• What is PWAP?
• Joining Pwap
• Requesting Pwap
• Mission Statement
• What We Believe
• Organization and Roles
• Leadership Training

What is "PWAP" anyway? PWAP is a team of teens and adults dedicated to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ to the local community and beyond, using Puppets, Mimes, Drama, and Music.

PWAP once stood for Puppets With A Purpose. Over the years we have added Mimes, Music (Youth Band), Drama, and Short Term Missions. Since puppets are only one aspect of PWAP we have changed PWAP to now stand for People With A Purpose. And the organization is now known as PWAP Ministries.

PWAP began in the mid-1990s. Jim Brock and Dennis Yost had a vision for using puppets to minister to children. The mime team was added few years later. In more recent years we have also added a drama team, youth band, and short-term mission trips. The PWAP Ministries at First Baptist Church of Marysville have been very blessed to have ministered in a variety of places in Washington State and Canada.

Some events we've been able to minister in are:

• Hopefest
• Luis Palau's Puget Sound Festival (Seattle)
• Pigout (Marysville)
• Kids Fair (Mt. Vernon)
• Short-Term Mission (Eastern WA)
• Conducted Puppets Conference (Canada)
• and various other events

The PWAP team is comprised of youth from 7th to 12th grades and adult learship. PWAP is funded by First Baptist Church (FBC) of Marysville and therefore only youth of FBC can apply to PWAP. PWAP will take applications anytime of the year but will only bring on new teens when needed. Since PWAPs ministry is from January through August the most likely time we will bring on new teens would be at the begining of our year in January.

The requirements for Joining PWAP are as follows:

• You must love Christ and have accepted Him as your Lord and Savior.
• You must be actively developing your relationship with Jesus Christ through a Quiet Time (QT) each day.
• You must have a desire to share Christ with others.
• You must attend FBC regularly.
• You must be active in one or more of the following FBC youth ministries: Sunday school, AWANA, youth group.
• You must be teachable and willing to learn.
• You must be in junior high or older to be a puppeteer, and you must be selected by the leadership to be in mimes.
• You may not engage in any public displays of affection (PDA) at any time that PWAP is together as a group. Any PDA at other times should be conservative since reputation is a key part of PWAP.
• At all times while participating in PWAP events, you must be in a group of at least three members.

To apply, download and print both the "Application" and "Policies" forms below. Completely read the "Polices" page an fill-out the "Application" form. After completing the application turn it in to Dennis Yost. He can let you know if there is an opening on the team. When the opening comes the teen and the parent is asked to meet with Mr. Yost to build an understanding of the commitment the teen is agreeing to.

PWAP Ministeries exist to serve God. Typically we are funded by First Baptist Church of Marysville and do conduct fundraisers to support this ministry. We will perfom at no charge if at all possible, but are pleased to accept love offerings. We are open to anything that allows us to minister to the general public. We are limited to the number of performances we can do each month since PWAP is all volunteers.

We perform for a wide variety of audiences from youth rallies with youth band, mimes and dramas to Hope Clubs (much like a VBS) with puppets, mimes, drama, music, snacks, games, and craft. We also have a fair ministery performing puppets, mimes, dramas and making animal balloons. We are trained to give gospel messages and all our teens are trained in one-on-one counseling.

To train teens to serve Christ out of their local church using Puppets, Mimes, Dramas, Music and Short Term Missions as ministry tools

Main Purpose Statement

To glorify Christ by proclaiming the Gospel to our community and beyond.

Our beliefs center around the Bible as God's written Word. In it, God has given us principles, which give us guidance in every facet of our lives. It answers philosophical questions ("Why are we here? Where are we going? Why is the world the way it is?") As well as very down-to-earth, practical questions, ("How should I deal with my parents or siblings to have the best home possible? What if my friends want me to do something wrong? What about drugs, alcohol, or sex outside of marriage?").

We believe the overall message of the Bible can be distilled down to the following:

• The Bible presents to us a God who is personal, creative, loving, and just. This God created the world by the power of His spoken word in six days. He continues to sustain it and to hold it together. He is master over the forces of nature and is perfectly able to suspend the natural laws He set in motion when it fits His designs to do so. He is limited by neither time nor space and is all-powerful, able to accomplish His purposes without having to compromise His nature.


• The Bible confronts us with the existence of evil in the world. This evil came through the rebellion of Lucifer, one of God's highest angelic servants. Not content with this status, Lucifer declared his intention to be like God. Other angels joined him in his rebellion, which resulted in their being cast out of God's presence onto the earth. Ever since then, Lucifer (or Satan) has been an adversary of God's, attempting to thwart God's intentions at every opportunity.


• The Bible tells us that God created mankind to be a companion for Himself. His intentions towards mankind have always been the most loving and caring imaginable. However, Lucifer (or Satan) saw mankind as a weakness in God's plan and set his sights on corrupting them. This he did through his temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The resulting sin broke mankind's fellowship with God, because although God loves men and women immeasurably, He is nevertheless also completely sinless and perfect Himself and is unable to tolerate sinful beings in His presence. In his fallen state, it was impossible for mankind to be the companions to God that God had intended them to be. Through the fall into sin, mankind is by nature a child of sin, depraved and capable of all manner of evil intentions and works. No child born of man since the children of Adam has been able to escape the curse of sin.


• The Bible explains that God knew men would try to make themselves good enough to please Him. In order to show men that this was impossible, God chose a nation of people, the Jews, and gave them a perfect law which they were to follow. They were unable to do so as a nation. As individuals as well, neither the Jews nor anyone else has been capable of living up to the perfectly righteous standards which are necessary to be acceptable to their Creator. His purpose in choosing the Jews and giving them His law was to demonstrate mankind's inability to save itself from the curse of sin.


• The Bible shows that "in the fullness of time," after man's inability to help himself had been amply demonstrated, God Himself entered the world to redeem mankind from their condition. Born as a child, the son of woman but not of man, Jesus of Nazareth was the only man ever born on the earth who did not suffer from the curse of Adam. His conception by the Holy Spirit gave Him the nature of God, and His birth by Mary gave Him the nature of man. Thus, He was truly fully God and fully man. Living a sinless life, He so angered the religious authorities that they arranged for His execution. Little did they realize that in doing so, they were bringing about the fulfillment and completion of the law which they had tried for so long, but in vain, to live up to! Jesus Christ became the sacrificial Lamb who was able to take away the sins of everyone in the world, past, present and future. When He rose from the grave, He conquered sin and death and showed that God's power to give life - physical, but even more importantly, spiritual - was greater than Satan's power to take it.


• The Bible offers to every single person on earth the chance to be redeemed out of his or her sinful condition and made a child of God. This is not a status which can be bought or earned, and all those who try to attain it by these means fail miserably. However, the sinner who humbly acknowledges his or her inability to save him- or herself is miraculously transformed into a new creature, perfect in God's sight (though still subject to sin on this earth) who has the promise not only of a purpose-filled life on earth, but also of eternal life with God after he or she dies. Those who accept redemption and salvation from their sins through Jesus Christ become children of God and their names are written in Christ the Lamb's Book of Life. They are sealed as God's children for all eternity and cannot ever be lost again.


• The Bible informs us that the conflict between God and Satan will not last forever. There is coming a day when God will finally judge Satan and cast him forever into punishment, along with his angels and those of the human race who chose to follow him rather than God. At that time, those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be received into heaven and eternal fellowship with God, while those who rejected God's gift of redemption through Jesus Christ will be cast out of God's presence to endure torment and remorse for all eternity. Thus, the question of who Jesus Christ is and what He means to every individual is a very pressing one. The answer which each individual gives to that message will determine his or her eternal destiny.

If you have not answered this question, you need to right away. None of us knows how long we will be on this earth; when our days are over, we will face God in judgment and the question: "Is his or her name written in the Book?" We hope the answer in your case will be "Yes, it is, Lord!"

• CE Committee
• Youth Pastor-Christian Holst
• Program Director-Dennis Yost
• Puppets/Mimes/Drama Directors-Bruce Lapham, Brittany Yost

Leadership Training Program

The church has a responsibility to continually raise up new leaders, fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19). We have created a process for developing and multiplying "tomorrows" ministries leaders, both youth and adults. It is important that we identify and lift up gifted people into leadership. This program builds on the philosophy that adults and youth can and will work together.

Ephesians 4:11-12

And He gave some {as} apostles, and some {as} prophets, and some {as} evangelists, and some {as} pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ.

Matthew 20:26-28

"It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

1 Timothy 4:12

Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but {rather} in speech, conduct, love, faith {and} purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.

Mission

To equip teens and/or adults with “Christian Servant Leadership” skills that can be passed on to the world around them (Mathew 20:26-28).