Waffles and Warriors
Training up the Next Generation through Father/Son Discipleship
Reaching out to the younger generation can be challenging, but Ron Meador, the father of two teenage sons, considers it part of his servant heart, his job and his life.
As a Prestonwood member for 16 years, Ron is grateful to have been fed spiritually by ministry leaders, Bible Fellowship classes and faith-based relationships. In turn, he has led his family in a closer walk with God, and he's realized the need to reach out to the next generation.
Five years ago, he began serving as a Bible Fellowship Table Leader in the Student Ministry, helping guide teens as they explored the Bible and its direction for their lives. Through that experience and as he serves now as Executive Director of Prestonwood Christian Academy, Ron has found that young people need constant encouragement, not just on Sunday mornings or Wednesday evenings.
"Being at Prestonwood, I have learned how important it is to reach out to the younger generation and help them grow their relationship with Christ," Ron said. "And being involved in Prestonwood youth ministry guided me to lead this discipleship group at my home for dads and their sons each Tuesday morning for breakfast and a lesson."
Armed with the manual from the winningest coach ever, Ron and six other men gather at 7:15 a.m. to help train a team of spiritual warriors-their sons. After devouring waffles, Ron, his 13-year-old son, Corey, and the others spend an hour building spiritual foundations through practical applications that will help them rely on the Word of God when facing daily temptations and struggles.
Since they began meeting three years ago, they have examined biblical basics, and they have studied heroes of the Bible and Christian apologetics. Each week, the boys also delve deeper into the Word with homework assignments.
"We've spent a lot of time talking about the basis for Christianity in our apologetics lesson," Ron said. "We've discussed whether Christ is the only way to other religions and how to witness to those individuals."
They often have speakers of other faiths discuss what they believe, which helps the group understand how best to witness to them.
"The interesting part is that we live in a neighborhood with a high concentration of Jewish people, and it's real important to help them understand what their classmates believe," he said. "Last week we had an interesting guy come in and talk about what Muslims believe."
The study group of dads and sons has proven so effective that Ron plans to start other discipleship groups to complement academic lessons.
"We're hoping to start a dad/son and dad/daughter discipleship group at PCA in the fall," he said.
Ron realizes this would have never happened had he not obeyed when God led him to reach out to the next generation. And at the same time, it has helped him grow in his own walk as a believer.
"We challenge the boys to make a difference for Christ in their school by praying and encouraging someone," he said, "and as dads, we make the same commitment in our workplaces."
