See you in 2013!

AWANA Cubbies, Sparks and T&T will take a break during December. The club meeting will resume on January 11, 2013. Have a nice Christmas holiday!

Donating Awana Shares through matching program for World Vision

At every Awana meeting, clubbers will be awarded with different numbers of Awana Shares for their excellent performance in learning and in games. Each clubber may be rewarded no more than 2 Awana Shares in each meeting. Every 5 weeks, the clubbers will have an opportunity to redeem their Awana Shares for little gifts at the Awana Store. Awana Store will be opened again on Nov 30. In order to encourage giving to bless others, we encourage the clubbers to "donate" their Awana Shares for charity besides getting gifts for themselves. In October, we supported Operation Christmas Child (OCC), a program that brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the message of God’s unconditional love. For each Awana Share donated, a pre-arranged donor gave $10 towards purchasing supplies for filling OCC shoeboxes. Our clubbers donated 15 Shares in total towards OCC, and successfully raised $150. At the coming Awana Store, we will provide opportunities for our clubbers to donate their shares to support the work of World Vision. For every shares our clubbers donated, a pre-arranged donor will give $10 for this program. We will use the money collected to purchase farm animals from the World Vision Gift Catalogue to give to needy people in the third world. The farm animals will provide sustainable food and income sources to struggling families. We hope to raise $200 for this program. If you have any question, please do not hesitate to contact me or any of our Awana leaders.

How to Talk to Your Kids About Prayer, Trusting God, and Letting Go

A great article from the blog of "What's in the Bible?"

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How to Talk to Your Kids About Prayer, Trusting God, and Letting Go
by Lisa Strnad

This has been a difficult week… and it’s only Wednesday! My husband and I have had appointments with the medical specialists who have evaluated my son these past six weeks, in order for us to get his IEP (individualized education plan) written by next week. Doctors, speech therapists, psychologists, and autism specialists – all with their own take on where my son fits into some unrealistic bell curve. Ugh!

Discussing the educational, social and pragmatic needs of my child – someone who I know so well – with people who have made 90 minutes clinical observations, can be a difficult thing to sit through. It has caused me great anxiety and yet I say I trust that God will lead us in the right path. I pray so often about this one area of life, that I sometimes wonder if God has the patience to keep listening. Of course I know He does, but when does the asking part of prayer need to be channeled into the trusting part of prayer?

I ask this, not because I know the answer, but because it’s an area where I fall drastically short. I sometimes wonder if I prayed correctly, if I used the right words in my prayer, if I remembered to ask for forgiveness before asking for the desires of my heart? Religiosity of the past has definitely had its negative affects on my overall ability to just give whatever it is to God, and then trust that He’s got it…all of it.

Exodus 14:15 “Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on.”

Like many of you, I know my kids see me praying. We pray and worship together as a family. We pray over each meal. We pray for intentions of our friends and family members. But do my kids see me TRUSTING that God now has this need which I have specifically asked Him to take? Not always…

2 Corinthians 3:5-6 “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

Think back to when you were a kid. Did you ever worry about your dad getting you home safely on a long car ride? More than likely you were able to fall fast asleep in the back seat of the car, fully trusting that your dad would take care of you? And the next morning, you’d wake up in your bed, having been carried in by one of your parents.

As adults, it’s sometimes so difficult to let the worry, fear, and control go. But that’s the child-like trust that God wants us to have in Him. God’s Word is my reminder that the Lord is truly my strength. In Him I can take refuge! His grace is surely sufficient, because I am so weak in every way!!

Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.”

I know that the Lord has wonderful plans for my son. He is much more than a clinical diagnosis or a educational plan. I will continue to advocate for him the rest of my life, if that’s what God has in mind. In my mental weariness, I will seek the refuge of my Father, who I really do trust with all of me heart.

If you struggle with giving the needs of your heart to God, you aren’t alone. Remind your children that it’s okay to wonder if God hears their prayers. It’s okay to come to you with questions or even doubts. In helping guide them, you will help yourself and heal any doubts that you too may be struggling with. It’s so important to get back into Scripture and refresh your mind and spirit about the truth… YES, God has your back! He knows the desires of your heart! And He wants to bless you, His child!

About the Author: Lisa Strnad is a weekly contributing writer to What’s in the Bible? and Jelly Telly. She works freelance in Christian Media, specializing in writing, promotions and marketing. Lisa lives with her husband and their two sons in Nashville, TN.

Sparks Family Follow Up

Bible lesson: Lot chose the best piece of land when Abraham gave him the choice to choose. It was a bad choice because Lot chose to live next to two bad cities with a lot of evil influences. He later moved into one of the evil cities and allowed himself to be affected by their evil way.

Parents: Talk together about making good choices, choices that show kindness to other people. Also talk about staying away from things that tempt us to do wrong --- for instance, playing with kids who consistently make bad choices. Do a family project that shows kindness to someone else---the Operation Christmas Child is a perfect project.

Sparks Family Follow Up

Theme: What is Faith? Faith is the opposite of being in control

Abraham, A Man of Faith Abraham, a wealthy man, packed up his possessions and family and left his hometown for a place that God sent him to but Abraham didn't know the location or anything about the new land. With faith, he let God lead on. Faith is the opposite of being in control. Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the Word of God, meaning we give up our plans and follow God's plans instead. Parents --- share with your kids some of the surprising things that have happened in your life. What would you have done differently if you knew those things were going to happen? What can families do to help each other through life when we don't know what will happen next? What are some things your family can do right now to be prepared for whatever life may bring? Saving money and buying helmets may prevent some surprises, but life will always bring something new your way. The only thing that can truly keep you prepared is knowing God's Word and having faith and a relationship with Jesus Christ. Are your family's priorities reflecting that truth?

Donating Awana Shares through matching program for Operation Christmas Child

At every Awana meeting, clubbers will be awarded with different numbers of Awana Shares for their excellent performance in learning and in games. Each clubber may be rewarded no more than 2 Awana Shares in each meeting. Every 5 weeks, the clubbers will have an opportunity to redeem their Awana Shares for little gifts at the Awana Store. Our first Awana Store will be opened this coming Friday. Yet in order to encourage giving to bless others, we will also provide opportunities for the clubbers to "donate" their Awana Shares for charity.

In October, as Westside Baptist Church is promoting Operation Christmas Child (OCC), we will also support OCC at Awana. Operation Christmas Child (OCC) brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the message of God’s unconditional love. Operation Christmas Child was started in 1990 by Dave Cooke, a Welshman who felt moved to deliver gifts to Romanian orphans after seeing their living circumstances on television. In 1993, Operation Christmas Child grew and was adopted by Samaritan’s Purse, a Christian organization run by Franklin Graham. To date, Operation Christmas Child has collected and distributed over 94 million shoe box gifts worldwide. Each shoe box gift is filled with hygiene items, school supplies, toys, and candy, is given to children regardless of gender, race, religion, or age. You can find more information about OCC at http://www.samaritanspurse.ca/Operation-Christmas-Child.

This Friday at Awana Store, we will encourage the clubbers to donate their Awana Shares to fill OCC shoeboxes. For each Awana Share donated, a pre-arranged donor will give $10 towards purchasing supplies for filling OCC shoeboxes. We hope to raise $300 to buy supplies for shoeboxes. Then in a meeting in November we will let the clubbers help pack the shoeboxes. I hope that parents can help explain the concept of this matching program to children at home, and encourage them to donate some or all of their Awana Shares instead of just getting gifts for themselves.

If you have any question, please do not hesitate to contact Pastor Alan. Thank you very much.

Sparks Family Follow Up

In club, we've been talking about the importance of being thankful to God, our heavenly Father, in EVERY situation. Each night at the supper table, list, with your children, five "thanks" that your family has for that day. At first, children will probably choose the obvious: my parents, my house, my pet, etc. As you continue to do this, encourage them to develop a thankful attitude for the not-so-obvious: "I'm sorry Aunt Karen is sick, but I am thankful we were able to make cards for her today;" "I'm sorry I didn't get to go to Trevor's birthday party, but I'm thankful I got to play a game with Dad here at home."

Collecting Points & AWANA Shares

Clubbers in Cubbies, Sparks and T&T will be awarded different amount of points for their achievements during Club time. The clubber(s) who received the most points during a club meeting will be awarded with one AWANA Shares, which can be used to exchange for goodies when the AWANA Store is open.

There are many ways to collect points during a club meeting:

• Finishing a section in the handbook: 40 points for each section
• Arriving on time (before 7:30pm): 10 points
• Bringing own Bible: 20 points
• Bringing dues (Suggested amount: $1): 10 points
• Bringing handbook: 10 points
• Wearing uniform - 10 points
• Attending Sunday School on the Sunday before: 20 points
• We will also award good behaviours with extra points!

Besides collecting personal points to obtain AWANA Shares, the clubbers who are in the winning team of each Game Time will also be awarded with AWANA Shares.

Thanksgiving Weekend

There is no AWANA meeting this coming Friday due to the Thanksgiving long weekend. We will meet again on Oct 12.

How I Chose Bibles for My Children

by Constance Wun

When my children were young, I had Bible for Toddlers by Juliet David and Helen Prole, a Chinese-English picture Bible, for them.

It is bilingual and nicely printed on bond paper. The text is short, 1-2 lines in each language, and the pictures are big and cartoonish. This bible covers many biographies and passages that one doesn’t usually find in an abridged toddler Bible. Sometimes a passage can end abruptly and for parents who know the full text, you may find that the author has not sufficiently presented the message. Nonetheless, toddlers don’t seem to have a problem with those passages. My sons had never questioned whether there was more to those passages.

When my sons began pre-school, the Bible we used was The Beginner’s Bible published by Zonderkidz. The main reason for choosing this Bible was the series of DVD produced in the same illustrative style. This was definitely not a very sound reason for choosing a children’s bible. A newer version of this product has read-along CDs.

As my boys began early elementary, their Christian school required a fulltext bible. For my eldest son who is an advanced reader, we chose a Bible with guiding questions in the margin. The Bible cover is masculine. We made it a big deal when we gave him the Bible: he was old enough to have his own Bible, one in full text just like his parents’! We also gave him devotional books to help him establish the habit of spending time with God every day.

My middle son reads below his grade. The NIV bible, while is the most popular English version, has many words that are too big for him. I found out about the NIrV (New International Readers Version) bible translated by the International Bible Society. The English used is simpler and the sentences are shorter; definitely a good choice for early readers. Here is a verse to illustrate the difference between NIV and NIrV:

NIV: "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.." (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV)

NIrV: "God has breathed life into all of Scripture. It is useful for teaching us what is true. It is useful for correcting our mistakes. It is useful for making our lives whole again. It is useful for training us to do what is right. " (2 Timothy 3:16, NIrV)

In the end, I did not choose an NIrV bible for my middle son, though NIrV’s reading level is more appropriate for him than the NIV. I wanted my son to follow the same wordings with the rest of his classmates when he recites his weekly bible verse, so I picked an NIV bible for him. Nonetheless, I chose Zonderkidz’, The Discoverer’s Bible, a large print (12-point) children version. The large font makes reading less intimidating. There are 30 full colour illustrations in the bible but the artwork was not very contemporary, in my opinion.

The NIrV would be a version that I reference to in explaining big words to bible readers of all age.

God has breathed life into all of Scripture. It is useful for teaching us what is true. It is useful for correcting our mistakes. It is useful for making our lives whole again. It is useful for training us to do what is right. (2 Timothy 3:16, NIrV)

Memorizing Bible Verses When Your Child is a Visual Learner: Use Sign Language

by Constance Wun

When I realize that many of my Sparkies are visual learners, I immediately sought to YouTube to learn how to sign John 3:16, the main verse for Sparkies’ entrance booklet, Flight 316.

I find that Ann Vines’ video clip is very clear in presenting John 3:16. Ms. Vine signed slowly, so it is easy to follow. She signed only the main words:



In a different video, the presenter signed each word: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwqQjhxpMoQ&feature=related. I like this video because the presenter explained how to do some of the key words.

Don’t be alarmed if you find that words are signed slightly differently in the videos. For spoken words, we have different accents and may pronounce words slightly differently. The same holds true for sign language. Signs are understood within context. Slight variation of the signs for the same word is not uncommon.

The next natural question to follow is: how does one sign the basic Biblical words? Here are some helpful resources:

1. Valley Bible Church in California has video clips on frequently-used Biblical words. There are text descriptions to explain the flow and steps of a sign. Video quality is not too high but you should find most of what you need: http://www.valleybible.net/DeafMinistry/ASL_Dictionary/asl_dictionary.php
2. Handspeak.com provides an ASL visual dictionary: http://www.handspeak.com/word/. The dictionary words are nicely organized. The quality of the video is good; however, each slip can be very short, thus make learning a little hard. You may need to manually slide the progress bar to play in slow motion in order to clearly observe the flow of the sign.
3. The videos in aslpro.com play at a speed that is easy to follow. The dictionary words are still reasonably organized and the quality of the video is good. They have a section on religious words which makes their site very useful in our context: http://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/aslpro.cgi.

Try to use signs with your visual learners!

Our full size game floor installed!

5 Ways to Make Your Kids Hate Church

The following is a great article from The Resurgence.

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1. MAKE SURE YOUR FAITH IS ONLY SOMETHING YOU LIVE OUT IN PUBLIC
Go to church... at least most of the time. Make sure you agree with what you hear the preacher say, and affirm on the way home what was said especially when it has to do with your kids obeying, but let it stop there. Don’t read your Bible at home. The pastor will say everything you need to hear on Sundays. Don’t engage your children in questions they have concerning Jesus and God. Live like you want to live during the week so that your kids can see that duplicity is ok.

2. PRAY ONLY IN FRONT OF PEOPLE
The only times you need to pray are when your family is over, holiday meals, when someone is sick, and when you want something. Besides that, don’t bother. Your kids will see you pray when other people are watching, no need to do it with them in private.

3. FOCUS ON YOUR MORALS
Make sure you insist your kids be honest with you. Let them know it is the right thing for them to do, but then feel free to lie in your own life and disregard the need to tell them and others the truth. Get very angry with your children when they say words that are “naughty” and “bad,” but post, read, watch, and say whatever you want on TV, Facebook, and Twitter. Make sure you focus on being a good person. Be ambiguous about what this means.

4. GIVE FINANCIALLY AS LONG AS IT DOESN’T IMPEDE YOUR NEEDS
Make a big deal out of giving at church. Stress to your children the value of tithing, while not giving sacrificially yourself. Allow them to see you spend a ton of money on what you want, while negating your command from Scripture to give sacrificially.

5. MAKE CHURCH COMMUNITY A PRIORITY... AS LONG AS THERE IS NOTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO DO
Hey, you are a church-going family, right? I mean, that’s what you tell your friends and family anyways. Make sure you attend on Sundays. As long as you didn’t stay up too late Saturday night. Or your family isn’t having a big barbeque. Or the big game isn’t on. Or this week you just don’t feel like it. Or... I mean, you’re a church-going family, so what’s the big deal?

Newsletter 2012.1

Our first newsletter is available for download now! It contains essential information for those who will attend AWANA for the first time.

Also, we are still welcoming new clubbers! Invite your friends to join any time during the season. New clubbers can enjoy 3 trial club meetings before they decide whether to officially register. The registration fee is $40 (includes one set of uniform, one handbook, one set of award badges and all the administration fee) plus $5 for shipping.

The Awana Friday Team 2012-13

Cubbies

Cubbies Director - Joyce Lai

Cubbies Leader - Clemmie Cheung

Cubbies Leader - Stephanie Lam

Sparks

Sparks Director & Secretary - Constance Wun

Sparks Leader & Game Director - Carson Lai

Sparks Leader - Justin Ng

Truth & Training

T&T Director & Commander - Pastor Alan Yu

T&T Leader - Kenald Yu

T&T Leader - Daniel Ng

New Comers Still Welcome

Even though the official registration deadline has passed, but we are still accepting registration for the 2012-13 season. The differences are that you may have to wait a few weeks for your uniform and handbook to arrive, and we will need to charge you an extra $5 shipping fee. You can still join Awana throughout the year! Every now and then we will also host "Bring-A-Friend" nights and those are very good opportunity for new comers to join! Stay tuned!

Registration Deadline is coming up!

The deadline for registering for the 2012-13 season is coming up on Aug 19 (This Sunday). After the deadline, you can still join Awana, just that it will take several weeks for us to get the handbook and uniform shipped in for you and thus we may need to charge you for the additional shipping cost. Here is a webpage that gives a good introduction to what Awana is, please check it out.

Why Kids Stay in Church?

The following is a great article from Awana's "apPARENTly Blogging"

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We’ve been hearing a lot lately about kids leaving the church. We read about the church exodus in books, in magazine articles, in surveys and online. We hear about it on talk shows. A lot of data is presented and a lot of reasons are given for why kids take off.

I would like to offer a reason for why kids STAY in church.

I don’t have an official survey, but I have grown up in a pastor’s home and I married a pastor and I have seen a lot of kids hit that “stay or go” age.

I don’t have statistics, but I have names.

And that’s kind of the point.

The closer the kids are to the pastor, the less likely they’ll be to leave. If they see the pastor as their friend and the church as a place where they can see and listen to their friend, they’ll want to be part of the ministry.

Now, I know there are many big churches and there is no way a pastor can get to know every kid by name, but there is a pastoral staff and you need to make sure your child connects with at least one of them.

Here are some ways to help your child connect.

1. Talk about your pastor positively. If you criticize your pastor for preaching boring messages, for allowing the deacons to paint the auditorium yellow instead of blue or for getting three weeks vacation – your kids will pick up on your criticism.

   Even though your criticism might be about something physical (like paint color), they will begin to consider the pastor as a non-cooperative, not-too-bright guy or someone who only works on Sundays (instead of the 90 hours a week he really DOES work).

2. Treat your pastor as a person. Yes, the office of pastor deserves your respect and you do need to treat the pastor respectfully. However, he’s not in some invisible level closer to heaven where you can only approach him with a quiet, soft, reverend voice. He has a favorite sports team, a favorite food and might even participate in a church softball game.
3. Encourage your child/teen to ask the pastor questions about his messages. If your child/teen wonders about something the pastor said, encourage your child to ask the pastor about it. Most pastors enjoy talking to kids. (If your pastor or the pastoral staff is impatient and brushes him aside, you might want to evaluate the church’s priorities in relationship to kids.)
4. Ask the pastor to speak. If you’re in the position of Awana Commander, Director or even leader or in some other children/teen leadership role in your church. Invite the pastor to give devotions or answer questions. My husband visited Trek about once every six weeks for Ask the Pastor Night. The kids could ask him whatever they wanted about the Bible, culture, etc. Let the kids see the pastor as approachable.
5. Invite the pastor to dinner. What better way to get to know the pastor than by inviting him and his family to your house? Allow the kids to be part of the invitation (don’t have them eat before hand or in another room).
6. Encourage kids to be part of Pastor Appreciation Sunday. You might donate to a cash gift from the congregation, but encourage the kids to make him cards. Teens could write notes of appreciation. (I know how much these notes meant to the pastors in my family.)
7. Encourage your teen to help out at church. Is the church staff delivering food baskets or doing a mailing? Even if you attend a large church, teens can get to know pastors by helping out in the office during the week.
8. Encourage your teen and two or three of his/her friends to take the pastor and his wife out for coffee or a soda.
9. Regularly pray for your pastor and his family. Even when your kids are young, they can pray for Pastor Bryan’s family. Then introduce your child (if the pastor doesn’t already know him) to the pastor on the way out of the auditorium some Sunday. “Caleb, this is Pastor Bryan whom we pray for every night.)
10. Encourage your child/teen to interview the pastor for a school assignment or even for the church newsletter.

Do what you can to help your child become friendly with the pastor or someone on the church staff. This is not a guarantee that your child will continue attending church, but it’s a lot more difficult to leave when she feels part of the ministry and the person up front is someone she knows and respects.

Awana Videos

Here are a few videos that you may find helpful in understand more about Awana!

What is Awana?

Three Words to Describe Awana

Cubbies Reciting Verses

Sparks Reciting Verses

The Awana Theme Song

Firmly AWANA stands,
led by the Lord’s commands,
“Approved workmen are not ashamed,”
Boys and girls for His service claimed!

Hail! AWANA! On the march for youth;
Hail! AWANA! Holding forth the truth.
Building lives on the Word of God
AWANA stands!

Our Savior following
with steps unfaltering,
And love unaltering,
His praise we sing,

His banner over us,
in service glorious,
We’ll fight victorious
for Christ our King!

YOUTH ON THE MARCH!

Knowing more about Awana ministry

Some of you may be fairly new to Awana and may want to know more about this ministry. You may find the following brochures in pdf format useful to you:

• Welcome to Awana
• Awana Clubs Brochure
• Awana Parent Fact Sheet
• Spiritual Impact of Awana: full version / condensed version

Awana Clubs Uniform

Cubbies (Preschool) Uniform Vest
(shown with optional badges)

Sparks (Kindergarten - Grade 2) Uniform Vest

T&T Adventure (Grade 3-6) Uniform T-Shirt

T&T Challenge (Grade 5-6 and with 2-year experience in T&T Adventure) Uniform T-Shirt

Registration Begins!

Online registration for the 2012-2013 season is now opened! Please click here to register now!

For children enrolling in Cubbies, Sparks and T&T clubs, the registration fee is $40, due on the first day of program. Please prepare a cheque of $40 payable to "Westside Baptist Church" for remittance on the first day. We regret to inform you that there is no refund if you choose to resign from the program once the online registration form is submitted. There is no registration fee for Trek.

Deadline for registration is August 19, 2012.

Welcome to Awana :: Westside!

We are very excited for the launching of Awana at Westside this coming September! It will be a great way to train our children for a Bible-centered life, as well as a great way to reach out to the community!  Registration will open very soon! Stay tuned!