Staff Bio - Sami Bookout, Children's Ministry Assistant Director

Who is Sami Bookout?  Sami is the Assistant Director of the Children’s Ministry at Arvada Covenant Church, which means she wears many different hats.  She is in charge of loving and taking care of volunteers, as well as scheduling Small Group leaders and Large Group teachers. She does behind the scenes work in Children’s Ministry, as well as teaching right in the spot light, as Sami teaches preschool age up to elementary.  You can find Sami coordinating any special event that involves Children’s Ministry. From Kids’ Camp to Community Fall Festival, Sami is right there making it happen.

Sami was born and raised in Denver, living much of her childhood in Arvada. Sami has a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications and excited to start the Masters of Education program in the spring ’09.

But who is Sami….really? I love movies, my husband and I go on date nights, which means we go to dinner and a movie. Funny, neither one of us ever tire of that. I have two daughters, Delaney and Kaylie. They are my center. They keep my head straight and remind me how much our Father loves us.

I’m a bit feisty, enjoy Muay Thai kickboxing, running marathons, and dancing to eighties music…just to embarrass my girls. My favorite band is U2, my favorite album has to be Joshua Tree, and one of my favorite person is Bono. He’s an inspiration.

This is an ongoing theme because one of my favorite countries to visit is Ireland. My husband, Shawn, and I love to travel too, it’s just a little expensive to do for every date night.

We have two dogs, a Rat Terrier and a Dachshund (wiener dog), who just ran in the Long Dog Derby. She placed 2^nd last but we consider it another crazy adventure in the life of the wiener dog.

I aspire to be like Mother Theresa, totally living my life for Christ, walking in love, and living as an advocate for children. Understanding that our journey leads us to where we are now, and trust that God will help me through the next bend in the road.

Staff Bio - John Mullis, Children's Ministry Director

Here is some random information about John:

John has been the Children’s Ministry Director at Arvada Covenant Church since 2006.  He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Performance from the University of Northern Colorado in 1990 and a Post-Bachelor Certification in Music Education in 1992.  While teaching instrumental music to 5^th and 6^th graders for 10 years in Chandler, Arizona he earned a Master’s Degree in Education emphasizing elementary curriculum and instruction.

Currently he is responsible for providing vision and leadership for the entire birth-5^th grade children’s ministry at Arvada Covenant Church.  Over the past 10 years, John has run children’s ministries at churches in size from 150-4000.

He and his wife Laura have been married for 18 years and have 4 kids from 11-16 years old.

His music degree was in trombone performance.  He taught 5^th and 6^th grade band. He was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

He’s lived in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona.

Favorite book of the Bible right now is Colossians.   Thinks Gideon was cool even though he wasn’t a great leader to start out.  Favorite authors are John Piper, Brennan Manning and Henri Nouwen.

Has read about 10 books on Ernest Shackleton and is fascinated by story of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

Has to repeat Proverbs 3:5-8 to himself often.

He is an avid road cyclist and mountain biker and has been since he was 12.

He likes cats and hopes you’re okay with that.

Staff Bio - Beatrice Shoemaker, Children's Ministry Assistant

My name is Beatrice.  I work part time in the Children’s Ministry and just LOVE it! I enter children’s attendance numbers into our system, print rosters, prepare all the stuff that is needed for Sunday school and check and make sure that our classrooms have all that is needed. So if something is missing in the classroom, or the supplies for teaching Sunday school to our kids were not complete, let me know!  It is great to have a chance to influence kids in a positive way and let them know that God is our best friend that can be trusted, no matter what!

I grew up in Sweden in a town called Örebro with my mom, dad and 4 years older sister. Traveling runs in the family with my grandmother leading in traveling to the most exotic places (visiting head hunting tribes in Borneo for instance), my dad the most frequent (traveling to Germany about every month for a couple years), my sister the highest altitude (Himalaya), and me the lowest altitude (Amsterdam, which is below sea level!) So I thought marrying an American that was traveling around the globe would be a fabulous idea. So here I am, married to Kenny who grew up here in Arvada but happened to be in Amsterdam when I was there. I’m so happy God is such a great matchmaker and allowed our paths to cross. We got married in Sweden 16 years ago (-92) and have lived in the US since 1995. We have two children who are 10 and 7 years old. They love traveling too, especially to Sweden.

When I don’t run around church preparing for all the fun activities we have planned for each Sunday, I’m home enjoying my own family. I also recently took up painting which definitely is an adventure in it’s self, but it’s a great way to switch gears and slow down the pace. I read a lot whenever I can. I especially like books that teach me about living my life better, serving our Lord more effectively, and loving Him deeper.

3 Resources to Help You Lead Your Child

We believe that no one has more influence on the spiritual development of a child than the child's parents.  So each week we give these resources to parents when they pick up their child from Launch.  These pieces are designed to help parents know what to say and what to do to be the spiritual leader in their home and to help them lead their child into a growing understanding of Jesus Christ.

Small Talk Cards are an useful tool for parents of preschool age children.  The card lets parents know the Bible story reference, Bottom Line and Key Question. It also has a Teachable Moment.  Use these throughout the week with young children to start small talk about God and Jesus Christ.  The cards focus on the three main points that are repeated throughout the year: 1. Jesus wants to be my forever friend. 2. God made me. and 3. God loves me.

'Fridge Door Cards are for the parents of a 1st-5th grader so they will know what their child learned in Launch! at ACC on Sunday.  We want parents to be able to talk with their children about the things that matter most.  God things.  The 'Fridge Door Card includes the monthly virtue definition, memory verse, weekly Bottom Line, Bible story references and a few discussion questions.  Parents use the information on this card to start a conversation with their child and to reinforce the learning.  It works great in the car, bedtime or at meal time.

God Time cards are for 1st-5th grade children.  Each set has 4 short and sweet devotionals that are directly related to the lesson the children learned in Launch! at ACC on Sunday.  Parents can really help their child  learn and develop the habit of Bible study by doing these with them.

Remember, 100 years from now all that will matter is what we believe about Jesus Christ.  These tools will help parents lead their children into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  Nothing is more important than that.

Blessings.

Scrip - Practical, painless way to raise money for your child’s camp and mission trips

By Carol Gustafson

If you have kids, you probably know that families and fundraising go together like peanut butter and jelly or field trips and permission slips. It seems like every time we parents turn around, we’re writing another check for the soccer team, the band trip, or the summer camp. To help ease the strain on our family’s budget, my three kids have sold candy bars, cookies, popcorn, magazine subscriptions, butter braids, wrapping paper and even—get this—birdseed! But these days especially, we need all the help we can get.

When I first heard about the grocery scrip program—or fundraiser—here at Arvada Covenant, I immediately wondered, “What’s the catch?” And guess what? There isn’t one. Here’s how it goes: you write a check to ACC for $50. You get a $50 King Soopers gift card in return. The grocery store donates five percent, or $2.50 from every $50 purchase, and the church puts that money into an “account” for your ACC student. Buy $100 in scrip, get $5 in your family’s account. Buy $500 in scrip and $25 goes right to your account, and so forth. You get the math.

The money in your child’s account can be used to pay for church-related activities like Covenant Heights summer camp, Kids Camp registration fees, youth group trips and mission trips. And, since the money can accrue over the years—there’s no use it or lose it—we actually started our ACC scrip account for our kids a few years back when they were all still in elementary school.

Need more enticement? Remember, your King Soopers gift cards can also be used to purchase gas and all the other gift cards sold at the grocery store.You can get your neighbors and grandparents to participate.You could even ask people here at church (think empty-nesters) to buy the scrip and name your child as the beneficiary.

The scrip is sold nearly every week between services down in the Family Life Center. When you need to spend the money in your account, you just call Sheila Knight in the church office with your request.

I don’t know about you, but I have all the gift wrap I need, candy goes right to my waistline and the birdseed…is for the birds. Here’s what I love about this program: we all gotta eat, each and every week. This simple fact makes the King Soopers scrip at ACC the most painless, practical fundraiser I can do.

Determination 10.05.08

This month with 1st-5th graders we’ll be focusing on (1) determination—deciding it’s worth it to finish what you started. (2) Have you ever thought about the example of determination that God has set for us? God doesn’t start what He doesn’t finish—ever. (3) And He wants us to have determination too. Just consider Paul. Paul worked harder (not only preaching and mentoring young leaders, but planting churches and discipling them) and gritted his teeth through more bad stuff (beatings, hunger, shipwrecks, mean people) than most people do in a lifetime. God gave him the “work” of sharing Jesus with others, and he was determined to see it through to the end. So this week, help kids think about some hard things they may face in which they’ll have to be determined to keep doing the right thing. What are some right things that kids will need to be determined to keep doing? Reassure them that God will help them every step of the way, just like He did for Paul. (4) And just like Paul, God can use their determination to show other people what He’s really like.

Memory Verse: "Let us keep on racing the race marked out for us."  Hebrews 12:1