TREK
( Ages 12-13)
Junior high students have a lot of questions–and the Bible has plenty of answers! The goal of Awana’s “Trek” program is to help each Trek student to gain a deeper understanding of who he/she is in Christ, and give them a sense of purpose and destiny in serving Him.
The Awana books for this group are written so that all the students can work on the same pages together, if they wish. They continue to memorize Scripture, but in addition, they are reading the whole New Testament, and doing more in depth studies of key Scriptures.
Trek Game Time each week is a combination of getting ready for the Trek AwanaGames in Sacramento (where they will compete against teams from all over Northern California!) and games that are just for fun. All games are played on the Awana Game circle.
Trek Council time always centers on whatever section of the book the kids are studying that day.
In addition, there are six practices for any Trek kids who want to be on the Bible Quiz team. The practices begin in February, since the competition at this level is quite fierce! But the practices are fun, and really build fellowship and friendship among the kids on the team.
For the AwanaGames, our Trek students usually combine with the “Treks” from Valley Baptist Church in San Rafael, and we practice in the Valley Baptist gym. Usually there are three practices for the Games.
All that practicing pays off when we travel to Sacramento for the big “Trek West” Awana junior high competition in March–a long and exciting day that begins with exciting athletics and finishes with hold-your-breath-will-they-get-it-right? Bible Quizzing.
JOURNEY and Leaders-in-Training
( Ages 14-18)
Once a teen enters high school, he or she may be eligible to work as a leader-in-training with the younger kids at Awana, teaching the “littler guys” their Bible verses, helping them learn the games, and even leading songs and giving talks at Council Time. These high school age Awana students have real responsibility within the club, and many Awana clubs (including ours!) literally could not run a club without them, since so many adults are not available to be leaders.
Other Journey students either are not yet ready, or would prefer not to be leaders with the younger kids, and that is fine, too.
All Awana Journey students begin their work each year with what we call the “Main Study” book. It takes half the year to complete one of these Main Studies, and then for the rest of the year, each student chooses their own elective study. Elective choices include topics such as apologetics, the life of Christ, the will of God, standing up for what’s right, etc.
In addition to completing the two study books, each year every Journey student reads and reports on 1/4th of the the Bible, so that by the end of four years in Journey, they have read the ENTIRE Bible.
Journey students must also attend at least one all-day Christian leadership training conference, AND they must serve for at least 1 hour EVERY week for 12 consecutive weeks, helping at their own church or at Awana. The purpose of this is to develop and practice faithfulness, diligence and excellence in Christian service.
At the end of February comes the big “Journey Weekend” in Sacramento, where our Journey people can meet and compete with students from all over northern California and Nevada! Both Journey Bible Quizzing and AwanaGames are amazing to watch–the intensity level is “outta sight”! But by the time kids have reached this point, they also have gotten to know each other and have become friends, so though each team tries to win, they have a great attitude and a good time. Our club often forms a joint team with Journey kids from other churches.
A fascinating part of Journey Weekend is the Fine Arts Festival, where students bring their art, writing, musical performance, speeches, skits, etc. to be judged. The judges’ goal is to help each student polish their skills so he/she can serve the Lord more effectively.
In addition, once a quarter, all Journey students who are working as leaders-in-training get together outside of club for a “DIFF” meeting (Debrief, Information, Food & Fellowship). We meet at the home of one of the kids, enjoy the fellowship and food, then have a Debrief (where the kids give the club Commander their feedback on what’s working/not working at club, and then it’s “Information”–the Commander’s turn to teach them some information on how to be the best leaders possible. The evening concludes with prayer.