Minogi

I hate naming things.  I feel an enormous pressure to come up with exactly the right wording that most accurately describes the thing I am attempting to name.  I try to keep it short, creative, thought provoking, and attention grabbing.  In case you can't tell, I'm not to good at writing "short" things.  I like words too much.

Well, long story short (kinda), we needed to name our Akina program on Tuesday nights. We really wanted to highlight the literacy aspect of the program, because the night is all about literacy.  We teach actual reading strategies, but then we also teach life skills (life "literacy" if you will) and Biblical literacy.  However, it seemed like other churches had already taken the creative one word names.  (Seriously, think about it.)

We decided, after careful evaluation, that a single English word couldn't actually define the night.  So we started looking at Ojibwe.  (I mean, 'Akina' works!)  We stumbled across the word "Minogi."  In Ojibwe, the word means (he or she) "grows up."  "Minogi" is one word packed full of meaning.  It was a word that clearly defined the heart behind what we do on Tuesday nights.  We want to see kids grow.  We want to see them grow in faith and knowledge of the Bible, and we want to see them grow educationally, emotionally, and socially!  So the name "Minogi" stuck!

I love teaching literacy on Tuesday nights so far this year.  We have had double the number of students coming from last year, which is pretty awesome!  Kids have chosen to read "The Action Bible," plus we will be starting a unit on the Tale of Despereaux. We always use our reading time to connect back to the Bible.  We are especially excited to continue teaching the new, updated Answers in Genesis curriculum too.  Keep praying for the kids as we teach them essential skills to "grow up" both in Christ, and in life!

Teaching AIG on Minogi nights!