AWANA
Every Wednesday night I have the privilege of working with the kids at our school in a little different capacity. Our school is not a Christian school, just private and privately funded by businesses and individuals, but not Christian. However, there is an openness to religious teaching and training. A couple years ago a local church approached us about drumming up volunteers to run an AWANA club on the campus of our boarding school for children from disadvantaged homes.
It took a bit of work, but this is now our second school year with AWANA. These kids do not generally attend church. Their parents want them to learn the Bible, but they don't know it very well themselves either. Last year was very much a learning year as many of the leaders were not familiar with the AWANA program or our kids and program. This year, we started off in a much better place, and the opportunities have been extremely exciting. We are building off of the Chronological Bible Storying method and have really drawn the kids into the story of the Scriptures.
For those of you unfamiliar with it, this method of Bible teaching is great for oral learners and those not well acquainted with Scripture. I think anyone can enjoy it, but it especially targets that type of audience. I started out by looking over a sample list of Bible stories, figuring how many club nights we would have, and assigning a story/topic to each club night. So many stories fell in place perfectly, Christ's birth right before Christmas, and the passion week just prior to Easter Break. God's amazing timing! As leaders we take turns teaching and we basically get up there and tell the Bible story for the week. The kids get drawn in and listen so attentively to all these stories they never heard before. It has been such a powerful year, and so cohesive. Just to give you an idea of what our Bible time looks like, here is a link to the story I told before Christmas. The end of the year culminates in His death, resurrection, and our response to that.
Tonight during handbook/small group time we talked a bit about Moses. Somewhat off topic, but the girls had some questions, and it snowballed. I gave a quick history of Israel, from pre-Egyptian slavery to wilderness wanderings (including a fun conversation about manna!) to moving into the promise land. The Bible, the true story of His-story is such an incredible script. They were so engaged, and regretted that we had to clear out because it was game time. So different from the Sunday morning class I work with where the kids have heard all the stories over and over since birth! It reminds me how fresh and powerful these truths are, to change a life, a heart for Jesus Christ. I pray for each of these girls that they would see what all these stories have to do with them and surrender their lives to Him. I know they listen and have learned, and pray that the seeds will sprout and grow into a great harvest some day.
It took a bit of work, but this is now our second school year with AWANA. These kids do not generally attend church. Their parents want them to learn the Bible, but they don't know it very well themselves either. Last year was very much a learning year as many of the leaders were not familiar with the AWANA program or our kids and program. This year, we started off in a much better place, and the opportunities have been extremely exciting. We are building off of the Chronological Bible Storying method and have really drawn the kids into the story of the Scriptures.
For those of you unfamiliar with it, this method of Bible teaching is great for oral learners and those not well acquainted with Scripture. I think anyone can enjoy it, but it especially targets that type of audience. I started out by looking over a sample list of Bible stories, figuring how many club nights we would have, and assigning a story/topic to each club night. So many stories fell in place perfectly, Christ's birth right before Christmas, and the passion week just prior to Easter Break. God's amazing timing! As leaders we take turns teaching and we basically get up there and tell the Bible story for the week. The kids get drawn in and listen so attentively to all these stories they never heard before. It has been such a powerful year, and so cohesive. Just to give you an idea of what our Bible time looks like, here is a link to the story I told before Christmas. The end of the year culminates in His death, resurrection, and our response to that.
Tonight during handbook/small group time we talked a bit about Moses. Somewhat off topic, but the girls had some questions, and it snowballed. I gave a quick history of Israel, from pre-Egyptian slavery to wilderness wanderings (including a fun conversation about manna!) to moving into the promise land. The Bible, the true story of His-story is such an incredible script. They were so engaged, and regretted that we had to clear out because it was game time. So different from the Sunday morning class I work with where the kids have heard all the stories over and over since birth! It reminds me how fresh and powerful these truths are, to change a life, a heart for Jesus Christ. I pray for each of these girls that they would see what all these stories have to do with them and surrender their lives to Him. I know they listen and have learned, and pray that the seeds will sprout and grow into a great harvest some day.
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