WausaAwana

05/30/2026

True and False

Friends can have a huge impact on our lives, for good and ill. In fact, some research shows that friendships and peer pressure can sometimes have a greater influence on kids than even their parents. Scary, right? It doesn’t have to be.

Instead of jumping to worry, statistics like these should encourage us to have open, honest and encouraging conversations with our kids about the types of friends they have and teach them to have discernment in their relationships. The reality is that as they grow, we can’t be with them all the time, especially during the school day. But we can give them tools to help them tell the difference between true and false friends and know what to do when their peers are leading them astray. Here are a few questions you can teach them to use to evaluate:

Are my friends kind? Do they care about me and others?
Can I depend on my friends to be there for me when I’m going through a hard time?
Do I feel pressured to join in with things my friends are doing even when I know they’re wrong?
Do my friends model Christlike behavior?
Do the people I surround myself with make me want to be more like Christ and encourage me in my walk with Him?
Child discipleship isn’t just about teaching our kids “the right answers,” but also making wise decisions in every area of life that will help them draw closer to Christ and become more and more like Him every day. It’s not easy, but we can praise God that He’s with us every step of the way.

Talk About This One Thing:
“Who are the friends that mean the most to you and why?”


Continue the Conversation:

1. Together, memorize Proverbs 17:17: A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

2. Read to your kids about friendships in the Bible like David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 19:1–7; 20:1–42) and Job’s friends (the book of Job). Discuss the difference between these friends and the qualities to both look for and avoid in friendships.

See you next week!
The Child Discipleship Team

05/23/2026

For Good

Recently, my son and I were talking about the Fruits of the Spirit. We got to goodness and faithfulness and I asked him, “What does that mean to you?” His confused response made me realize just how difficult these big concepts can be to explain in practice.

As parents, what are we to do? For me, the best place to start was with God Himself, the originator of these attributes.

Our God is so good. His love is steadfast and it endures forever (Psalm 136). Even when we lack faith, He is faithful. And even though we were full of sin, He showed His goodness and mercy to us by paying the debt for those sins Himself through His Son Jesus Christ (Romans 5:8). Because of God’s goodness, through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can do good to others. The more faithfully we obey and trust in Him, the more we see the evidence of His faithfulness and goodness all around us.

So, when you talk to your kids this week, before mentioning practical steps they can take to demonstrate the Fruits of goodness and faithfulness, first point them to God, who first modeled them for us. After all, without Him, they, just as all things, are impossible for us.

Talk about this one thing:
“How has God been faithful to you? How has He been good to you?”


Continue the Conversation

1. Read aloud Psalm 136, pausing to explain and ask questions for comprehension. Once you are finished, play “Forever” by Chris Tomlin — sing and have a dance party together!

2. Together, memorize Psalm 136:1: Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.

3. Together, make a list of ways God has shown His goodness and faithfulness to your family.

See you next week!
Melanie Hester and the Child Discipleship Team

05/15/2026

When Less Is More

Do you ever feel like you’re drowning in “things to do”? Or have you ever felt like you spend more time driving your kids to activities than you do at home with them?

We live in a culture of “more is more.” And if you’re a parent or caregiver, you probably feel the pressure to get your kids involved in more activities, more sports, more academics, more, more, more. Because if you don’t give your kids opportunities to do every single thing, then you don’t really care about them, right?

But what if more isn’t always better? What if doing less actually leads to
more — to happier kids, to a healthier balance, to more opportunities to grow in the Lord together? As the school year draws to a close, now is a perfect time to check in, evaluate how things are going, and see what might need to change that will help you do less so you can have “more”.

Here are a few questions you can ask:
Does our schedule allow us time to rest and spend quality time together?
Do our current family rhythms allow us to be intentional in our relationships with each other and with God?
What habits or routines should we keep, start or stop that can help us accomplish these things this summer?
We pray answering these questions will lead to more rest and more opportunities for intentional discipleship so that your family can be stronger and healthier in the ways that matter most.

Talk About This One Thing:
“Why does God say it is important to rest?”
(See Genesis 2:2–3 and Exodus 20:8–11.)

Continue the Conversation:

1. Together, memorize Genesis 2:3: So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

2. Take a look at your family’s schedule and see what you can change so that you can set aside time for intentional moments of rest.

See you next week!
The Child Discipleship Team

P.S. For more about this and other topics, check out the new season of The Child Discipleship Podcast! Episode one is out now, and new episodes will be released every Wednesday, with video episodes available on YouTube.

Child Discipleship Podcast: https://go.pardot.com/e/36072/podcasts-/wgk477/1255908744/h/w5tt6qIgrk_syG7o2Y8Eu4849hugBsRJ_-AVDIuxjA8

https://go.pardot.com/e/36072/v8cCXsJ-FgvXB1ctnnTyRnl2iVECVx/wgk47b/1255908744/h/w5tt6qIgrk_syG7o2Y8Eu4849hugBsRJ_-AVDIuxjA8

04/24/2026

When You Don’t Have the Answer

Dear Parents & Guardians,
Do your kids ever ask you questions like, “Why do bad things happen?” Or have they or their friends gone through difficult circumstances and they’re struggling with how to process them?

As parents and caregivers, it’s our job to walk our kids through them and help them understand when they have questions. But when we ourselves don’t have the answers, what are we to do? Here are few ideas and tips we hope will help:

Check in with yourself first. Are you worried about the situation? If so, stop. Ask God for peace, meditate on His Word and talk to others who can help you so that you can better help your kids.
Be honest but age appropriate. Depending on their age, kids don’t necessarily need every detail of what’s going on. But giving them general, high level facts about what’s going on can be helpful. Examples: Someone made bad decisions and hurt a lot of people; or, ____ is sick, so let’s pray for them.
Point to God and provide reassurance. Remind your kids that even though the world is broken, God has a good plan, He will always be with them, and they can trust Him. Reassure them that you are there for them too and they can always talk to you when they have
concerns.
We know navigating difficult circumstances with your kids can be … difficult. And we want to make sure you are equipped to handle whatever may come up. That’s why we created Talking Together: Truths for Tough and Timely Conversations. (The church has a bunch! Ask us for one of these mini-books!) And don’t forget to subscribe to the Child Discipleship Podcast for more rich, practical child discipleship conversations. (https://childdiscipleship.com/podcasts)

Talk About This One Thing:
“Is there anything you or someone you know is struggling with today?”

Continue the Conversation:
1. This week, look up verses in the Bible that point to the ways God gives us peace and protects us. The psalms and verses like Deuteronomy 31:6, Isaiah 41:10 and Romans 8:31 are great places to start.
2. Choose one of the above verses to memorize with your family and talk about how you’ve seen it be true in your life.

See you next week!
The Child Discipleship Team

04/20/2026

04/20/2026

This year we had 27 amazing volunteers devoting their time and energy to child discipleship through the Awana program. As a way of showing gratitude, 8 clubbers gave up an afternoon to make cookies for them. Here's the photos of that fun adventure.

#

04/18/2026

Thank you to The Boxcar Sweet Stop in Yankton for providing us a discount on candy sticks for our end of the year celebrations! Our clubbers enjoyed them!

04/16/2026

04/16/2026

Thank you to all who came to celebrate our wonderful clubbers last night! It was a wonderful Awana year!
Please keep following us here on the WausaAwana page for weekly discipleship tools, summer activities and more!

04/14/2026

Weekly Announcements:
No April Fool’s jokes in this bulletin! We are sadly down to only 1 week of regular club nights left. But we do have some fun summer options to stay connected to the kiddos so keep your eyes peeled for announcements about the Wausa Community VBS, the Camp Assurance VBS in the parks in various communities, summer camp and more!
Our Award’s Night will be April 15. We’ll offer supper at 6:00 as normal and then do the ceremony. ALL clubbers and parents are encouraged to come!
Have you gotten in on the GroupMe chat yet? Scan the QR code attached to this bulletin to get the announcements on your phone instead of on a paper.
Here are the verses to recite next week if your clubber is interested in finishing their book by the end of the year.
• Cubbies – 1 Corinthians 15:4, Acts 1:8
• Sparks –
o HangGlider – Ephesians 6:1, Obedience Chart & Review
o WingRunner – Philippians 2:14, Good Attitude Chart & Review
o SkyStormer – Review
• Truth & Training - Matthew 5:16 & Review
• Trek - Hebrews 13:5-6, Proverbs 18:24 & Review
This week’s memory verse trick is to try listening to an audio recording of it on repeat as background noise while you do other activities. Read aloud the verse into a program that records audio. Save it. Then set it to repeat. Then after you finish your activity see how much of it you can say from memory!
In celebration of Easter, we are sharing some Holy Week family resources on the WausaAwana page. Grab those and enjoy celebrating Easter all week long! Follow us on the WausaAwana page or the GroupMe Chat each week for photos and resources!