Pioneer Clubs leader eNewsletter Print–beat the winter doldrums!

January 2006

Dear !*Address1*!,

Welcome to the latest edition of the Pioneer Clubs^® Leader’s eNewsletter, where we provide resources to help you build your Pioneer Clubs ministry. This month we would like to help you beat the winter doldrums and create new enthusiasm for what your club is doing.

Raise Your Club's Visibility

Whether your club is just starting now, or you have been running since the end of summer, the start of a new calendar year is a good time to think about generating excitement for what your Pioneer Clubs are doing within your church and community. The best way to attract new members is to show other kids and their parents what your club does and how much fun club members have.

If your church will be celebrating Pioneer Clubs Sunday (see Pioneer Clubs Announcements below), work with your club coordinator on plans to create some hoopla in your church. Begin praying that this special Sunday will let you:

spotlight club members' achievements before their parents and church
bring unchurched parents into the church
call your church’s attention to what God is doing in your club

Whether or not your church will hold a Pioneer Clubs Sunday, communicate regularly with your club members' parents about what your club has done and what you plan for coming meetings and projects. Communicate plans—and prayer concerns—to your club coordinator as well, so he or she can support you in your work!

Talk to your coordinator about putting on your hiking shoes this April 22 (or a date of your choice). Including the Spring Kids for Kids Hike in your plans will help your club by:

increasing your club's visibility in the church and community

providing a missions project for your club members, where they help other kids have Pioneer Clubs

For information on the Kids for Kids Hike, including forms you can download, go to Pioneer Clubs’ Web site at www.pioneerclubs.org.

Raise Some Enthusiasm in Club

Create some extra fun inside your club, too, this winter.

Stay Active. Take your club members outdoors for game time or another part of the meeting. Even if you lead a club in a snowy northern location, you can enjoy being outside in winter. Just keep moving and adjust your length of time outside according to temperature and wind chill. Little kids love making snow angels, and it's never too cold for a quick game of tag in the snow. If you have enough snow and the temperature is near freezing, make a group snowman—or let each club member work on his or her own snow creation.

“Walk in His Ways” party. Plan a winter party on a hiking theme to create some new excitement about following Christ! Have kids wear hiking outfits and invite friends. Play nature games from the Games Galore book (catalog # 2724). (Order at the following link: http://www.shoppioneerclubs.org/store/product.asp?ItemID=831&CategoryID=31&HeaderCategoryId=29&returnUrl=&RandomSeed=T6EC6.) Share the devotional “Key Verse” from the Talks That Teach book (catalog # 2725), about the Bible as our light to show us God's ways. Serve trail mix and sports drinks. (Order Talks That Teach at the following link: http://www.shoppioneerclubs.org/store/product.asp?ItemID=1177&CategoryID=177&HeaderCategoryId=29&returnUrl=&RandomSeed=T6EC6.)

Action Ideas for January

Whenever your club holds a special event or service project, let the club members be ”reporters” and write a ”news story” about the event afterwards, to post on a church bulletin board. Maybe some club members would also like to be photographers and take pictures of the event to post.
Put a blurb in the church bulletin about your club’s monthly achievements, such as ”Recently the (Trailblazers) have been working on the (Friendship Bible Award) and learning to (treat their friends like gold—not mold!—according to Matthew 7:12).”

Changed Lives

“We are always amazed at the power of God. ... Our good friends’ son was murdered just before Christmas 2004 and, at the memorial service at their church, we picked up a pamphlet on their church’s Pioneer Clubs. ... We announced we were starting a club in church Sunday. I have never had so many people say to me, ‘This is an answer to prayer!’ We have a new family in church (desperately seeking) who started by coming to Pioneer Clubs. And even the unchurched neighborhood kids are very faithful in attendance. How can we not see the hand of God at work in our lives? Who else but God can take senseless tragedy and make something incredible out of it! Keep the faith, do not be discouraged, and God will bless the work of your hands!” — Rhonda Wasnock, East Shelby Community Bible Church, Medina, New York

We’d love to hear testimonies of how your club has seen God at work. Please e-mail Becky at ballenpowell@pioneerclubs.org with your name, church name, and how you’ve seen God at work in your club.

Today’s Kids...
Today’s kids may spend quite a bit of time on noncreative activities. They need opportunities to make choices and develop their creativity. Give them input into planning Pioneer Clubs Sunday or other club events.

Pioneer Clubs Announcements

A Way for Club Members to Say Thanks

Please join us in thanking people all across North America who financially support the national ministry of Pioneer Clubs. Our supporters would be delighted to receive a word of thanks from a child in club. Just have your club members write a sentence or two thanking those who give and telling what they especially like about club. Those too young to write can draw a picture of their favorite club activity. Please indicate the child's first name and club age level.

Please send the notes to us, and we’ll see that members of our 21st Century Lamplighters group receive them. Mail notes by January 25 to: Pioneer Clubs, Attn: Connie Powers, PO Box 788, Wheaton, IL 60189-0788.

Pioneer Clubs Sunday, February 12, 2006

Invite your congregation to celebrate your children's ministry on Pioneer Clubs Sunday (February 12 or whatever date best suits your church). For ideas and plans for Pioneer Clubs Sunday activities and celebrations, visit http://www.pioneerclubs.org/lrc/pcweek/pcsunday.asp. Please be sure to ask your pastor about taking a special congregational offering for Pioneer Clubs' national ministry.

Annual Phonathon

Pioneer Clubs staff, board members, and others will gather at national headquarters to call our current leaders and donors during the months of February and March to thank you for your partnership, let you know what’s happening in the national ministry, and ask for your continued financial support. We look forward to talking with you!

Kids for Kids Hike

Mark your calendar for the springtime Kids for Kids Hike: Saturday, April 22! For information on the Kids for Kids Hike, including forms you can download, go to Pioneer Clubs’ Web site at www.pioneerclubs.org.

Join us for a Pioneer Clubs^® training teleconference!

You may participate in these sessions from any location that has a telephone for only $20 per telephone line. These teleconferences are now scheduled throughout the year. Topics covered are:

Leader Recruitment and Retention
Promoting Your Club Program
Basic Training
Group Discipline

Pioneer Clubs training teleconferences will benefit every club coordinator and leader—and it's easy to register today! For a complete schedule and online registration forms, visit http://www.pioneerclubs.org/trainingwork.htm. We hope you can join us!

Reflections

Kids volunteer because they’ve been asked—many don’t believe they have much to contribute to adults. Are you encouraging your club members to find ways in which they can serve?
How can you encourage your members' parents to become more involved with Pioneer Clubs?

Lighter Side
A little child in church for the first time watched as the ushers passed the offering plates. When they neared his pew, the youngster piped up so that everyone could hear: “Don’t pay for me, Daddy. I’m under five.”