Easy Ways to Connect With Parents

Sarah Curtis likes to say she was “born into Awana,” since her mom, an Awana secretary for 30 years, went into labor with her during club. She recognizes the privilege it was to grow up in Awana, as the verses she memorized as a Cubbie through Guards (the girls’ program that preceded today’s T&T) are the ones still in her heart. She and her husband, David, raise their three children (one Sparkie and two T&Ters) in San Antonio, Texas.

Have you invited parents to join your Awana club? If you want children to thrive, you should! In the first two parts of this blog series, Sarah Curtis, a proud Sparks leader, shared how her Awana program gives kids a strong identity and a sense of belonging. Now, she tells us how her church gets parents in on the fun. It starts by making sure they know what Awana is all about.

Proud to Be a Sparky – Part 3, by Sarah Curtis

Guide Parents Through Awana
If you’ve grown up in Awana like me, you know the vocabulary and the process. You understand the idea of the handbook, doing two or three sections each week to be sure you get through your book. But when you aren’t familiar with the concept, it can be a little confusing. We want parents to understand how the program works too, so they can be an active part of the process!

Parents are responsible for the spiritual development of their children. As Awana leaders, we come alongside them and support them. That’s why I like to put a slip of paper in kids’ handbooks after they’ve been coming to the club for a week or so, to introduce myself.

Share Words of Encouragement
We can think of Awana as a ministry to the whole family. Is there something positive or kind you can say to the parents about their child that week? Use your creativity. There are many wonderful stories of entire families coming to know the Lord through one of their children attending Awana. Your witness to these parents might be the introduction they need to become children of the King.

Let Parents Know You’re Here to Help
I also write notes in my kids’ handbooks: “Hi, Mrs. Thomas. Asher’s having a little bit of trouble in this section. Let’s keep working on it and try again next week.” Or, “Hey, Abigail did great on her verse tonight!” or “Vander is a little stuck on the Books of the New Testament. Try downloading the audio so you can sing the Books of the Bible song we sing at club.”

Our club meets Sunday nights, so we have a couple of long breaks. If I know I won’t see the kids for two weeks, I write a note: “Hey, feel free to call me if Bryce wants to say some verses. He’s getting so close, and I would love to see him finish his book this year.” These little ways of connecting with your children’s parents will mean a lot to them.

In fact, it was in this way that I came to know the South Texas Awana Missionary, Penelope Cabrera. Her son, Josiah, was one of my Sparkies. He was gone about once a month because of their traveling to do ministry and training. I gave Penelope my phone number and wrote notes in Josiah’s handbook, encouraging them along and making them feel welcome to call me to catch up. Now I serve on the Awana South Texas Ministry Team.

My policy with listening to verses over the phone is that the parent calls me and says, “I have Josiah here, and he’s ready to say some verses.” I make sure the parent is holding the book and then I say hello to the child. I listen to their verses and tell the parent to put a checkmark on them so that their child can move on in the book. The following week, when we are together in club, I might do a brief review of the verse they recited over the phone. But I make sure they have time to move on and not get bogged down because they were out of town or sick.

Most Importantly
You can see these are simple tips you can add to your club to make your kids proud to be Sparkies. We want them to know that their relationship with Jesus Christ is more important than any other way they might identify themselves. It is great that they are baseball players and musicians and scouts. But the most important thing of all is that they are sure they know the way to heaven. We want them all to become children of the King.

Part 1: Creating a Place for Kids to Belong

Part 2: Three Ways to Encourage Awana Kids to Be Proud Sparkies