The Bold Beliefs of Preteens

This past week while we were filming a video for the upcoming tour, I was reminded of why I love preteens so much. The video we were shooting was of Johnny Scott (the director of our Jr. High Believe event) asking questions and getting responses from five preteen students. It was important to us that we get the student's actual answers, so we made a point not to script out or coach them on what to say. This meant that the preteens had the opportunity to say whatever they wanted.

Did you catch that? PRETEENS...ON CAMERA...ANSWERING HOWEVER THEY WANTED! Obviously I was a wee bit nervous. I'm even nervous now writing about it. My fears, however, were for nothing.

When the cameras began rolling and the questions were asked, all five of the students gave amazingly honest answers straight from their hearts. Were all of the answers correct? No. Were all of the answers perfectly articulated? Not really. But every answer was an honest response to what they truly believed. That's one of the things I love so much about this age. Whether they are right or wrong, articulate or inarticulate, they have no problem sharing what they truly believe.

Imagine if we could all be as bold as a fifth grader when it came to sharing the gospel of Christ with others. Imagine what the world could be like.

Patrick Snow

Wow, what a busy time of year this can be! The SuperStart! team has been very busy as we are trying to pull all the little details and last minute planning together for this years tour. As of tomorrow we are exactly 3 weeks out until our first event. While this is such a fun time, it can be a bit stressful once in a while trying to make sure everything is coming together just right.

I'm sure it is a busy time in churches as well... kicking off new fall programing, graduating students into new ministries, beginning new curriculum, trying to implement different elements. As we are journeying this busy season together, lets make it a point to not let all the details and frustrations that will inevitably come make us lose our focus on whats most important... leading students to Jesus.

While our ministries help direct students towards Jesus our desire should be to see them walk daily with Him. One way we can help students with this is providing tools that will encourage them to spend time in prayer and in the word. As I have been searching for preteen resources to have available at SuperStart! this year, it has become evident that they are few and far between.
However, I have found several that really speak to preteens and deal with the issues they are facing today.

-- The NLT Kids Bible: geared for students ages 8-13; "I believe" statements that identify important christian values and how they are weaved throughout the whole bible; key verses pinpointed for memorization; and very graphically focused for preteens

-- Manga Series: targeted for students 12 and up; using the popular Japanese cartoon style, these books share the Bible in a new way; currently two books in the series with three more to follow soon

--Through the Bible Devotions: 365 devotions written just for preteens; daily lesson but paint over all picture of God's plan; targeted for students 8-12

-- Whats a Girl to do: 90 devotionals written for preteen girls; fictional stories followed by scripture to show that todays problems can be answered by the Bible;

I encourage you to take a look at these resources and continue searching for tools that will encourage your students to grow and seek after our Lord daily.

- Teri Foreman