As Minister to Children and Families, it is my job to always be on the lookout for opportunities that we can utilize to help ourselves engage in more meaningful faith conversations and spiritual interactions! So, I wanted to make you all aware of a few resources that are easily accessible to you and encourage you to try them out as we strive to start a new church year and a new school year off on the right foot! It doesn’t matter your age or whether you have children of your own or not; we all have access to people in our families and our circles of influence who we can share the love of God in new ways. I hope you all will check out these awesome tools, explore them for yourselves, and share them with the people in your life who could also benefit from them!
“D365: Devotions 365 Days a Year” – https://d365.org/
I have learned that many in our congregation have come to love this tool. You can access it online or via an app that you can download onto your phone. It can be used individually or with a group. Here’s a bit from the website: “D365 is a daily devotion written for youth and adults. The devotion follows a five-step format – Pause, Listen, Think, Pray, Go. Instrumental music is available for your devotional experience. You can start the music by selecting the music notes at the top right of the screen, and then you can adjust the volume as needed. Typically, an author writes on a single theme for one week. In these devotions, you will read honest struggles and questions, all in the context of real faith. As you read the thoughts of the writers, think about your own response to the scripture for the day. Let the writer’s words serve as background for your own conversation with God. Our devotions are written by ministers, professors, students, teachers, missionaries, denominational leaders, and others who work with and care for students.”
“The Growing Faith Initiative” – https://passportcamps.org/growing-faith/
You may occasionally notice documents with this name on them near the bulletins on Sunday mornings during different seasons of the year. Well, now you can have online access to them as well! Here is a bit about this initiative, which comes from the organization that puts on our children’s summer camp: “Several times a year, Passport, through our Growing Faith Initiative, shares resources with the parents of our campers designed to help families have simple faith conversations.” The link will provide the most recent resource and all previous resources for parents (or anyone looking to engage in meaningful family conversations around different, important topics and seasons on the calendar.)
“The Parent Cue App” – https://theparentcue.org/parent-cue-app/
As the name implies, this app is designed primarily for parents, and it is valuable for a couple of reasons. First, it offers a way for you to see what your child is learning on Sunday mornings as well as access to supplemental tools and activities that you can use throughout your week to build upon what the children are learning at church. Second, it offers tons of parenting resources such as newsletters, articles, age-specific guides, and a shop with fun and formational tools for the whole family. Just downloading the app and creating an account will get you some of this, but a subscription will grant you full access to more resources! Whether you pursue the subscription or not, I would encourage all our parents to download the app and create an account for free. Then, click on the “Church” icon at the bottom of the screen and link your account to “Aiken’s First Baptist Church.”
“Youth, Children, & Family Resource Lists”
These are always available via call, text, or conversation with Sarah Laurence and me. We are always available to discuss what you are looking for, lend you resources, and provide any guidance we can. Thank you for trusting and supporting us in our roles as we seek the best for our younger ones and our families here at AFBC! It is truly a privilege.
In truth and love,
Matt Waller
Call for Student Prayer Pals
The majority of our students have already begun a new school year, and our college students will return to classes in mid-August. Think about all that a new school year brings – new teachers, harder subjects, new friends, peer pressure and new school campuses for some of our students. Add to that the concerns about safety on school campuses. College students will face the challenges of making important life decisions during their collegiate years. Our students need the prayer support of their church family.
We were so blessed last year by the response of our church family that we were able to pair all of our students in 3-K through college with prayer pals. We hope to do the same again this year. We hope that families with students will consider being prayer pals for other students. This will be a great opportunity to teach your students the importance of praying for others. We are asking prayer pals to pray at least once a week for 2-4 students. When you receive your list of students with contact information, we ask that you let them know that you are their prayer pals for this school year. We would encourage prayer pals to send a few cards during the school year, but that is optional. Supporting our students with our prayers is what is most important.
If you would be willing to bless the lives of our students by praying for them, please contact Sara Adams at 803-292-8551 or at barry_adams@bellsouth.net. There will also be sign-up sheets in the Sunday School packets this coming Sunday Thank you for being a loving, caring church family as we entrust our students into God’s care this school year through our prayers.
The Prayer Ministry Team
Recent Comments