The Changes Program is designed for 6th graders to help them face the spiritual, social, mental, physical and emotional changes that they are facing or will face in the near future. Changes helps the students understand the Christian faith better and/or helps confirm their beliefs as young Christians. Changes, also provides opportunities for students to do hands on ministry projects. The ministry projects create awareness of the world around them, and minister as God calls us to minister. The program also teaches responsibility and industry. Students will strive to meet certain requirements, which will allow them to attend the final camping and hiking trip at the end of the program. Some organizations/groups might not choose to go camping, which is fine. However, there are many benefits to taking a camping trip. Several are listed below in a following paragraph. One huge advantage that will be mentioned right now is that camping is relatively inexpensive.
Through Bible teaching the students will be given the
opportunity to receive a Biblical Worldview, which consists of:
a) there is only one true God, b) saved by grace and not by works,
c) existence of the devil, evil and Hell, and d) responsible to
spread the word of God. The teaching part of Changes will grow and
strengthen the students’ faith in God. Because discipleship consists
of both teaching and building relationships, Change Ministries uses
Deuteronomy 6:4-9, which states, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God,
the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments
that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on
your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and while you
walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie
them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write
them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
Through relationships the students are allowed to build
trust with friends and older adults. The teaching of the curriculum
will give the students a base for their beliefs, but relationships
will show them how to live and encourage them to grow in their relationship
with God. It is up to the leaders to go out and become a part of
the students’ lives. Ministry is about relationships. If you look
at the life of Christ, He took 12 disciples and discipled them.
Jesus also took time to develop other relationships. Not only do
we see the relationships Christ shared with others, but we also
see a relationship of God to humanity and humanity to humanity throughout
the Bible. In essence, what we see in the Bible is a community of
faith. The decision to become a Christian is an individual choice,
but growth in God is helped through community.
Bottom Line: If you want a ministry to work you must teach people a core of beliefs and be in relationship with them.
Through nature, Changes teaches the pre-teens that, “The
heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of
the Lord’s hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after
night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where
their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends
of the world” (Psalm 19:1-4a). TV, radio, movies, video games, theme
parks, etc. most of the time do not proclaim the glory of the work
of the Lord. Although, God gave us the minds, creativity and resources
to create all these things seldom do people stop and think, “Wow,
look what God has done.” More than likely, people stop and say,
“Wow, look what man has done.” These things are not necessarily
bad, but Change Ministries focuses on looking at the glory and work
of the Lord through nature because it is even more incredible than
all the technology in the world.
Oftentimes, the world is full of noises and influences that distract nearly everyone from God. One of the themes of this program is found in Psalm 46:10, which states, “be still and know that I [Yahweh] am God.” Hiking and camping trips allows the participants in Changes to get away from the noises and influences of the world that so easily distract and truly focus on God. If we cannot be still how can we know that Yahweh is God. It is also the goal of Changes to teaching stillness to the students by encouraging them to start devotional times on their own.
With God’s grace, it is the intent of Change Ministries, through the relationships formed, being still, enjoying nature, ministry projects, and class lessons, to see God’s changes in the students and the adults of the Changes Program. It is our prayer that your church might see 2 Corinthians 5:17 come alive (“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he/she is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”).
Changes
Program Summary