Spotlight

Love First, Lead Second

Location: Calvary Apostolic Church San Antonio, Texas Club Director: Amanda Butler Pastor: David K. Caruthers Amanda has quite an insight into leading the young girls in her church and offers some great suggestions for TCG meetings as well.
	What prompted you to get involved with the young girls at your church?
	I was already involved in Children’s Ministry when I was asked to start a TCG chapter for the young girls in my church. Children’s Ministry is my heartbeat and this passion carried right in to TCG!

	What obstacles have you had to overcome while overseeing the group and how?
	Our biggest obstacle would have to be attendance. We started our kickoff event with 5, then dropped down to a steady 2 for awhile. I'm very excited to say though that now we have a regular attendance of about 5-6. This came through church growth and through TCG consistency. I stopped cancelling meetings for small attendance and started sending out email reminders the week of. I also make it a point to find my girls throughout the week remind them about the meetings and tell them how much I want them to be there.

	What have been the most fun/effective meetings for your girls?
	I've found that my most effective meetings are well planned and prepared for and are hands on. If I can keep their hands busy, I can keep them focused!

	Give three ideas that other TCG groups may want to try.
	TCG Pajama Party—we partied in our PJs! This was an outreach event for the girls, designed for them to bring their friends. We played games, ate pizza, decorated sleep masks and had fun! We also had 2 brand new visitors! Christmas Play—Every year we have our own TCG Christmas Play! Which is literally me handing out scripts (of the Bible story about the birth of Jesus), name tags (Mary, Elizabeth, Angel, Joseph, Narrator, Etc) and random props (broomsticks for staffs, scarfs, a baby doll, a fake beard, etc) and assigning each girl to a role. The play is never rehearsed and is always awesome! Sometimes the girls have to play multiple roles which is always fun, and we get to spend time during the holiday season actually celebrating Jesus! We do this in place of a traditional Christmas party, and we use the same script every year. Bible Scavenger Hunt—I placed about 20 items on a table and gave the girls a list of scriptures. They had to look up each scripture and identify which item matched that verse. Some items were easy, like a leather belt for 2 Kings 1:8--"So they answered him, A hairy man wearing a leather belt around his waist." and some were a little more abstract. This lesson was fun because it made the girls really dig into the Word and gave searching practice to those who were a little less familiar with the Bible.

	Do you offer incentives to the girls for bringing friends, accomplishing goals, good attendance, etc?
	I do little incentives every now and then. Some things I've done are: randomly handed cash to the ONLY girl who brought her Bible with her that night, a gift card drawing for those who could recite the books of the Bible (old and new testament...they had a few weeks to prepare), and give certain responsibilities to girls who arrive early (like being the TCG secretary, etc...they really like this for some reason)

	How has TCG affected you personally?
	TCG has deepened my walk with God, it's so amazing! I feel an incredible amount of responsibility for the way I act around my girls. This includes the way I act (both in and out of church), dress and speak. Over the growth of TCG I also feel a growing sense of accountability. I spend more time preparing for meetings and more time studying. I'm learning to retrace my steps as a Christian and "relearning" the basics. Up to this point in my life it's been enough for myself to know why I live the way I do, but now I'm facing a time where I need to understand certain principles well enough to pass it on to the next generation. "Because I said so" definitely does not cut it!

	Do you keep a constant relationship with the girls in your group? Can you see changes in their lives because of it?
	I feel like I have a pretty tight bond between myself and my TCGers (as I've labeled them). I've known many of them since I was teaching them in Sunday school, so that helps, but I also have to constantly work at keeping up with them. As preteens, they're always changing! But I notice that I have a better response from them as a result of being "friends" outside of TCG meetings. They're more open in meetings and they don't shy away from me when I talk to them outside of TCG.
	How often do you meet? Do you have helpers?
	We try to meet every other Friday or just 2 Fridays each month. As of last year I have 2 ladies (Victoria Lopez & Britni Smith) in the church who help out, which is awesome! They rotate months with one another and when we do have 2 meetings a month, they teach one of those lessons. This really helps relieve some of my work load and prevents burn out!
	Is there anything else you would like to add, maybe encouragement for other group leaders?
	If I could pass anything on from my experience with TCG I would say: Always pray and always be prepared! Young people can always sense these kind of things...they really know when you've taken time out for them especially, and when you've just thrown something together last minute. And I would also advise other leaders to love FIRST, lead SECOND. In my teacher certification classes I learned an awesome piece of advice I'll remember forever--You're a leader and an example, but without a child's love and respect, you don't have their mind. Without those things, you'll never be able to teach them.

Note: If you would like your TCG Club spotlighted on TCG, please contact: Debbie Sanders DSandersHawaii@aol.com

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Spotlight

Love First, Lead Second