Graduation and God's Credentials

On Dec. 8, I donned the black gown, black cap, and black tassel with a gold pendant reading 2012 before walking down the aisle and across the stage for a small, rolled up paper bound by a blue ribbon. On Dec. 18, I climbed into my snow-covered car and drove to Reno to take my last final. And sometime in January, I will receive in the mail the framed paper signifying that according to the University of Nevada, Reno, I will be qualified to be a journalist and a writer of English. I will be ready to step into the world and begin doing what I have been trained to do — provided I find someone willing to accept these credentials.

But what is it exactly that makes me qualified? The working world and the education world say it's the piece of paper that shows I spent 16 or more years training. But what about what God says? Am I qualified to work in His world?

The answer is no. And I don't have to be. You see, I am not qualified — I am called. The world says, "You have the training, so I choose you." God says "I choose you, and I will train you." In John 15:16 God tells us this plan, with no age limitation: "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and your fruit should remain."

I was actually called many years ago, as early as five, to begin my training. And that is how God works, calling His children at a young age and training them to be qualified.

One of the youngest in the Bible that God called and trained was King Josiah, found in 2 Kings 22: 1-2. Josiah was only 8 when he was placed on the throne. Now, how much did you know about life at 8 years old? Enough to rule a kingdom? I know I certainly didn't.  Yet Josiah "did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of his father David."

The prophet Samuel was also called at a young age, quite literally. In 1 Samuel 3, we see God's first prophecy to Samuel, who the scripture calls a "boy." At the end of the chapter, we see as God trains him to be the prophet: "So Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground."

During the time of the New Testament, men were old enough to work and women were old enough to wed at the ages of 12 and 13. As such, many theorize that Mary was around 12 years of age when the angel appeared to her.

Jesus himself was following God's calling as early as 12, as we see in Luke 2:41-49. Joseph and Mary found him teaching the scholars in the temple. After He was chastised for disappearing, He reminded them of what God called Him to do. "Why did you seek me? Did you not know I must be about my Father's business?"

Even today, God calls before He trains. Pastor Marvin Dennis, who retired this last month, preached for 40 years — 25 of which were at Good Shepherd Wesleyan Church, and the last eight of which I had the honor of learning from his messages. He was called to preach at the age of 15. One of Awana's founders, Art Rorheim, was called into youth ministries at age 17. Today, at 94 years of age, he still teaches at Summit and at headquarters.

In Awana, part of what we are to do is to help children to know where God is calling them, teaching them to be open to the training God has in store. In the key verse for Journey, 1 Timothy 4:12,
Paul points out that even at a young age, Timothy's call is important and has an impact.

So what does that mean for the framed paper I am to receive in January? It means that at the age of five, God called me to write, and now, at the age of 21, I have completed one step of His training.

I pray you all have a Merry Christmas, and I encourage you to meditate on what and when God called you, and how He has given you the training to do His will.

Be sure to check back in the new year as I share the things God is teaching me through the children!

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

Getting JOY through Service: Jesus First, Others Second, You Last

For the last few years, Good Shepherd Wesleyan Church Awana Club has had a theme for the year. This year's theme is Service. In Sparks, we're focusing on how to get JOY through service. In this post, I will share an outline for the Large Group Time message I used to kick off the theme. This was actually a message I remember from when I was a clubber.

Scripture: Matthew 22:36-40

Materials:
3 large squares of construction paper

• Square 1: "J" on one side, "Jesus" on the other
• Square 2: "O" one one side, "Others" on the other
• Square 3: "Y" on one side, "You" or "Yourself" on the other

Have three clubbers come hold the three letters, showing the audience “J O Y.”

Ask Clubbers:
What is JOY?
– Allow Responses. Examples: Happiness, excitement, delight, etc.

How do we get JOY?
– Allow Responses.

Tell Clubbers:
In the book of Matthew, there were some people who had a similar question. Let’s see what Jesus had to say.

Matthew 22:36-38
“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.
This is the first and great commandment."

Tell Clubbers:

In these verses, we are given the first step to having JOY: Love Jesus First, before anything else. 

Have the clubber with the letter “J” turn his letter around, showing the audience “Jesus.”

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment."

Tell Clubbers:
Jesus is the first step to having JOY.

Ask Clubbers:
How can we love Jesus first?
– Allow Responses. Examples: Pray, spend time with God each day, work on handbooks, memorize verses, obey God, etc.

Tell Clubbers:

Those are all great ways to love Jesus first. Now what about the second step in JOY? Let’s look back and see.

Matthew 22:39
And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

Tell Clubbers:

In this verse, we learn that the second step in getting JOY is Loving Others Second, after loving Jesus.

Have the clubber with the letter “O” turn his paper around, showing the audience “Others.”




Ask Clubbers:
How can we love others second?
–Allow resopnses. Examples:Be kind, share, say please and thank you, keep God’s commandments, serve (our theme this year), etc.

Tell clubbers:

Those are all great ideas for how to love others. So our second step to JOY is serving others. Now we have Jesus first and others second in our steps to getting JOY. What about the last step?

Matthew 22:40
“On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Tell clubbers:

Hmm. Well, here we see that all the other laws rest on Jesus first and others second. So, by placing Jesus and others before yourself, that means the last step in JOY would be You Last. So our third step to JOY is serving You last.

Have the clubber with “Y” turn her paper around, showing the audience “You.”


Ask Clubbers:
Now that we’ve seen what the Bible says, how do we get JOY?
– Correct Response: Jesus first, Others second, and You last.

Let’s pray that God help us to find JOY this next week.

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

Back to the Game Square

My duties as a Sparks co-director go into full swing next Sunday with the first night of club. Part of my job for that day will be leading the games, which means being dynamic and exciting, starting with a bang. As I sit here trying to think of games that will make that goal, I can't help but remember what some of my favorites were growing up in the program. These are three of them:

Octopus

Materials needed:

• Game Square or other square or rectangular area, like one made with cones or pins.

This is a variation of tag, and I've run across similar games such as Sharks and Minnows. Start with everyone behind one side of the rectangle and one person, called the octopus, standing in the middle. When the octopus calls "Octopus!" everyone has to run to the other side without leaving the rectangle and without being tagged by the octopus. Once they're all on the other side, the octopus calls again. If a child is tagged, she stands in the spot where she was tagged and becomes "seaweed." She can then use her arms to also tag people, but her feet must remain stationary. The last untagged person wins and becomes the new octopus.

Variations:

• Have more than one octopus.

Steal the Bacon

Materials needed:

• Beanbags (or tires or tubes or any objects of equal size)
• Paper and pencil
• Whole teams
• Game Square or other square or rectangular playing area

This game is similar to the AwanaGames Beanbag Grab. Teams spread out tallest to shortest along their color line and are numbered off from the left. The game director stands to the side with the beanbags. She calls a number and tosses the beanbag into the square. Whoever received that number on each team runs in to retrieve the beanbag and carry it back across her line. If the bag is thrown across the line, it is considered "dead" and no points are awarded. If someone is tagged while in possession of the bag, the bag becomes dead. When a number is called, it should be written down to give the director an idea of which clubbers have and have not played as often.

Variations:

• Call more than one number in a play. You may just throw one bag, or the same number of bags as the amount of numbers you called (if you call 2 and 6, throw 2 bags). Players can work as a team to get a bag across the line.
• Once the bag is touched, if the toucher is tagged while in possession of the bag or not, the bag is dead.

Tails

Materials needed:

• 4-8 tails. These could be bandannas, crepe paper, strips of cloth, or braids of yarn. They need to be long enough to be easily grabbed
• Game circle or other defined playing area

This is a time-enduring game still popular at many clubs today, and quite possibly, my favorite. One clubber from each team has a tail put through his back beltloop or tucked shallowly in his waistband. The back of his shirt may have to be tucked in. When the whistle blows, he has to pull out the other team's tails without having his pulled. If his tail is pulled, or he steps outside the circle or cone perimeter, he's disqualified. The winner is the last person with his tail intact.

Variations:

• Two clubbers from each team. When it's down to four clubbers total, have them move to the center square.
• Have a leader in the center square also trying to pull out tails.
• Have the teams stand outside the circle and try to pull out tails.

What were some of your favorites as a clubber? Share them below in the comments.
Please keep our leaders, clubbers and parents in prayer as many Awana clubs across the country start in the next few weeks.

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

The Ministry-Days of Summer

Many churches hold a Vacation Bible School during the summer.
Photo provided by Good Shepherd Wesleyan Church

Ah, summer. The time when Awana leaders and other church members become hyper busy with ministry (sometimes) above and beyond Awana. It's the season for church camps, like West Coast Honor Camp. It's the season for picnics (My home church's annual church picnic is in just a couple weeks). And it's the season for Vacation Bible School.

This week is Good Shepherd Wesleyan's VBS, and we spent all last week planning and preparing to welcome the kids to "Adventures on Promise Island." This year, I'm serving as the games director and as Hunter, Madie's geeky and annoying sister, in the nightly skit. Each night, Madie and Hunter are taught by island native Kamalie about God's promises: "I am with you," "I care about you," "I give you what you need," "I will save you," and "I will answer you."

Check back next Monday to find out how our Awana missionaries minister during the summer! What about you? How are you ministering to people this summer?

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