AURORA, Ill.—Village Baptist Church in Aurora and Millersville Baptist Church in Taylorsville, North Carolina, held Kids4Truth training sessions led by Marrena Ralph, clubs program specialist. As the mother of five children who went through Kids4Truth Clubs, Marrena is passionate about Kids4Truth. Anne Slate of Village Baptist found Marrena’s personal story, the history of Kids4Truth, and Marrena’s passion compelling.
Marrena’s family lived in an area with a high Mormon population. Not wanting to hide every time someone came to her door, Marrena wanted to know why she believed what she believed and wanted her children to know too. Kids4Truth answered that need. Marrena volunteered at her children’s club, eventually taking leadership and serving for 18 years. In 1998 she went to work full-time for Kids4Truth International. Marrena knows the program inside out—not only as a mom and leader in her church but as an employee who has created programs, events, and resources, as well as leading training events like the ones in Aurora and Taylorsville.
Flexibility is built in to the program, so the way one church uses it may not be the same way another church uses it. Kids4Truth teaches 12 doctrinal themes. The program was designed to be flexible, adapted, and customized to fit the needs of almost any church. Common customization includes how awards are earned, the pace at which a church goes through a book, ages that use each level, and choices of activities. Marrena is flexible too. She feeds off each specific audience—what their needs are and what they want to know more about. So she tailors each training session to the needs of the host church.
Anne says the training provided “a lot of information to take in” but that it helped Village Baptist better understand Kids4Truth. The church is considering using the program to help “equip parents to spiritually lead their children, as well as provide a midweek connecting point for the adults at Village,” Anne says.
Marrena says she absolutely loves helping churches understand the curriculum. Because she wants to help, she makes herself available to churches. Contact her at marrena@kids4truth.com or 866-754-4272 to learn more about the program or for specific help. Also visit try.kids4truth.com to review one doctrinal theme for free.
