Awana has held a national event for high school students for several years called Summit. I have desired to attend Summit for several years, but my full-time job and economics have prohibited me from attending. This year, Summit was held just a few hours away and I was able to attend for the first time. I was able to be be a volunteer for the AwanaGames, watch the gold round of quizzing, and attend the closing Citation ceremony.
What impressed me the most was the youth. Several youth growing in the Lord, sharing their talents in fine arts, showing their Biblical knowledge in quizzing, showing God’s love in the competitions, and I could only imagine how God has used, and will use, these youth to reach others.
The encouragement I would give these youth is the same that Paul gave to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12,
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
They were a great example to many around them, and they will continue to be so as they follow Jesus.
You may not have known that Awana had a youth ministry. If you didn’t, then I would encourage you to take a look at AwanaYM. Many people think that Awana ends with T&T, but that is only the beginning of the discipleship Awana offers. Take a look, I think you will be amazed at the Awana Youth Ministry.
Do you use AwanaYM, Trek and/or Journey? If so, then please comment and share about your AwanaYM experience.
As with many endeavors, its easy to start something but much more difficult to maintain them. When our club started Awana 6 years ago, our Trek and Journey clubs started out strongly, mostly due to excitement over something new and “over the top” endorsement from the pulpit. Our Trek (Jr High) numbers started dwindling in our 5th year but received a shot in the arm this year when we converted to a Middle School format and now have 6th-8th graders.
Our Journey club numbers are way down, primarily to the introduction of a somewhat competing bi-monthly bible study introduced by our Senior Youth Ministry Directors, who were formerly our Journey directors. As long as our High Schoolers are receiving the gospel message somewhere with regularity, I’m not really in a position to complain that they are not receiving it in Awana.
That being said, after attending Summit myself for the first time this year, my prayer is to encourage our High School aged church members to attend next year. In addition to my story telling of what I observed, I also plan to share the link to the 600+ pictures taken by Awana Missionary Neal Dillard because as they say, a picture is worth 1000 words. http://nealdillard.smugmug.com/Awana/Awana-Summit-DC-2015/n-6fF7Fh
Carlton,
Thank you for the link to the pictures. I knew Neal was taking them, but I did not see the link yet.