For over a month now I’ve been on a rant in the Children’s Moment. When the musicians begin playing “Jesus Loves Me,” just before the Pastor’s sermon, I have been heading up to the altar with my bible, a yellow rope, and a resource.

After asking the children how many hours there are in a day (24) and how many days in a week (7), we calculate that there are 168 hours in a week. Inviting 2 children to hold each end of the yellow rope taught, I share they are holding a rope of 168 inches long. One inch is marked in a black marker about 2/3 of the way in.  Each Sunday for the last 6 weeks, I then add…

“If we have 168 hours a week and only take 1 hour a week to devote and honor the Lord by coming to church, how will we ever learn to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind as God’s people are told in Deuteronomy and Mark (and I say the “D” book in a funny way)? And that’s if we come to church every single Sunday and don’t miss a Sunday….ever, never miss a Sunday.”

Then I show a different resource each week to give the Lord more than an hour, more than an inch, each week.  How can we practice and learn to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, and mind?  Each week, I used a single resource:

Cake mix & can of frosting – Bake a cake with Mom, Dad, or Mimi and give it to a neighbor saying, “God loves me and He loves you and I wanted to share something special with you.” And I give a cake mix with a can of frosting to one child at each service to do at home.  (I will do for one what I wish I could do for everyone.)

Muffin Mix – I would wake up the earliest on Sunday than any other day of the week to make it especially special when my children were still living at home. I would bake muffins for the whole family and bring them breakfast in bed. That was the one day a week that no one woke up to an alarm, but me. I would bring Mr Bob a cup of black coffee with a muffin. I would bring a huge glass of OJ to #1 Son with a muffin. I would bring a cup of hot chocolate to Baby Girl with a muffin. And the house smelled like muffins. Then I give a muffin mix to one child to use at home.

Glory Bell – A hotel dinger bell (found at Staples). Psalm 100 tells us we serve a God of celebration, so any time something happens that is praiseworthy, we ring a Glory Bell kept in the kitchen. Get a good grade? “Ding” and shout “Glory!” Get up early on Sunday for church? “Ding” and shout “Glory!” I have teeth to brush each morning? “Ding” and shout “Glory!” And I give a glory bell to one of the children to use at home.

Bible – Leave the bible out on the table at breakfast for everyone in the family to read that day. If they are very good readers (tweeners), we open the bible to the Proverb chapter that matches the day of the month. Even a children’s bible with cartoon pictures is worthy of reading at the kitchen table over breakfast for everyone.

Prayer – I speak of and show my prayer journal and how I have traced the hands of those I love and mean so much to me in my journal. When I pray for each one, I place my hand on their traced hand in my journal and pray that they would love the Lord our God with all their heart, soul, and mind. Then invite a child at each service to allow me to trace their hand in my prayer journal. The child then writes his/her name in the traced hand. If any other child wants me to trace their hand in my journal for me to pray for them, they see me after services…one did.

Mirror Marker – The #1 way God’s people grow closer to Him is by reading the bible. Mirror markers/dry erase markers are great to write a bible verse on the bathroom mirror to be sure we pray or memorize scripture when we brush our teeth. How many times are we supposed to brush our teeth? (2x each day) For how long? (2 minutes) We can pray God’s Word back to Him, and memorize scripture twice a day for 4 minutes. I even suggest they might like Luke 12:35 “Be dressed and ready for service.” Or Philippians 2:14 “Do everything without complaining or arguing.”  (Moms love those!) One child would get a mirror marker to take home.

Blessings Journal – If a blank composition book or journal and an attached pen were to be left somewhere in the house (kitchen table, counter, bathroom) with the title “Blessings” written across the top, we would be able to write down what we see as blessings given to us by God.  Kind of like a family blessings journal and anyone is welcome to add something.  One child get’s a  journal to take home from each service.

Bill Hybels wrote in the Afterword of Follow Me: What’s Next for You, “First, Christ-Centered people need to be reminded that they’re not crazy for taking Christianity so seriously. They need to be reminded of the Scriptures that tell us that making our lives a living sacrifice is a normal part of the Christian life. Second, Christ-Centered people need resources. They are actively building relationships, sharing a verbal witness and helping their friends explore Christianity. They’re learning more and more to die to self and to humbly do whatever Christ calls them to do. But many of them are asking, ‘Could I get a little help here?'”

What else can we do to give our families a little help offering Christ-Centered experiences and give Him more than an inch, more than an hour this week?

Grow*Tell*Serve*Worship*Belong

This is the new tagline for our ministry to children at Wesley Chapel. Merriam-Webster defines tagline as “a catchphrase or slogan that serves to clarify a point or create a dramatic effect.” The dramatic effect part made me laugh.

Our team of servants on the front lines of making disciples of Jesus Christ has continued to grow in our family of faith, and I sensed a need for a bit of clarity.

Building spiritually healthy kids is not about programming. It is about providing opportunities and resources for meaningful experiences where little people can encounter and respond to the recognizable presence of a great God who made them and His son, Jesus, who loves them.

It is my hope that this tagline will keep us in conversation and focus for the fruit of their experiences while they are in our house. These are the questions we are asking and the filter through which we will measure effectiveness. We used large post-in notes and lined the walls with what we thought we did well and where we think we need greater opportunities.

GROW
Luke 2:41-52 reports for us what Jesus did as a kid: He went to church, He listened to His teachers, and He obeyed His Mama. The result? “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

Are we intentionally offering experiences where little people can grow in wisdom of our Lord and Savior, AND in favor with God and men? What are they? Can we realistically expect them to learn to “love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds, and souls” with 1 hour out of 168 hours in a week? Knowing the stats of church attendance, what can we provide to offer these experiences outside of church, by Mom & Dad, Grandparents, and the community?

TELL
When a kid can explain it, we know she’s got it. Are we giving our kids an opportunity to tell what we said and what we think we’ve taught? We have curriculum and beaucoup resources to teach with, but what are they hearing?

James Bryan Smith’s three-book series, “A Good and Beautiful God”, is all about replacing false personal narratives that we may have learned along the way which are in complete opposition to what Jesus says about God in the scriptures. These false narratives filter our faith in our One True God. Are we offering time for testimony? Are we building in time for little people to tell us when they recognized God’s presence in their lives, or are we just getting through the assignment?

SERVE
When a little one’s hands are busy, their minds are calm. God wired us to gather in community and be His answer to the many of the hurts of the world. WE are the plan. What can a little person do in response to what they hear about God and His people? What can a little person do in response to what they hear about the hurts, disasters, and trials of the world? This is our window to practice compassion, help, mercy, kindness, empathy, love. Love is an action word.

When they serve, is there a face and a name attached? In keeping with our annual church theme of “Go into the world” from Mark 16:15, we’ve been inviting folks to speak with our children and youth who have gone into the world as missionaries and those who have received the gifts and graces of little people (ShoeBox recipient who came to America and was adopted by faith-filled parents). The fire God has placed within their hearts for others in the world is palpable as a result.

WORSHIP
Children’s Choir is fantastic, but what if we have introverted kids (and we all do). Worship is more than music. Are we offering opportunities to worship corporately and individually? Teaching and practicing prayer, journaling, meditation, reflection, silence? Are WE practicing such soul training? Are we telling about our own soul training?

And let’s talk about art..worship art.  We serve a God of creativity and color and texture and sound.  A canvas, paint, modpodge, and foil can go a long way in presenting what one has captured in their heads and hearts.  What does scripture look like in color and not just in black in white? This is not a craft, but rather, child-directed art.

BELONG
Is our church a community where they feel they belong? Are they known by others in our family of faith besides their parents and the children’s director?

We recognize that we get kids in our CLUB345 from much larger churches in our community. I asked one last year, why. She said, “I don’t have to wear a name tag here. You know me.” Community is a place where a kid is known. Even when we have smaller numbers, our mantra has been, “We will do for one what we would do for 100, for when we are faithful with a few, God will bless us with many.”

There is no other organization in our culture where inter-generational opportunities happen within community like the local church. How do we make that happen when short people go to the left and tall people go the right after worship? Oh, you can bet, we will be making more “bumps” happen between our generations this next school year.

Grow…Tell…Serve…Worship…Belong

How would you “tag” your ministry to children so “that all may know?”

Crazy, huh? As the KidMin blogs continue to discuss whether or not to even invest in summer VBS, we choke it up and put on two.  Although we are a smaller church, the most amazing volunteers took on two difference vacation bible schools within 3 weeks of each other this summer. We were on a mission to present an exciting faith in Jesus Christ to little people, and we needed real data to answer some nagging questions.

The set up:

We planned our typical night time VBS the last week of June with a themed program from a national publishing house. AND we planned a three-day day time VBS in the middle of the week, in the middle of the month of July with a themed, denominational publishing house from last year.

This is what we learned:

1. Both curriculum’s provided great material.

The denominational program offered a fantastic gathering of options to choose from which would be great for seasoned VBS volunteers. The books were lengthier and required a lot more filtering, prep, and people. Flexibility was tremendous and the creativity was plentiful. For a seasoned VBSer, this was a dream.  It was like diving into the deep end of a beautiful pool.

The national program offered 3 concise options/goals for each day at each station.  The beautiful visuals and concise tips were perfect for newbies to VBS.  It offered a short list of supplies found in most KidMin closets or kitchens and even with no prep time, could be implemented with ease and success.

We were blessed by the generosity of shared decorations and assorted goodies from other churches both in the area and shipped all the way from West Virginia.

2. All of the kids who came to the nighttime VBS were familiar faces. 50% of the day time VBS kids were new faces, escorted by grandmas and stay at home moms who loaded the family SUV with friends of their own kids to share the experience.

3. Even a larger number of day time kids were much more calm than a smaller number of night time kids. We had to fire up the day time kids for singing and dancing. We had to calm down and herd the night time kids for singing, dancing and programming.

4. Our volunteer youth involved in team activities and band were available to lead and serve in June, but by July they were involved in practices and their own camps, making some of our best volunteers only available in June.

5. Night time VBS gave us 2 volunteers per student. Day time VBS gave us 1 volunteer for every 2 kids. Lots of volunteers were great and frequent communication was necessary. A skeleton crew of volunteers were great and not as much communication was necessary. The lesser communication needs may have been because they had just experienced the night time VBS and knew “the ropes.”

6. For the first time we planned an end-of-week family celebration for the night time and not for the 2nd daytime week. The end-of-week celebration gave our folks a chance to mix and mingle, build relationship, and fantastic photo ops. THIS, we will do again. The families sing, dance, eat, visit, play, and laugh. What new and visiting parent or grandparent wants to see their kids happy, running free, and see other folks loving on their prince or princess? Every single one of them!  We planned an outdoor picnic for the last daytime snack station and it was also fantastic.

All this begs an answer to 3 questions our Children’s Council will consider:

What is the purpose of VBS? …audience or volunteer?  us or them?

What “type” of volunteer do we have? …what curriculum will we choose if our volunteers are more newbies or more seasoned?

What is the best date to offer VBS? …when are there more volunteers; when can the visitors have access to the pastoral staff?

How do you decide the best time, best date, and the best goal of your VBS?  How do you measure successful investment in your VBS?

In the words of my KidMin colleague, Katie Atcheson, “VBS is my favorite week of the year.” This is the week where anything goes and anyone can come. Both little people and taller people are actively sharing the love of God. We make sure that every learning style is addressed, from the crafty to the drama queen, from the wet game boys to the snackers. And we share the family stories of the Bible. We plan for 5 months to pull off 5 days. It’s glorious!

But now what?

1. Instead of filing the registration forms, place them in your bible and pray for each one to continue to grow in their faith. Pray their families will find a church home or become even more connected to the family of faith.

2. Be ready when they come through the door on a future Sunday morning or on campus for a camp or other future KidMin special event.  Be ready to greet in the children’s hallway.

3. Add their contact info to your database so you can invite them, with a personal note, to the next 3 things you have on the calendar that involves:
Worship – Blessing of the backpacks the Sunday before school starts
Belonging – Drive in movie night on a July Friday where there is mingling and chatting
Mission – Fall packing party for Operation Christmas Child

4. Leave a few things up on the walls for when the kids bring their families on a future Sunday. The space will resemble what they enjoyed for the week, and it’ll feel more like home.  The stairway is great for this!

5. Follow up with your volunteers by personally inviting them to join your KidMin team in another service opportunity, especially your first-time volunteers. (I trust you have already shown your appreciation through a goodie, a thank you note, or a planned pool party for your youth volunteers).

6. Send a letter to each child’s parents who made a decision to follow Jesus.  Offer suggestions to help their new disciple grow in his/her faith and knowledge of God and His son, Jesus. And don’t forget to add a flyer with the upcoming happenings.

7. Wear your VBS tshirt often over the next 90 days…you’ll never know when you may run into a child at the grocery store or Home Depot.  It’s a great conversation starter and you can offer a personal invite.  The Kingdom of God grows through the ministry of conversation.

The last day of VBS is not the end of my favorite week of the year. It just might be the beginning of something fabulous!

What other suggestions do you have for followup?

If you’ve been on church staff for any length of time, you know what it feels like to prepare, plan, and market a great idea only to have so few come that you wonder, “Why don’t they come?” It happened last night at the Family Drive-In Movie.

We have access to a huge stand up movie screen and a high end LED projector. We have a fantastic back parking lot that could hold 200 lawn chairs with beautiful shade and a fantastic breeze. We had a girl scout troupe with fresh movie popcorn and lemonade to sell at 50 cents each to support a local animal shelter with the theme of lost animals as we showed “Homeward Bound.” We had picnic tables and a sno cone machine. We had indoor bathrooms. We had beautiful weather. It was free.

Who came? I’m glad you asked.

Our pastor and his family came. He is kind enough to set the projector and screen up. The moms of 5 girl scouts came. Our staff parish chairperson and his family came. The lovely champion of Family Movie Night came. Our youth director came.

And a new family came with 3 little people who had never before set foot on campus. They were welcomed by the few in attendance, but had to wonder, “Where is everyone?”

Yes indeed, it takes only a few to build a faith community. But it happens so much easier and more quickly when the founding community comes out: to visit, to welcome, to greet, to show around, to make connections with new people, to introduce themselves to new faces, to make some new friends-in-the-Lord, to perhaps be the answer to someone’s prayer through the relaxed time of shared fellowship.

It is not my intention to be negative, but it would be dishonest to not express my disappointment. So, even when you do all the preparing, marketing, sharing, and planning well, sometimes they just don’t come.

This Sunday, we have a giant, inflatable, dual water slide inviting everyone in the community to come. It was originally scheduled for 2 weeks ago, but the bad weather caused us to reschedule. Sliding Into Summer may be about running through a water slide for little people, but what will our surrounding community think about us if the founding community of faith doesn’t come out to welcome and greet them?

“I am carrying on a great project and I can not go down.”  Nehemiah 6:3

There is so much going on in my head today. Let’s just start there:

The 2013 Confirmation Season is finished and we experienced 50% participation in almost 50% of what took place. The time and energy and resources that were involved are almost like pulling off a vacation bible school for 5 months. I love it…but 50%? Recapping what is experienced, taught, and shared, I have to look at the wins. These are the wins: New retreat based on Micah 6:8, additional late night, active involvement of 2 more churches, additional element of worship art, active involvement of confirmation alumni, and 50% participation. The measure of success comes from the “after”: who/which families are continuing to choose active faith development in the (any) local church one year later: Over the last 2 years, we can say 70%. I feel like the girl in the commercial, “We want more! We want more!”

A Church Nursery is a deal-breaker or a non-issue for new and visiting families. Our goal is that it is a non-issue. Best vehicle to do that? train for unity. Stop the baby sitting and start the baby loving. A Mom once shared that she knew her baby was loved when “I see lipstick kisses on her forehead and she smells like her caregiver’s perfume.” Faith of little people begins on the floor…and the forehead. That’s what I’m talking about!

Vacation Bible School supplies have taken over the hallway outside my office. We’re doing two. One as always, 5 nights, last week of June. But in response to last fall’s reading of “Deep & Wide,” we’ll be taking what we already do well, change the date and time, and the audience can more easily change. we are offering a 3-day daytime VBS for community outreach and as a vehicle to train our youth to lead VBS and grow beyond helpers. I am hearing more and more movement to move VBS from a Children’s Ministry-only endeavor to a partnership with a church’s Missions and Evangelism Committees. That makes this gal downright giddy! 6 months of time and resource investment for 10 hours. A good investment? Oh, yeah!

North Georgia United Methodist Church Conference Discipleship Team on-going continuing education opportunity to offer a certification, or whatever we can call it, to give tools to those hired from the pew into professional ministry. Supported by the Conference, championed by influential clergy, and implemented by those who have had a taste of it. Lunches, teas, Skype, car rides, late night events, phone calls, emails, blogs, hallway meetings…all for the cause of implementing a top notch continuing education program that empowers, teaches, builds relationships, and shares resources so that local staff hired from the pew can experience the thrill of personal and professional discovery. Collaboration abounds, but I am so ready to get this ball rolling, that I about can’t sleep. I am consumed with waving the banner to equip lay people called and tapped by their local churches to move beyond paid volunteers into professional ministry.

#1 Son and our Daughter-in-Love have started premarital counseling and considering wedding dates.  They love a certain month, but those weekends have been booked for me for months.  I’m making phone calls to get some items shuffled.  He’s already told me that no matter what, they’ll be coming home for supper twice a week.  Grin.  SO excited to see the face and get to know the heart of the one I’ve been praying for since he was a little boy.

What’s going on in your head?

“I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down.” Nehemiah 6:3

Vacation Bible School season is one of my favorites of the year. June and July are truly Kingdom-building months.  The Leadership Luncheon is a great way to kick it off and let the ones totally sold out (like this church lady) get a jump start on what to expect and plan.

This year we will be having 2 vacation bible schools: a night time in June and a 3-day daytime in July. The night time will be Kingdom Rock published by Group Publishing. My servant leaders find it very leader friendly and it does a great job of addressing all the learning styles of students and servant leaders.

Post cards to invite everyone to the Leadership Luncheon went out 3 weeks ago to everyone who served last year, all the retired folks on our church roster, and all the families.

Lunch will be PB&J sandwiches cut out with castle cookie cutters found at Wally World in Orlando at the CPC conference, fruit kabobs on sword toothpicks, and Pepperidge Farm Chessman cookies.

The Confirmation class will be setting up the room with gold table cloths, paper plates, cups, and napkins. The tables will be set with colored balloons for the table centerpieces.

For fun we put together a Royal Bible Quiz that included the following items with tshirts to the winners:

Royal Bible Quiz

1. What woman’s name is translated “princess?” (Genesis 11-25)

Diana      Sarah      Deborah      Bathsheba

2. Who was the first King of Jerusalem? (1 Samuel 10:1)

David      Og      Abraham      Saul

3. Which is the first Queen mentioned by name in the Bible? (1 Kings 10:1)

Sarah      Tahpenese      Sheba      Esther

4. Which King danced half-naked in public? (2 Samuel 6:16)

Solomon      David      Joash      Hezekiah

5. What was the fate of evil Queen Jezebel? (2 Kings 9:30-37)

She was thrown off a high place     Trampled by a horse
Eaten by dogs             Died a natural death
All of the above           None of the above

6. Which King ate grass like an animal for 7 years? (Daniel 4:25-32)

Ahab      Nebuchadnezzar      Ahaz      Artaxerxes

7. Which King did God say was a man after His own heart? (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22,26)

Solomon      Samuel      David      Paul

8. Which King wrote Psalm 23? (Psalm 23)

Ahaz      Paul      David      Samuel

9. Who encouraged Queen Esther to do the right thing? (Esther 1-9)

Haman      Artaxerxes      Holy Spirit      Mordecai

10. Nehemiah was the cup bearer to which King? (Nehemiah 1:11, 2:1)

Artaxerxes I      Nebuchadnezzar      Ahab      Pharoah

11. Who was 8 years old when he became King, and reigned in Jerusalem 31 years and did what was right in the sight of the Lord? (2 Kings 22:1)

Ahab      Hezekiah      Josiah      Jehoiachin

12. Who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? (1 Timothy 6:14-15, Revelation 17:14, 19:16)

Jesus      Jesus      Jesus       Jesus

And we’ll give everyone a chance to make a crown to wear in June to help publicize the event.

Gotta go…on my way to Hobby Lobby and Dollar Tree for goodies!

“Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.” Isaiah 26:4

Serving on staff at a local church calls for a calendar assessment at it’s basic level: Christmas, Easter, Mother’s Day, Summer Vacation Bible School. What about the rest of the year?

Ministry takes place every day of the week. Ask any Church Secretary or Admin and you’ll be told what happens on Monday, Tuesday, etc through Friday. This is why we must be ready for “company” all the time and not just on the big 4 holidays.

I am a big fan of parking lot greeters. Folks who come early, armed with a smile and a peppermint, who chit chat other folks all the way to the door. They toss up their heads in acknowledgement. They wave.  They talk about the weather. They can say “Good Morning” with such a lilt in their voice that you’d think they were singing. And you know they mean it when they say, “It is SO good to see you today!”

This is the easiest and best way to meet new people, work on your handshake, and get “face-time” with everyone from the widows to the little people. This is not a time for long discussions, just a kind and gracious Christian greeting. This is not for huggers, but for wavers and shakers.

I recall a sermon during my children’s teen years of the importance of greeting at home. The first 3 seconds can change your home into a sanctuary by a loving, kind, and enthusiastic greeting. In this simple 3 seconds, whether they are coming or going, I can express to someone how important he/she is to me. Now that my kids are young adults, an enthusiastic “HEY!”; a humorous, “Friend or Foe?”; a kiss on a Mama’s cheek when #1 Son comes home or leaves; all these are life skills that express value and love.

We’ll be practicing this life skill of greeting this summer with our youth and little people during Summer HEAT (Helping Everyone All Together). We’ll finish Sunday School 10 minutes early to cover the front lawn and parking lot. We’ll teach our young people how to start a conversation, shake a hand, continue a conversation, and show in their faces the joy and skill of a Christian greeting.

“When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them.” Job 29:24

As a christian educator, we teach the Christmas story and Easter story every year. To keep it fresh and exciting this teacher tries to learn something new every year. This year I learned…

1. Thanks to a message shared at Children’s Pastor’s Conference by Beth Guckenberger, we must be ready with a tambourine and a dance when God rescues and leads us to something different.
As told in Exodus 15, Miriam has rushed to pack what she can carry along with all the Israelites leaving Egypt. Of everything she could have taken, “a tambourine made the backpack.” She is led from all she knows to the unknown, yet she is ready to sing and dance before the Lord. Thanks to a great friend, I am now packing a tambourine in my purse. You never know when a song and a dance is just what is needed.

2. The visual art of history makes a literal stamp upon the mind and heart for Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.
Reading James Bryan Smith’s “The Kingdom and the Cross”, he challenges the reader to build in margin during the season of Lent to look at sculpture, ancient cathedral drawings, watch a couple of movies, and visually add to the biblical texts of the Easter story. Profound for this visual learner.

3. Building in margin in my daily walk with Christ, has helped me be fully present rather than run around like a baby chick looking for what is next.
Taking a season with other women of faith, we are taking The Apprentice Series together. We gather monthly around my kitchen table to speak of our strolls through the scriptures, building in habits of sleep, solitude, margin, the 23rd Psalm, counting/listing our blessings, lectio divina, and reading the Gospel of John along the way. Holy habits of Christ, we are experiencing in our own lives.

4. Bunny Ear headbands are the “candy” of youth.
Our youth have taken an active role in “hoppin’ in” to lead the little ones in their faith. On Easter Sunday, after they prepared Hygiene Kits for a Honduras mission trip, they made and placed fish hook bracelets on little people, and themselves, to begin praying about where God wants each of them to “go into the world and preach the good news to all creation.” Seeing a young man in his formal suit AND a pair of bunny ears in the sound booth made me and the little people during services smile. This same young man served on Easter Sunday from the sunrise service through the last one of the day.  Looks like I’ll be shopping for headbands where ever I go.

What did you learn this Easter?

“Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing.”  Exodus 15:20

“Camping programs are high yield. Taking people away from their regular life for a few days, and offering them a season of activity, intense focus without distractions, peer-to-peer interaction and Bible influence is perhaps one of the greatest investments in people’s lives.” (from “Teacher: The Henrietta Mears Story”)

Taking a small group of tweeners on their first overnight spiritual retreat has me dancing before the LORD today. From our arrival on Friday evening through our giddy “name three” game on our trip home in the church van on Sunday, spiritual memories have been carved on hearts, especially my own.

Our students earned some of their monies to go by selling luminaries in memory or honor of loved ones and putting on a bake sale on Super Bowl Sunday.  They prepared, set out, and discarded the red and white luminaries that beautifully lined the entryway into the sanctuary on Christmas Eve.  They baked and wrapped and sold baked goods at our youth’s SouperBowl of Caring luncheon with the leftovers delivered to the local fire station by their very own hands.  An adult who loves them very much even matched what they raised so they could go.  This made for some great team building.

Sharp Top Cove (a Young Life Retreat center) was the location of the 2013 Spring S.C.R.E.A.M. (Students Celebrating And Rejoicing Enthusiastically in the Almighty Messiah) led by Mark Manuel and his fantastic team. The natural setting was glorious, the night stars especially bright, and large green spaces were magnificent. The speakers spoke of a kid’s influence on the world, God’s grace and forgiveness, and how nothing can separate us from the love of God.  The messages and interactions were developmentally appropriate as well as memorable.  The games were positively engaging, the skit teams were hilarious, and the Young Life youth servants in the dining hall were precious. The free time activities ranged from dual zip lining into the lake alongside a giant water slide, a giant swing, jousting, clay sculpting, paintball, rock climbing, fishing, and even a crawdad rodeo, just to name a few of the irresistible opportunities to make memories and face fears.

Facing fears was my favorite part.

We want so badly for our kids to be safe and comfortable, but followers of Jesus are anything but safe and comfortable. At a young age, these students were able to do challenging feats. When I asked one why she did it, her response was, “I was so afraid, but I knew that Jesus was with me.”

Small group discussions and watching the sun rise on Sunday morning as we searched for the golden nugget (these folks are geniuses to find a way to keep kids out of their cabins and get out of bed WAY before the sun rose on the last day) were exceptional times of teamwork and problem-solving. Though we were not the first to find the treasure, I believe these students can work together to solve just about any problem that arises in the church and in life even as 4th & 5th graders.

Henrietta Mears had a definite philosophy about camping that could be summed up in one word: decision. “If Sunday School was the place where people were built up in the faith, then camp was where they made their decisions about following the Lord.”

Our students’ comments:

“My favorite thing at SCREAM was the worship services. I grew closer to God. I got to know my friends better.”
“My favorite part of SCREAM was the zip line. God gave me the courage to do it. Now I love it!”
“You have worship every morning and every night. The zip line is the length of 2 to 3 football fields.”
“SCREAM was very fun and exciting. I felt like I got closer to God.”

Decisions to face our fears and get closer to God. Now THAT’S camp ministry!

For more information on SCREAM Ministries, go to http://www.screamministries.com