Pioneer Club - O What Fun We Have Together!
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What do Teddy Grahams, 30 to 40 kids, empty toilet paper rolls and a trained Gorilla have in common? The correct answer would be Pioneer Clubs. Pioneer Clubs happens at our church every Wednesday night from 6:30 til 8:00. In that time span, 30 to 40 excited kids meet together for Bible instruction, fun and snacks.
The Club, or more properly the Clubs consist of a series of age graded groups that meet with separate teachers and worship God and learn about His Word. The clubs are well organized with a variety of activities. In this busy world we find that it is much easier on teachers, to access to a well planned and creative curriculum.
Jesus made children a real priority. As often as He could He met with children and offered them "a blessing". This was the pattern of the Hebrew Rabbi. It was the custom for the teacher or Rabbi to sit with children and enrich their lives by building them up with hope and by projecting a good and prosperous future for them. Jesus clearly stated that we enter the Kingdom of God when we do so "like a child". The nature of children is similar to what God desires and to what His Kingdom is like. Jesus also spelled out the grave responsibility we have to children when He said, "but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea." Matthew 18:6 Adults must be very careful what sort of example they set before children because they are very impressionable and God loves them very much. In this way we approach our Pioneer Club with a strong desire to teach them the Word of God and to provide for them a godly example. The training of Children in God's Word is one of the most important ministries of the church.
Now here are the initial items I described at the start and how they relate to our Pioneer Clubs.
- Teddy Grahams are a typical snack item that the kids eat on a Wednesday night. Sometimes they have some home made cookies or cupcakes.
- Empty toilet paper rolls are one of the all time staples of Pioneer Club craft making (and VBS as most helpers know).
- A trained Gorilla doesn't really apply except in how it illustrates the level of fun and excitement that we have at a typical night at our Pioneer Clubs.
- One great item I forgot to mention is all of the nice hugs that are passed out between the younger kids and the teachers.