From Tore's father, "P.R.A.Y. was a meaningful ongoing evening devotional for Tore and me that stretched over eleven years -- all the way from second to twelfth grade. In the reflective warmth of the late evening we talked over the enduring things of life and God's place for us in His cosmos. It occasioned many significant conversations. Again, thank you for this effective ministry. It was a truly faith fortifying experience for Tore."

Tore took his faith to school and was one of the leaders of his high school's faith club. He's now onto St. Olaf College to study chemistry in the fall and to be a witness to Christ to his fellow students.

Translation:

The members of The Boys Scouts Pack 808 in Puerto Rico are very happy and proud, after several of our boys and girls completed the Protestant emblem and catholic emblem of the PRAY program. We were very enthusiastic about ordering books, completing the requirements under the supervision of the counselors and planning the respective ceremonies in each church for the delivery of the awards. The boys and girls testified to how the program helped them get to know and get closer to God. We are sure that the seeds sown in their hearts will bear eternal fruit.

On Sunday, July 4, a Tiger, Webelos, and Boy Scout were recognized by First Lutheran Church of Bowie, MD for completing the Good Book, Trees, Making Room, and Tents and Shelters sessions of RP3.

Congratulations!

Four Star Award Recipient Justin B. started “Easter Goodies from Youth to Youth” as a God and Family service project in 2009. It is still going strong 12 years later. This year Justin was at the University of Louisville studying bio-engineering, but he still found time to assemble and donate 30 baskets to Family & Children's Place. The baskets were for ages ranging 0 to 14 years old, and each contained not only candy but a stuffed animal, age-appropriate book, and toy such as a Lego set or Fisher-Price Little People playset.  Boy Scout Troop 1 in Paducah, KY also adopted the EGYY Easter project and donated baskets to local domestic crisis centers. A grand total of 346 baskets (and untold blessings!) have been delivered, all starting 12 years ago from Justin's God & Family service project!

Ascension Lutheran Church
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Landover Hills, MD

Young scouts in Ascension Lutheran Church made Alleluia bookmarks to decorate a tree on Easter. Because the forecast was calling for rain on Easter Sunday, they hung their bookmarks on a cross inside the church instead. The children learned about trees and helped at their church workday while earning the Bible Basics RP3 “Trees” patch.  Click here for related story.

Submitted by: Sally Hiller

"The Sycamore Tree is more than 100-years-old and while not an easy one to climb, it is easy to understand why short Zacchaeus did. As Parker, Straton, and Julien experienced the lessons on trees, they learned to identify 10 different trees, discovered ways in which they could bear the fruit of patience, joy, and self-control. To put all of this into action, they helped clear some bamboo, branches, and vines at the workday at their church."

Kristin R.
Four Star Girl Scout
Houston, TX
St. Matthew's United Methodist Church

Kristin earned her Four Star award in February, in time to serve as liturgist on Scout Sunday!

Michael A. earned his God and Family award and had some help from his Cub Pack friend. Here they are making pizza dough. They blended it, had it rise in the bread maker and then kneaded it before placing on a pizza stone in the oven. They loved it!

Elizabeth A. 
Four Star Award
Brentwood, TN
American Heritage Girls
Brentwood United Methodist Church

Grace and Ryan W.
Four Star Recipients
Cypress, TX
Good Shepherd United Methodist Church

The P.R.A.Y. Board of Directors includes representatives from local Girl Scout councils. The following Girl Scout CEO’s from the 2020 P.R.A.Y. National Board together are sponsors of the Great Trees patch:

Tracy Keller – CEO Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast, Chesapeake, VA

Roni Luckenbill – CEO Girl Scouts of Western Ohio, Cincinnati, OH

Vikki Shepp – CEO Girl Scouts of Orange County, Irvine, CA

Joy Wheeler – CEO Girl Scouts of NE Kansas and NW Missouri, Kansas City, MO

The release of the Great Trees RP3 Patch coincides with GSUSA's Girl Scout Tree Promise. Thank you, Girl Scout CEO’s, for your leadership and passion in supporting Faith Based Initiatives within the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. Thank you for sponsoring the Great Trees patch!

Jesse Trigg
St. John AME Church
Zoom Sunday School Program

St. John's virtual Sunday school program has been using the Bible Basics RP3 Patch Series from PRAY.  It takes a month to earn a patch. Each Sunday school lesson lasts 40 minutes and begins with prayer and ends with a Kahoot! game with questions on the Bible story. Students received a banner along with doubled-sided tape to display their RP3 patches. Patches are a fun, visual reminder of all the Bible stories they studied in Sunday school! Thanks to Jesse Trigg for stopping by the PRAY office and sharing her enthusiasm for the program with us!

Green Hill Presbyterian Church
Girl Scouts of Southern Alabama
Girl Scout Sunday Celebration
 

Some members of Girl Scout Service Unit 923 participated in the Girl Scout Sunday service at Green  Hill Presbyterian Church on March 21, 2021. They began the service with a flag ceremony, sang "On My Honor" and even got the congregation to sing "Softly Falls." After the service, the Girl Scouts set up a "Pinwheels for Peace" display on the church lawn as part of recognizing World Thinking Day. "We are thankful to the congregation at Green Hill for continuing to support our local Girl Scouting program." 

John P.

Eagle Scout John P. of Troop 310, Chartered to American Legion Post 759, was recognized on February 7, 2021 at Chatham Baptist Church during Scout Sunday services with the God and Life religious award. John also received the Four Star Award, recognizing that as a 3^rd grader he completed the God and Me award, as a 5^th grader he completed the God and Family Award and as a 7^th grader he completed the God and Church award.

Congratulations, John, on your accomplishments! May you always “Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Sally Hiller is using the “Tents and Shelters” patch with some young scouts and is pleased with how well it serves in preparing for Easter. Here’s what she had to say:

We had a great adventure with the Tents and Shelter Unit. We learned about sacred spaces and how we might use our gifts to help create the outdoor sacred space for Easter. While we will not be building a tent, we will be serving by working in the cemetery and decorating a tree with Alleluia bookmarks that we started making.

The scouts will be removing all the old (artificial) flowers from the graves, picking up fallen branches, and where leaves have gathered - rake them. The Easter service is held in the cemetery. This is a little cemetery at the church, about 100 gravesites and an older congregation. So this is a service project that helps them as well. We will decorate the alleluia tree for Easter Sunday.

We had a great time talking about sacred space and how we create it. I appreciated the three stories. Thank you.

Submitted by: Sally Hiller

[Look for an update to this story after Easter when we post a picture of the Alleluia Tree!]

Lone Scout Chris G. received his Four Star Award from P.R.A.Y. in 2019 and then became an Eagle Scout on Sunday, December 6, 2020 at Ivey Memorial UMC in South Chesterfield, Virginia.

Many – even those in Scouting – may not know what a Lone Scout is. A youth may apply for membership as an individual Lone Scout only if he or she cannot conveniently join an existing Cub Scout Pack or Scouts BSA Troop. The biggest drawback is not having fellowship and teamwork with a Pack or Troop.  Despite these challenges, Chris excelled in all aspects of Scouting and many of his service projects were for his church: Chris built an outdoor prayer labyrinth, provided sermons for Scout Sunday, and did a complete rework and expansion of an outdoor chapel for his Eagle project. Chris was also recognized by the Foundation of Evangelism with the honored Harry Denman Evangelism Award for his exceptional personal faith journey and impact on the faith of others.

“A four star performance all around.  We heartedly congratulate Chris and watch for what he may do in the future.” – from Bill Chaffin who submitted this article.

Henry C. became an Eagle Scout in May 2020, and in August 2020 he received his P.R.A.Y. Four Star Award. Now 15 years old, Henry had been working on the P.R.A.Y. Program since he was in 1^st grade. His pastor Bob Dickerson baptized him when Henry was 8 years old, and he has seen him continue to grow in faith. Henry is never afraid to share his faith with others and often he will stop and pray with anyone he thinks needs an encouraging word and prayer. Henry’s mother is grateful for the P.R.A.Y. program: “I would like to thank everyone at the P.R.A.Y. Program for all your dedication and hard work to keep this important program going. Strengthening our youth in our Christian faith is so Important. God bless you all.”

Check out the Four Star listing going back to 2005: 

https://www.praypub.org/four-star-award-history

Birds of the Air RP3 Patch
Multi-level Girl Scout Troop

Submitted by Haley Cottrell, Girl Scout Leader:

Here is a picture of a Brownie Girl Scout as a Bird … wearing all the parts of a bird so we better understood the biological makeup of our feathered friends!

Our multi-level troop of Christ-centered Girl Scouts did our Birds of the Air / Animal Habitats event at Chippewa Nature Center in Midland, Michigan! It was a 2-hour event outside: 32 degrees & overcast skies in the beautiful, wooded landscape of God’s Country! The girls were eager to view many local birds from their binoculars (and through the ancient art of taxidermy). We learned not only about different birds & their habitats, but their biology, lifestyles, songs, and interesting personality differences! We also completed the RP3 Requirements because they married beautifully into this program. We skipped the RP3 popcorn throwing activity because of COVID-19 but we did so MANY fun bird activities which included collecting natural materials to make our own bird nests. We also made two different bird feeders: one was a large pinecone covered in bird seed & crisco (to avoid problems with peanut allergies) and the other was a milk jug with Windows cut out of it & hand decorated by the girls. The girls enjoyed the RP3 Bird-themed Bible stories and the thoughtful conversations inspired by them. Birds are facilitating creatures and we had a wonderful time learning more about them. Covid-19 may have made some things in this world very challenging but getting outside in the crisp winter air is still a treat!