“Voyagers is basically Journey Groups for
children,” said Marianne Perry, who led the fifth-grade girls this year in the
program. It’s a discipleship program at CPC for children in third through fifth
grade that is geared to support parents as they take the primary
responsibility of discipling their children. This past year on Sunday
evenings, children received an engaging introduction to what it means to be a
disciple of Christ. Then parents took their kids to the next level by
continuing the experience throughout the rest of the week: Take-home
supplements equipped parents to have a devotional time with their children that
tied to the Bible lesson.
“The
material is great; it’s not fluffy,” said Elise Bosscher, the leader for the
fourth-grade girls. Leaders work through John Piper’s curriculum To Be Like Jesus, which comes from his
Children Desiring God series.
Brian Keen, a CPC elder who filled in as
the fifth-grade boys leader early in the year, added that the material “pushed
kids to a mature discussion that they normally wouldn’t have had at their age.
It was pretty deep.”
Voyagers follows
the T.E.A.M.S. model for discipleship. Jennifer Reinecke, the director of
children’s ministries at CPC, described how it works: First, kids receive a
basic understanding of a Bible lesson (Truth) and discuss how it applies to
their lives (Equipping). They have the support of an adult leader, the
other group members, and their parents as they attempt to live it out in their
daily lives (Accountability). Then the kids learn to talk about their
faith and to serve others in the church and community (Mission). The
groups pray from lesson applications, missions, and church-wide prayer concerns
as well as requests from group members (Supplication). Fun activities
finish off the evening.
“It helps kids get serious about their
walk, and they help their peers in their walk,” Brian added. “My oldest
daughter Joanna, who is ten, went through Voyagers, and rather than being told
the right thing to do, she actually saw examples – leadership by example rather
than just being lectured to.”
Elise shared that her girls experienced
several “aha!” moments. “I loved it when the girls put something we talked
about into practice and came back the next week to tell about it, and when they
came in with serious questions that they may have been too nervous about asking
a parent or teacher. They were questions about life, faith, God – they felt
comfortable asking in the Voyagers atmosphere.”
As Marianne concluded, “I wish I’d had
this when my kids were little.”
The
Voyagers program will start up again in the fall. If you are interested in signing up your kids for the program OR if you would like to help disciple kids in Voyagers, please contact Jennifer Reinecke at 727-2661 or email jreinecke@covenantpalmbay.org.