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Amp Yourself!
I just read a great article on discipling children’s and youth workers that got me thinking about what we are doing to help our volunteers succeed. I have tasked Danelle Rush our NexGen Specialist and Jake Randolph our Student Ministry Coordinator with the important task of developing leaders, but I am not sure that I have sufficiently challenged our volunteers to invest in developing themselves. So here it is.
Amp yourself!
- Spend some time each week reading some scripture and discussing what it means in your life with someone else.
- Plug yourself into some children’s ministry blogs to develop your understanding of current children’s ministry trends.
- Take the Spiritual Disciplines Class with Richard Manlove on Sunday mornings to go deeper in your relationship and understanding of God.
- Ask Danelle or Jake about a 1 or 2 books that you could read to become a better teacher or communicator.
- Speaking to Teenagers by Doug Fields
- 9 Things a Leader Must Do by Henry Cloud
- Sustainable Youth Ministry by Mark DeVries
- Talkers, Walkers, and Doers: Unlocking Your Child’s Unique Learning Style by Cheri Fuller
Baby Dedication Celebration
Mother’s Day, May 8th at HarrahChurch.
There will be a class before this celebration that will guide you in this significant journey to teach your children what it means to love God with all their hearts.
Stay tuned, more information to come about this celebration…..
RSVP danelle@harrahchurch.org
read moreFebruary Volunteer Recognition
Volunteer Appreciation Team has chosen 2 people that have Amped It Up in their dedication and service to Developing Kids In Christ .
Virgina Johnson Amps It Up by her reliable dedication to her kindergarten small group class. She shows up with a smile on her face and is always giving encouragement to the kids. She models a loving, respectful, and faithful example for the kids. She’s a great small group leader!
When Virgina is asked: “Why do you serve in HarrahKIDS?”
Her answer is: “I love working with little kids and saw this a good opportunity to serve in the church.”
Jennie Murray Amps It Up by her willingness to help and provide support wherever needed. She always has a caring smile, inviting spirit, and loving arms for the kids to run to. She is a great team leader and also does a great job leading an adult small group with her husband. She is a role model for our children and the adults at Harrah church!
When Jennie is asked: ”Why do you serve in HarrahKIDS?”
Her answer is: “I wanted to serve at HC and found HarrahKIDS to be my best fit. I have served there for 4 years now. I see the ministry moving in the right direction and impacting many children, such as my own. I enjoy being a part of my children’s experiences and will continue as the ministry moves forward.”
read moreAMP IT UP!
“AMP IT UP” Campaign is to raise money and volunteers to renovate HarrahKIDS environments. We want to tell the greatest stories in the most unforgettable environments! We have the GREATEST stories from the GREATEST book, the BIBLE! Now we are making changes to give kids a fun, interactive, unforgettable environment. You will begin to see things changing around HarrahKIDS, new equipment, stages, paint jobs etc. Help us by donating money to the “AMP IT UP” Campaign or by donating your time. Contact Danelle Rush at 405.454.6690 ext. 106 or danelle@harrahchurch.org for more information on how you can help HarrahKIDS.
read moreReconnect with our Orange Vision
5 Reasons why we Think Orange at Harrah Church – Taken from the Reggie Joiner at the Orange One Day in Dallas
- STRATEGY | It gets our leaders aligned and on the same page.
- MESSAGE | It brings a clear path and map for unforgettable environments for our kids to encounter core spiritual truths in a life-transforming way as they grow up in Harrah Church. Presentation, not just information leads to transformation.
- COMMUNITY | Small groups the greatest gift that we can give to our kids and parents. One of the greatest things we can give our families is another leader in the life of your children who speak life-changing truth in the lives of our children. We stive to put consistent leaders in their life so that they can connect in a deep and meaningful way.
- INFLUENCE | We believe that students have a responsibility to change the world around them. Our students need to understand how TO BE the church. We want to give them something significant to do. At Harrah Church service has a greater role in discipleship.
- FAMILY | The family has 3,000 hours a year in the life of a student, but the church only has 40 hours. Both the church and the family have responsibilities to teach children about God.
We think that our potential to influence the family is linked to what we think about the family. We know that the family and church working together has a greater potential to change our children than if we were working alone. Some people are influenced by the church but everyone is influenced by family. Somewhere along the way everyone developed a picture of what you think family should look like. According the the last US Census taken – 23.5% of families have parents who live with their biological children. If you hold to tightly to an idea picture you set yourself up to become disillusioned. We realize that all kinds of families attend Harrah Church and live in our community and we want to help all families live in the love of the Father above. None of our stories are the same, but God can use all of our families to change our world. There is no perfect picture of families in the Bible. God doesn’t use perfect pictures, He uses broken people.
We desire to help broken people and families tell a story of restoration. God desires to work through every family to demonstrate his story of redemption and restoration.
How are you connecting with our Orange Vision for the church and family? Are you asking your kids what they are learning in church? Are you asking the KidMin and StuMin leaders for resources to reinforce our lessons in the home? Have you looked into the CueBOX? Are you regularly volunteering? Have you sought out a person to be a consistent voice in their life of your student?
Resources:
- Think Orange by Reggie Joiner
- Parenting Beyond Your Capacity
- Shift: What it Takes to Reach Families Today
- The Slow Fade: Why You Matter in the Story of Twentysomethings
HarrahKIDS Teen Club
January Volunteer Recognition
THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE
HarrahKIDS Volunteer Appreciation Team would like to recognize 2 volunteers for their dedication and service to “Developing Kids in Christ”.
Chery Eichling shines her light by leading the children in a fun and creative Bible lesson. She captures the kids attention and keeps it, which is definitely a ministry in itself. The first part of teaching children the word of God is to get them interested and she does just that! She even draws in the volunteers and we all enjoy listening to her lessons. She is patient, kind, and anyone can see how much she loves each precious child.
When asked “Why do you serve in HarrahKIDS?”
Cheryl’s answer is: ”Because I love the kids and if you can catch them at this age, you can catch them for life.”
Shannon Hazen
Shannon Hazen shines her light with her strong passion to help her small group of children understand the wonders of God. She is willing to help whenever and wherever there is a need. You can see her love for each child in her classroom and dedication to them. Her heart breaks when a child’s heart is broken and her heart leaps when a child’s heart is filled with joy. She also cares deeply about the parents and guardians of her children.
When asked “Why do you serve in HarrahKIDS?”
Shannon’s answer: ”I initially started serving because there is a need for volunteers in HarrahKIDS. I have grown to cherish my time on Sunday mornings with the kids. It fires me up when they memorize the Word of God and remember Biblical virtues and principles. I can also relate to the comedic level of 3rd grade boys.”
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