yes, even Obama.”

From statements in social media, on the news, and even in the conversations I hear around me, I can easily understand why the camper asked the question. When authority figures make mistakes or decisions we disagree with, we sometimes resort to slander and contempt, forgetting some important Biblical points about those in authority.

As we prepare to elect new authorities in government, and also when we consider those in other authority positions (e.g., church leaders, teachers, police officers, etc.), let’s remember these three ideas.

Earthly authorities are appointed by God

“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.” – Romans 13:1-2

Some authority figures are elected, such as school board members and the President. Others are hired, such as police officers and school teachers. Still others just volunteer on their own time without elections or paychecks, such as kidmin volunteers. And yet all are only in their positions of authority because God allows it. And whether or not we like the actions and decisions made by those in authority, we need to recognize that God permitted them to be there for a reason. Therefore, we need to trust that God knows what He is doing and obey Him by respecting those He appointed.

Earthly authorities are human

“For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” – James 2:10

Humans make mistakes. Noah got drunk. King David committed both adultery and murder. My first pastor — the pastor I was saved under, who taught on the sanctity of marriage and the importance of family — was caught in an affair. And we’ve all seen in the media the instances of police brutality. Does that make it right for us to lose all faith in the system, disparage and slander the individuals, and discredit every good choice they’ve made?

Here in the United States, the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights grants us the right to free speech, as well as the right to petition the government to correct things that we see as wrong. These rights allow communication between authority figures and those impacted by their decisions. It also gives the authority figures the chance to rectify poor choices and help better the lives of those under their authority.

However, when authorities do make mistakes, we as Christians should not take these rights as excuses to irrationally attack the character of the individuals, nor should we hold said individuals in contempt. We should instead forgive and pray for leaders who mess up, because by God’s standards, we all fall short, and we’re all just as guilty. When we think the choices leaders make are wrong, we should be respectful in our petition of redress and have a little empathy and compassion as we remember that nobody’s perfect.

We should also remember that even though we all fall short, we have a God who is forgiving and can still work through our leaders’ mistakes for His good. In Romans 8:28, we’re told, “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” God worked through Noah to save humanity from the flood, and He worked through King David to establish the Kingdom of Israel. He worked through my first pastor to present His truth and share His salvation plan with me. He works through the government to create and regulate laws to maintain peace and order, administer justice, and protect the people. God is big enough to bring blessings through those in leadership despite their mistakes.

Earthly authorities are temporary

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.” – Isaiah 65:17

Unfortunately, sometimes there are truly corrupt leaders who completely and purposely disregard God’s law. Consider the religious council who had Stephen stoned, despite his innocence and complete compliance. When faced with such authority figures, we can take comfort in knowing that our true kingdom is not here on earth. Earth and all of its authority structures are temporary.

In Stephen’s case, he was brought before the council under false accusations of blasphemy. He defended himself, as he was asked to do. Although Stephen spoke the truth, the leaders chose to put him to death instead of recognizing his innocence and the Holy Spirit speaking through him. If anyone had a reason for disrespecting leaders, Stephen did. But he still didn’t use this wrong against him as justification for disobedience or slander. Instead, he died with the confidence that he had obeyed the Holy Spirit and the assurance that Jesus was waiting for him. As an ultimate reflection of God’s forgiveness, He prayed with his last breath, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin” (Acts 7:60).

Now it’s unlikely that we’ll find ourselves under the authority of hard-hearted, wicked leaders such as those Stephen faced. Most of our leaders desire the best for everyone, even if some of them fill their authority positions poorly. So before we rant to our friends or post on social media, let’s check ourselves. Let’s remember that we’re all human, we all make mistakes, and we all fall short of God’s standard. And let’s remember that despite the mistakes authorities make, God still appointed them as authorities for a reason. As followers of Jesus Christ and examples to those around us, let’s do as God commanded: “Fear God. Honor the king.”

Stars and dots

In a previous post, I talked about how it’s nice to have lessons you can “pull out of your back pocket” if your Large Group speaker cancels on you at the last minute, leaving you no time to prepare a replacement.

This week, I want to share with you another lesson from my back-pocket library: a book titled “You Are Special,” written by Max Lucado and illustrated by Sergio Martinez.

The story takes place in a village of small wooden people called Wemmicks. Every day, the Wemmicks stick gold star stickers on other Wemmicks who are pretty or talented. They also stick grey dot stickers on Wemmicks who are not pretty or talented, like Punchinello. And no matter how hard he tries to get gold stars, Punchinello always gets more grey dots instead. But one day, he meets a Wemmick with no stickers at all — whenever someone tries to give her one, it just falls off. When he asks her how she avoids other Wemmicks’s marks, she directs him to their creator, a woodcarver named Eli, who lives on the hill. And when Punchinello visits, Eli helps him realize how special he is, regardless of what other Wemmicks think.

While the book itself doesn’t come with a verse, it pairs beautifully with Psalm 139:14, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.” It can also easily be a springboard into the salvation message by talking about God’s love for us.

The book comes in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and board book (for really young ones) at Christianbook.com. There is also a Spanish version.

Living a healthy life

January is filled with goals people make for the new year, many of which include proclamations of becoming healthier. Some resolve to lose weight, some resolve to eat healthier food, and some resolve to get up at 6 a.m. every morning to jog.

Creating and maintaining a healthy physical lifestyle are noble pursuits and support helping others and serving the Lord in certain ways. Many areas of service, from pruning the trees at the church to building a school in Africa during a mission trip, require stamina from eating healthy and strength from exercise. Other areas of service may not be quite so physically demanding, but still require attention to personal care. It’s hard to focus on what someone is trying to teach when it’s visibly (and pungently) apparent the teacher needs to do laundry (I knew an Awana club that had to turn a leader away because of this — he was scaring the kids).

But living an overall healthy life doesn’t stop at physical health — it’s more than maintaining personal hygiene, eating right, and exercising. In 1 Timothy 4:8, Paul tells Timothy, “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” Even though physical health improves life on earth, this life is still temporary. As such, we should also maintain a spiritually healthy lifestyle, as it gives life both now and once we enter Heaven.

The concept of living a spiritually fit life is reiterated in 1 Peter 2:1-2. In the first verse, we’re commanded to set aside “all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.” In other words, make an effort to “clean out the junk food” and replace it with the healthy food — God’s Word with all its promises, commands, and stories of God’s love — mentioned in verse two: “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.”

As we consider the goals we set for ourselves, let’s evaluate what we’re doing to take care of not just our bodies, but also our spirits. Perhaps our resolutions can include praying frequently (1 Thessalonians 5:17), memorizing scripture (Psalm 119:11), or making an effort to meet up with Godly friends more often (Hebrews 10:25). Here’s a link to a previous post for some simple and more specific ideas to get you started: 5 Easy ways to start the New Year with God.

May the rest of your year be healthy and happy as we take care of ourselves so we can be prepared to better serve God and others!

Unusual Game Equipment Spotlight: Hula-Hoops

It’s a new year, which means new chances to expand your game-equipment arsenal. And with winter still several weeks from being over, maybe adding hula-hoops can bring slight relief by inspiring thoughts of the tropics. Here are a couple games to start your imagination. Have any other hula-hoop games? Share them in the comments!

Game One: Three’s a Crowd

Materials Needed:

• 3 players per team
• 1 hula-hoop per team
• 4 circle pins
• Scoring pin and beanbag, or 4 scoring pins
• Game Square

Players begin at their color teams’ diagonals. Trios stand inside their team’s hula hoops, holding the hoops at their waist. At the whistle, trios must work together to race around the Game Circle and cross their colored diagonals without leaving their hula-hoops or knocking over circle pins. Sparks must run one lap, and the first team to grab the scoring pin wins while the team to grab the beanbag gets second. T&T, Trek, and Journey clubbers must run two laps, and the first team to knock over their scoring pin with their hands wins. All three players from each team must be holding the hula-hoop as they carry it around the circle.

Game Two: Hoop Hop

Materials Needed:

• 1 player per team
• 1 hula-hoop per team
• Game Square or other flat race area

Before playing, move two teams to the sides, creating an alley through the Game Square and leaving two color lines empty. Designate one empty color line as the starting line and the other as the finish line. Players start by standing in their hula-hoops behind the starting line. At the whistle, players must lift the hula hoop up over their bodies. Once the hoops are over their heads, players toss the hoops out in front of their feet. Players then jump with feet together into the hoops and lift them up over their bodies before tossing again. Players lift, toss, and jump until crossing the finish line. First player to successfully jump into her hoop across the finish line wins. Players must successfully complete the jumps to continue forward. For Sparks, players who miss a jump (i.e. toss the hoop too far in front to successfully jump with feet together) must retrieve their hoops and try the toss again. For T&T, Trek, and Journey, players who miss a jump must go back to the starting line and start over.

For more information about Awana, visit the Awana Homepage.

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