SILVERHILL, AL (January 7, 2009) \u2013 Tina Grider, the youth pastor at Silverhill Covenant Church, knows that attendance will decline in her senior high Sunday school class during this time of the year. It\u2019s deer hunting season.
\n
\nChildren and parents will miss class more frequently so that they can hunt together. But Grider wanted to do what she could to encourage the hunters to pursue God as they wait for hours in tree stands for deer to happen by.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have a lot of time to sit, read, and think,\u201d Grider says.<\/p>\n
Because the church is focusing on scripture memorization, Grider came up with the idea of putting together cards containing verses that the hunters could take with them. Reflection questions are on the back of each card.<\/p>\n
Each of the passages is related to deer, Grider says. The most obvious passage was Ps. 42:1 \u2013 \u201cAs the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another card references 2 Samuel 22:33-35 \u2013 \u201cIt is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cards are laminated so that they won\u2019t make noise. The lamination also allows the hunters to spray the cards with doe urine without being ruined, she says. She placed the cards on a ring attached to a carbineer so they are easily accessible.<\/p>\n
The hunters already are giving her ideas for next time. They have requested that the cards be on darker paper, for instance, because the white cards might give away the hunters\u2019 location.<\/p>\n