Moments in Leadership - Prepare Your Hearts

Prepare Your Hearts!

Our first club night is tomorrow night, and I have to admit that I have butterflies in my stomach already. I'm excited and nervous all at once! Earlier in the week I emailed our council time lesson plan to our Sparks volunteers and I included a little section called, Preparing Your Heart, so I thought I would go ahead and share it here as well.  

As we go into our first club night, please take some time beforehand to pray and prepare your heart for the activities of the night.  First club night always tends to be a little hectic as we are welcoming both new and veteran clubbers. We do our best to plan ahead, however, we have to be flexible because sometimes club nights just don't go according to plan.

Here are a few things to think about before club night:

•  We will have new clubbers who may have never attended an AWANA Club before and don't know what to expect. They need your guidance and support. Try to introduce them to veteran clubbers and encourage friendships.

•  We will have new kindergarteners who may be experienceing an organized learning environment for the first time. Remember that not all children attend preschool or daycare before entering kindergarten, so they may not know what behavior is expected of them. Be loving and consistent when teaching them what's expected!

•  Be mindful that for some clubbers, our AWANA Club is one of the few stable environments in their lives, let's ensure our club environment is both safe and welcoming.

•  Above all else, remember why we do this - to share the Gospel of Christ with boys and girls!  Club night might not always go perfectly, but that's not the point, don't worry...let go and let God work!

Lord, I want to take a minute to praise you today as I personally take some time to prepare my own heart for the beginning of a new AWANA year. A lot of hard work has happened already just to get our club ready for this moment and I know that it is not by my strength that any of this was accomplished. I am thankful that through the strength and guidance that you provide that we are now ready to welcome more boys and girls to Sparks club this year. May the gospel of Christ penetrate their hearts and souls for your glory, Lord! And may your faithful servants in this ministry be blessed with strength,courage, and wisdom this year. In Christ Jesus' name, Amen.

 

South Tampa Fellowship Promo Video

I wanted to share this AWANA Promotional Video by South Tampa Fellowship becasue it really does capture the heart of AWANA Clubs and demonstrates how children's lives are forever impacted by this ministry.

After watching this video I sat and wondered if my decision to send my children to AWANA Clubs will have an impact on my Grandchildren one day. I really do believe so.  I starting thinking that it's not just a club, it's Christ ministry to the children through faithful servants who volunteer each year.

Sometimes, as a parent I catch myself thinking of AWANA as another extra curricular activity on my children's calendar, and as a leader I sometimes catch myself focusing on the day to day administrative tasks of the club instead of the eternal value and significance of it.  The nature of this world wants to push our focus elsewhere, but we must strive to remember that this is not an insignificant activity on the calendar or a simple task on our to-do lists, it's much more significant and deeper than that.

I hope you all enjoy this video as I did!

Club Night Checklists

So we are using this new tool for club nights this year.  

 It is a Before Club/After Club Checklist to help us stay organized and efficient. 

There are always things that need to be done in preparing for club nights, and setting up lesson materials and checking the facilities are just a couple tasks that end up always being done by the same person or people. Not to mention the time and effort it takes to get cleaned up at the end of club each week.  This year, we want to encourage our leaders to work together to get set up before club and cleaned up afterwards. 

The idea is that when leaders begin arriving on club nights, they can take a look at the checklist and see what still needs to be done before the kiddos start arriving. I like this checklist because it makes it easier for everyone to know what needs to be done and what has already been taken care of. This year we are asking each Sparks Leader to check-in when they arrive so that they can begin helping out, and of course, we are also asking that they check-out before leaving at the end of club.  

Our hope is that this checklist will help speed up our set up and clean up processes and make it easier on everyone involved so that we can focus on what’s really important….sharing the Gospel of Christ with boys and girls. 

You can download the checklist HERE, or you can create your own using the Sparks Clip Art provided on AWANA.org. 

Volunteer Journals

Volunteer Appreciation!!!

I ran across these journals a few months ago at one of my favorite stores, Hobby Lobby!  Immediately, when I saw these, I thought of AWANA!  I bought enough for our volunteers and gave them away tonight at our beginning of the year AWANA Training.  I used printable Sparks Thank You cards from the AWANA website to give the journals some decorative flair and a personal touch.

This is a great idea for those individuals who enjoy taking time to reflect, or even those who just need an outlet to get it all out. I know there are times I get overwhelmed with emotions and journaling is a great therapeutic tool.

I plan to use my journal to record my thoughts, experiences, and prayers for our Sparks Club this year.  Seeing my journal will also remind me to stop and take the time to really think about our club and the importance of this ministry for children around the world.