Acteens, Challengers help youth cultivate heart for missions work

Not every student who completes Acteens or Challengers is going to be a missionary. But some, like Laura Wilson Sharp who answered God’s call to the missions field when she was still an Acteen at First Baptist Church, Alabaster, in Shelby Baptist Association, do find themselves in that position. Today Sharp serves with her husband, Greg, in west Africa.
   
Candace McIntosh, executive director of Alabama Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU), said, “I can’t tell you how many appointment services I’ve been at where the missionaries tell how GAs, RAs or Acteens had a major influence on their decision to become a missionary. 
   
“When children are consistently exposed to missions as children and young adults, they naturally take on a missions lifestyle,” she said, noting that those who are not called to be missionaries may still have a heart for missions. “They are far more likely to support missionaries financially and through prayer.”
   
McIntosh, who also teaches seventh-grade Acteens at Eastern Hills Baptist Church, Montgomery, in Montgomery Baptist Association, said that when the missions education groups, such as Acteens (for girls in grades 7–12), are not prioritized on the church calendar, it is former Acteens who step up.
   
“What we are seeing are more Acteen groups meeting at untraditional times thanks to women who came up in Acteens or who have a daughter in GAs,” she said. “They are often the ones who will keep the program going because they recognize its value.”
   
Steve Stephens, who works with missions education for boys and men at the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, sees a similar trend in Challengers (for boys in grades 7–12). “Every year, in the fall, I get calls from five to six churches who want to start something for their older young men,” he said. “Many of those calling me are young adults who grew up in strong missions programs and have developed a passion to disciple others in missions.”
   
As much as missions leaders would be delighted to see their students surrender to full-time missions, the primary goal of both Acteens and Challengers is to teach young people how to be missionaries today in their neighborhoods, schools and families, leaders said. 
   
Stephens said one of the popular events statewide is the RA/Challenger Basketball Tournament held every February. Before RAs and Challengers can compete, they have to do five missions trips (three if they are return players), keep a journal of their experiences and write their personal testimony. Participation in the tournament is optional, but Stephens said each year, he sees more boys willing to do the work to get there. This year, 266 young men from 19 churches participated in the tournament. 
   
“The tournament is definitely a drawing card, but it leads them into doing something worthwhile,” Stephens said.
   
Wesley Brown, a RA camp counselor who is now a senior in high school, said the tournament was one of the main reasons his friends at Southside Baptist Church in Etowah Baptist Association agreed to be part of their church’s new Challenger program. 
   
“At first, it was about the basketball for most of them, but then we made these blankets for homebound people from our church and delivered them,” Brown said. “And we saw what a big difference those blankets and the time we spent with them made in their lives.
   
“After that, it became more about the missions trips and less about the tournament,” said Brown, who is considering a career in missions.
   
Not only does the tournament give young men the nudge they need to serve others, the personal testimony requirement also gives leaders precious insight into their spiritual life, said Stephens, who reads every testimony that crosses his desk. In this year’s pile, one boy wrote about his struggles with drugs and alcohol before becoming a Christian. Another 14-year-old wrote that he was angry with himself for trying to be someone he’s not. Still another wrote, “I know Jesus exists, but I’ve yet to experience His presence around me.”
   
“These testimonies help leaders know how to minister to the boys in their groups,” Stephens said. “It helps us see if they have a genuine relationship with Christ or not.”
   
Like Challengers, Acteens’ primary purpose is to help young women develop a heart of service. 
   
One aspect to Acteens is the Acteens Activators — an intense missions-training program. 
   
Faith McDonald, student and missions ministries consultant for Alabama WMU, said, “Our activators are often requested by missionaries because they have a reputation for being prepared and ready to serve.”
   
Katie Hepler, an Acteens Activator from Autauga Baptist Association, has gone on three Activator trips but said their 2002 trip to a federal prison’s women’s birthing center in West Virginia impacted her the most. “Working with these women, watching them deal with adversity was amazing,” she said. “They really appreciated us and what we did for them.”
   
Alabama ranks among the top two in highest number of Activators in the Southern Baptist Convention, McIntosh noted. Still she is concerned that youth are missing out on the benefits of gender-specific classes as churches put a greater emphasis on coed youth programs.
   
Greg Daniels, men’s ministry director and Challengers leader at First Baptist Church, Clanton, in Chilton Baptist Association, agrees and sees Challengers as a safe place for his students to be themselves. “You put them in with girls and their focus is on the girls not the Bible study and not the missions project. But more than that, Challengers may be the only place these boys get a positive role model.”