GOD AND CHURCH TRULY WAS A “JOURNEY” FOR MONTANA FAMILY

The Krenik family of Billings, Montana used their summer camping trips and car rides to help Cole (age 13) and Kyle (age 11) earn their God and Church religious awards.

 “What actually started out as my way to fit one more thing into our lives, turned out to be the best thing ever,” said Mary Krenik. “Last spring when it was time to get going on God and Church, I was reviewing the Counselor Manual, and my first thought of “how can I possibly squeeze this in” was quickly replaced with “when we ‘journey’ to Yellowstone would be a perfect kickoff to our project. And it was!”

God and Church is a Bible-based curriculum that is built on a “journey” theme. Participants embark on a spiritual journey with Christ to discover and participate in the worship, witness and ministry of the church. Students write postcard summaries of their discoveries and create either a photo album or a video as a record of their journeys. How appropriate that Cole and Kyle earned their award while on the road!

In preparation for their journey, Mary filled a milk crate with art supplies and found two three-inch binders to hold their work. The binders and milk crate went everywhere with the Kreniks last summer. According to Cole, “the backseat of our car was pretty messy when we had all our stuff out, but we didn’t care.” But their effort paid off. According to Kyle, “We took turns looking up Bible verses as we drove down the road. It made the trip go by fast.”

Drawing the postcards was one of the highlights of the God and Church program for Kyle and Cole. Not only do they like to draw, Kyle and Cole have also kept a postcard collection since they were very small. It started when they kept the postcards that family and friends sent to them while on trips, and then it continued as they purchased their own cards to remind them of their own travels. As they embarked on their God and Church journey, they dug out their postcard collection and added it to their crate. They also added new “homemade” postcards to their collection. Kyle’s favorite was the drawing he made of Lake Yellowstone. “I know Jesus walked beside lakes like me and he knew about fishing. I like to fish.”

Completing the God and Church requirements while on the road took planning and determination, but it reaped huge benefits. Here’s how Cole put it:  “When I was confirmed we went on a retreat. Jesus often went on retreats. Not exactly like camping or going on vacation but sometimes when you go away you can think about things that you are too busy to think about at home. I like these programs. I plan to do the fourth one.”

Earning a God and Church award is hard, but it can also be fun. Thanks to the Krenik family for showing how to transform a summer travel schedule into a journey with Christ!