Hello and welcome to Team COC’s online journal dedicated to bringing you the latest news of our status in Varsity USA. “What’s Varsity USA?” I hear you asking. Well, this is where churches (or districts) from all over the US gather together AWANA 24/7 Varsity clubbers and send them together as teams to compete against each other. In the past, LA has organized many seniors and juniors to form Team LA to send to Varsity USA, but this year that will not happen. Therefore, Dave and Janel Burkhead, directors of the 24/7 program at Church of the Canyons, resolved to organize a team to send to Texas so that none of our precious seniors would miss out on all the fun and excitement.
“Texas?” I hear you asking. Allow me to clarify. Traditionally, Varsity USA has been held in Chicago, IL near the AWANA headquarters. Last year, it was held in (of all places) Omaha, Nebraska! This year, they relocated to Fort Worth, Texas!
In the footsteps of past Team LA members, we decided to post journal entries on our excursions, adventures, and perils in this foreign land to keep the friends, family, fans, and absolute strangers updated on our progress. Consequently, this nifty site was born! Each journal entry will (hopefully) be posted one day later, so don’t panic if you come here on Friday and don’t see Friday’s entry. You can panic if you see Saturday’s.
Meet the team:
Jared Axen - Church of the Canyons
Seth Axen - Church of the Canyons
Jody Bowers - Faith Community Palmdale - Citation Award
Brittany Burkhead - Church of the Canyons - Citation Award
Kayla Burkhead - Church of the Canyons
Karl Cashwell - Church of the Canyons
Jessica Davis - Crown Valley Commnunity Church in Acton
Matt Derr - Crown Valley Community Church in Acton
Amy Hillhouse - Bellflower Brethren in Long Beach - Citation Award
Steven Mandrillo - Crown Valley Community Church in Acton - Citation Award
Jonathan Moore - Crown Valley Community Church in Acton
Rebecca Moore - Crown Valley Community Church in Acton
Christine Shaffer - Church of the Canyons
Shawn Williams - Church of the Canyons
We have a ripe crop of Citation Award winners attending with us. The Citation Award is the highest award available in AWANA, the result of completing all 10 Truth and Training and 24/7 manuals. In Texas, our Citation Award winners will receive their awards from Art Rorheim, the founder of AWANA.
Allow me to introduce you to our leaders and those running this site:
First, we have Dave and Janel Burkhead! They are basically running the team and holding it all together. Not only are these guys dragging their own kids around with them on this trip, but they also are putting up with the rest of us! Isn’t that incredibly nice? They deserve a great big round of applause for their hard work.
Second, Bobby Price will be accompanying us as our Assistant Games Coach! Bobby competed with Team LA in past years so he shows us the tips and tricks on how to cut our humongous times down to nice, small numbers. He also will be putting up with several of us in a hotel room (good luck!) and providing quite a bit of the fun of the team. Three cheers for Bobby!
Tee Bowers, along with Janel Burkhead, is coaching our two Bible Quizzing teams. Not only have they organized the material and threatened us if we don’t memorize it (those slave drivers), but they do the same to themselves so that they will be able to catch any errors or snags in the Quizzing questions.
COC’s youth pastor Roger Horning will be our hometown webmaster. All entries are sent to him, and he posts them up for us! He will be providing the stability of the website while the rest of us undergo the craziness of Varsity USA. Thanks Pastor Roger!
You are probably wondering who this little voice is and to whom he refers when he says such words as “I” and “me.” Well, wonder no longer! I am Seth Axen, your on-location web designer and entry-writer. I designed this site and I will be posting the entries. Naturally, I will also be recruiting random team members to assist me in writing the daily journals so that I don’t completely bore you. I say I am the webmaster, though I will not be touching a computer the entire time we’re in Texas. That will be accomplished by my beautiful mother, Beverly Axen, and my awesome aunt, Marydell Hotchko!
Last, but certainly not least, we would like to ask for your prayers on this trip. Already, two members of our team have become sick. Please pray that we’ll all make it there safely, that there will be no injuries or sicknesses, that we will glorify God in everything we do, that we will be great witnesses of God, and that any other unforeseen problems may be solved. Thank you, and continue to check back daily for the entries!
Sincerely,
Seth Axen
|
