December 2019 Ministry Update

Hello Everyone,

I hope you are enjoying time with family and friends during the Holiday season. Thank you so much for your prayers, your financial support, your service to Jesus and most importantly, thank you for your friendship. The Lord has kept us busy this past fall. Here is what we've been up to...

Awana Trainings

We started our training season at the Awana Equip at Parkside Bible Fellowship in Fallon, NV. Love to meet and see all these folks again.

I had the opportunity to go to Texas and work with Awana Missionary Colleague Andrea Perkins and her trainings in Fort Worth, College Station, San Angelo and Austin. 

Fort Worth AMC

Lunch with part of our missionary team in San Angelo, TX

Awana Equip Training in College Station, TX 

After coming home from Texas, I flew to Juneau, AK to help missionary colleagues Dan & Geraldine at the Awana Equip Training in Juneau, AK.

Awana Equip at Auke Bay Bible Church, in Auke Bay, AK

After coming home from Alaska, I drove to Las Vegas for the Awana Equip Training at Spring Valley Baptist in Las Vegas. 

I headed north and was keynote speaker at the Idaho Falls, ID Awana Equip Training.

Great to be back home for the Awana Equip Training at South Reno Baptist in Reno, NV

Byron and Joan Meyer "killed it" with their communication styles breakout session.

Denominational Connections

I was invited to attend and set up a display at the Nevada Baptist Convention Annual  meeting. It was truly wonderful to spend time with the pastors and churches of Nevada. 

I was also invited to attend and set up a display at the Utah/ Idaho Baptist Convention, along with Awana Missionary colleagues Kevin Kennington and Jerry Berheim.

Club Visits

Throughout the club season, I get invited to visit the Awana clubs throughout our area. I love to do this as I get a chance to see the clubbers and the leaders, encourage them and thank them for their ministry. Here are some of the places I've been to this fall.

Sierra Bible Church- Reno, NV

High Sierra Fellowship- Gardnerville, NV

First Baptist Sparks, NV

Granite Hills Baptist- Reno, NV

Roy Bible Church- Roy, UT

First Baptist Battle Mountain

Parkside Bible Fellowship- Fallon, NV

Calvary Chapel South Lake Tahoe, CA

Sierra Bible Church- Truckee

Calvary Ely, NV

Quinn River Baptist- McDermitt, NV

Ruby Mountain Bible Church- Spring Creek, NV

The River Ministries- Topaz Ranch Estates, NV

Mountain Vista Baptist- Carson City, NV

Awana Missionary Conference

I was blessed to spend a week with Awana MIssionary Colleagues from all over the US as we discussed "Discipling the church of 2050" at the Bi-Annual "November Awana Missionary Conference" hosted at Mt Hermon Christian Conference Center in the Santa Cruz Mountains. 

Taking the train with missionary colleagues to Emeryville, CA

We heard from Awana Director of Content Kevin Oriss. Kevin is leading a team at Awana Headquarters devoted to bringing the message of "Resilient Discipleship" to pastors and churches around the country.

Family Time

 I got spend time with my nephews, while I was in Texas.

Ryan and I at T-Mobile Arena to watch the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

First time voting with Jack and Ryan

Thanksgiving with Judy, Ryan, Maggie, Jack and Jim. I truly have a lot to be thankful for.

That's it for now. Thanks again to everyone who gives, serves, prays and helps reach MORE kids with the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Judy and I are so blessed to call you partners and friends.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We will see you again in 2020.

Why do Clubbers Quit- Part 2

My last blog post, I gave 5 reasons why clubbers quit, talked about the importance of consistent attendance and gave possible solutions to keep clubbers coming back. 

Here are 5 more reasons as well as ideas on heading off problems that may cause clubbers to quit.

1. "They didn't give me all the awards I earned". 

• Attitude- Awards are a great incentive for kids not only to attend club, but also to work in their handbooks. If it's important for kids to get their awards on time, it has to be important to us.
• Action-
• Use either the record keeping cards from the Awana Catalog  or third party software and stay current.
• Have a plan.
• Keep records not only to see who is progressing in their books, but also who is not progressing. Kids who are not getting awards may need extra help.
• Connect with parents of children who are not progressing and earning awards, find out why and offer help.

2. "Large Group Time was boring".

• Attitude- Awana should be fun and exciting, not only in game time, but in all segments of club.
• Action-
• Keep large group time "time appropriate". Recommended time is 1 minute of Bible lesson for every age of the child.
• Break large group time into smaller segments, and keep things moving. Not all of these segments can be done in one night...use two or three different ones each week to keep your Large Group time fun and exciting. 
• Bible Lesson
• Kids worship
• Youtube or other video content
• Special speakers, ie your pastor or a missionary
• Bible Review Games
• Object lessons
• AwanaGO Missions lessons
• Review Books of the Bible
• Talk about Bible Characters
• Review Sparks Code
• Review TT Characteristics of God

3. "Club was boring- we never did anything fun".

• Attitude- Make sure you give kids a reason to come back
• Action-
• Have something special every week as a reason to come back.
• Use theme nights every week. All theme nights bring extra fun and excitement to club, but not all theme nights have to be difficult to execute. Examples of theme nights that don't require a lot of preparation:
• Balloon Night- Play games with balloons.
• Shoe Fly Night- Kids play games with their shoes.
• Mustache Night- Kids wear mustaches. For those who forget, bring some electrical tape to help them make their 'stache. 
• Cookie Night- have cookies for clubbers at the end of club night.
• Backwards Night- Do club backwards, ie closing ceremony first, etc.
• Caution- Don't do too many dress up nights. Moms with 3 or 4 kids might not appreciate having to dress up 4 kids every week.

4. "I was bullied at club"

• Attitude- Your Awana Ministry should be a safe place for kids. Don't allow bullies to scare away kids who want to come and hear about Jesus.
• Action-
• Have regular leader meetings talking about the importance of club discipline.
• Use 5 count, 3 count and positive points consistently.
• Have a plan to handle bullies in your club.

5. "I was a baseball/ soccer/ dance practice and couldn't come", ie spiritual training was not a priority to parents. 

• Attitude- Some parents feel like their children can get a scholarship if they are a good athlete, or if good enough can go pro and earn a lot of money, or they see Awana as just "another activity" for their child to be involved in. As a result, they make their children's relationship with Jesus a lesser priority. 
• Action-
• Have a parent night at the beginning of the club year and in a gentle way, remind parents to make their child's relationship with Jesus a priority. 
• Ask your pastor to preach a sermon series on the importance of making their child's relationship with Jesus a priority.

Your discipleship of children can only happen when they are actually at club. Being aware of children who quit coming, finding out why and then looking for reasons to keep them coming back week after week will build a lasting and healthy ministry, and produce lasting results for the Kingdom. 

Why do Clubbers Quit- Part 1

Week after week kids come into our Awana clubs. Some kids stay, finish the year and earn our Awards. Alternatively, some kids quietly just fade away. Understanding why and finding ways to keep these kids coming back week after week is what this blogpost is all about. Here are some reasons why kids leave, what our attitude should be about these clubbers and some ideas on how we can prevent this from happening. 

1. “Nobody called to say they missed me.”

• Attitude- We should have a heart for these strays.
• Action-
• Secretaries take attendance to see who IS there so we can give our attendance awards. Attendance should also be taken to see who is NOT there so that we can follow up, find out why, let them know they were missed and invite them back. Secretaries can provide a list to the club leadership of who has not attended for a follow up phone call, text, email, postcard or home visit.

2. "All we ever did was memorize stuff"

• Attitude- We should be enthusiastically sold out on the importance of scripture engagement and memory and make sure our clubbers understand the value in memorizing scripture. However, we should also recognize that despite our best attempts, some kids do not want to memorize scripture and we should look for ways to help these kids succeed.
• Actions
• We should be constantly talking about the importance of knowing what God says.
• We should be memorizing scripture ourselves.
• Make scripture memory fun with scripture memory games.
• Find alternative ways to help kids pass sections who have learning disabilities or who don't want to memorize scripture.

3. "I don't like Dodge Ball" (playing the same games every week)

• Attitude- Variety is the spice of life. Not all kids like the same games or are capable of succeeding in all types of games.
• Actions
• Find games that all kids of differing abilities can win at. Mix running games, agility games and thinking games so that all kids have the ability to play and win. 
• Don't be predictable- keep kids guessing with what is coming next.

4. "The leaders were mean"

• Attitude- Be kind and patient
• Actions
• Be aware of how you come across to kids (your voice and manner may be misunderstood by sensitive children)
• Speak kindly and not loudly
• Smile

5. "My mom said I couldn't come back"

• Attitude- It is important for children to know and understand God's word, therefore it is vital to build a strong parent/ church partnership. 
• Actions
• Work with parents to help them understand the importance of developing their child's relationship with Jesus. 
• Have a good parent meeting at the beginning of the club year. Explain to these parents how they can best help their child succeed at club this year.
• Connect with parents throughout the club year by phone, email, text or personal visit.

I'll cover additional reasons why clubbers quit in my next blogpost.

My Week, October 20-26, 2019

Great to visit old friends at First Baptist Battle Mountain 

Clubbers playing a game putting these wood pieces representing the books of the Bible in order.

Cup Stacking at First Baptist Battle Mountain

Long Drive from Battle Mountain to Fallon, NV. following the old Pony Express Trail

Opening Ceremony at Parkside Bible Fellowship in Fallon, NV. What great friends and a great club!!

Parkside has a long legacy of ministry. Here is the original charter signed by Lance Latham in 1979.

Gametime fun thanks to the Hert's

On my way to South Lake Tahoe for club visit. God did it right!!

Calvary Chapel South Lake Tahoe. Garry and Ranae are doing a wonderful job at reaching the children of South Lake Tahoe...Praise God!!

My Week- October 12-19, 2019

1735 Miles
4 States
3 Different Beds
2 Time Zones
5 Starbucks
2 Clubs Visited
2 Awana Equip Training Events
2 Baptist State Conventions

Awana Equip at Spring Valley Baptist Church in Las Vegas was a great success. Leaders from 10 different churches came to network, share and learn together. Here, Pastor Caleb Walker, from Pahrump Community Church shares about the importance of spending quality time alone with God.

Club Visit at Highland Hills Baptist Church in Henderson, NV. I had the opportunity to share with the kids here all that God is doing through Awana in Nevada. AMD Ron Knuutila and his team are doing a wonderful job at evangelizing and discipling the children in Henderson. 

I spent a couple of days at the Nevada Baptist Convention annual meeting at Shadow Hills Baptist in Las Vegas. Very encouraging to see old friends and meet new ones as pastors from all over Nevada came to develop strategies to reach Nevada with the gospel. I was invited to set up a booth and share with these pastors how they can use Awana as a key part of that strategy. It was especially encouraging to hear from keynote speaker, Richard Blackaby, share with these pastors how they can get better in their ministry...GREAT couple of days.

Club Visit at Roy Bible Church in Roy, UT. It was "Chicken Night" at Roy Bible Church (ask me sometime about what is Chicken Night)...FUN!! 

Worked with colleagues and friends, Jerry Berheim and Kevin Kennington as we got to attend and set up a booth at the Utah/ Idaho Baptist Convention annual meeting. Great connections were made as we looked for partners in reaching the children of Utah and Idaho with the love of Jesus. 

I had the opportunity to share the keynote message and train leaders from ID, UT and WY at the Idaho Falls Awana Equip Training event.

Beautiful Drive home from Idaho Falls. This photo was taken just north of Wells, NV.