I'm The AWANA Game Director, So...

(The above picture is our AWANA Sparks - 1st & 2nd graders - and their leaders.)

Every Monday evening I "man the whistle" at our AWANA club at Sunshine! Our AWANA night is a Bible outreach club for 1st through 8th graders. Our night contains a few elements: opening prayer/announcements, song time, Bible time (where Pastor Pete teaches a weekly lesson), handbook time (where the kids work on memorizing verses), and game time. AWANA is an acronym that stands for "approved workman are not shamed" - which is taken from the Scripture verse 2 Timothy 2:15. The main emphasis of the program is encouraging, teaching, and inspiring our young people to memorize God's Word.

This is our second year running our club, and it has been a very enjoyable outreach for us. Although we have the occasional behavior challenges (every youth/children's ministry does!), our kids are thinking about the Gospel and its implication for their lives, they are growing in their identity in Christ, and they are memorizing large portions of Scripture. I was personally involved in an AWANA club when I was in 1st through 5th grades at my childhood church. I have good memories of my days at AWANA. Not only that, but when I began reading the Bible again, during my freshman year of college, I would repeatedly read verses that I had memorized at AWANA. Those verses never left me. I may have not been able to recite them word for word from the King James like I used to be able to, but the foundation was there.

Game time and the AWANA game circle is my domain. On some Mondays I wear my game whistle all day, just to set the tone and prepare myself mentally for the evening (because let's just say you can't just turn on the "intensity switch"). We play various dodgeball games, beanbag games, balloon games, and the classic AWANA relay races. I try to emphasize competing hard, while maintaining a good attitude. I encourage good sportsmanship and the importance of both winning and losing with graciousness. These are not easy lessons for those who are competitive, but slowly some of these character traits are sinking in. I thoroughly enjoy the various perks of being the game director: wearing and using a whistle, utilizing a "5 count" to keep the kids on point, pretending to view an instant replay of controversial calls, and being humored by both the leaders and kids as they compete.

Here is a "snapshot" of our Trek (6th-8th graders) relays...


And here is a small taste of our T&T (3rd-5th graders) relays...