Speakers at this year’s GARBC conference are pointing out that God is the center of worship, and even the children are learning this truth. Kids4Truth Clubs Program Specialist Marrena Ralph and a team of volunteers from local churches are running a mini Kids4Truth Club this week, where students are learning about God.
Ralph has used Kids4Truth Clubs in the children’s program of recent annual conferences and says it has been her joy to watch children learn and enjoy the program. “We like to tie the children’s meetings into the theme of the adult services by using a Kids4Truth Clubs doctrinal theme that covers the basics of the adult theme,” she says. So this year children are studying doctrinal theme 2, “The Greatness of God.” They are learning and reciting from the TruthBook (student book) and are earning both individual and team rewards for participation and reciting the memory work.
Ralph describes the children’s program as a week full of fun, fast-paced activities that engage and motivate learning. Staff and volunteers work individually with all the children to help them memorize the materials according to their abilities and learning styles. “We use fun memory techniques that include hand motions, full body activity/motion, crazy voices, and repetition that includes visual, auditory, and kinetic learning styles,” she says.
The team-based review games use trivia questions from the lessons, memory work, Kids4Truth Clubs trivia, and facts about the workers. Questions such as these, Ralph says, motivate and encourage the children not only to pay attention to the lessons and learn the memory work, but also to build relationships with the workers—both of which will help students grow spiritually during the week. Ralph and the staff are praying that the children not only enjoy the week, but also grow spiritually and, like their parents, leave the conference spiritually refreshed.
