Foundational principles and tools of AHG to equip and partner with volunteers,
creating a culture for girls to walk in the authority of their calling in the Kingdom.
October 2021
Member Placement
Imagine hearing about AHG for the first time on your local Christian radio. You had been looking for something to help your shy daughter make friends, learn some skills, set goals, and have a framework for you to help her into “adulting”. Your excitement is overwhelming. You talk to your daughter, she is cautious but open and you both start to dream together about the future. You find your local Troop and inform your daughter that it is “just a matter of time” before she becomes an American Heritage Girl! You send your email to your local Troop and the next day you receive an invite to visit the upcoming Troop meeting. Your daughter enjoys the visit and asks to return to better get to know the girls. Three years later you rejoice over how your daughter has grown in her faith and in confidence as she completes her Abigail Adams Level Award Project. How amazing it is that a journey that started with a short email yields transformation in your daughter!
AHG has been blessed with over 26 years of ministry to girls and their families. One of the ways families become involved with AHG is through contacting a Troop on AHG’s website. The Find a Troop map allows families to search for a local Troop and request information about the specific Troop. There are currently over 10,000 girls that are searching and waiting to be placed in a Troop to experience faith, service, and fun.
The Troop Board has access to view and replies to member placement requests through AHGconnect. Member placement requests can be submitted year-round as families learn about AHG and seek out Troops. It is essential for Troop Board Members to respond to member placement requests promptly. Families are often seeking information such as:
- Troop Meeting day and time
- Age of other girls in the Troop
- Troop cost
- Volunteer requirements
As families express interest in joining, the Troop can invite the family to visit a Troop meeting. Member placement is not only a way to grow and reach more girls for Christ, but also to invite adults to partner and join in the mission of building women of integrity.
Life Skills
In the AHG Program, girls will acquire Life Skills often through badge work and patch programs. AHG Badges can be found in the Girl Handbook, while Patch Programs can be found on AHGresource. AHG Badges are broken down into six Frontiers: Heritage, Family Living, Arts, Outdoor Skills, Personal Well-Being, and Science & Technology. Through earning badges girls have the opportunity to learn new topics and skills and may discover new interests, passions, or career opportunities.
Earning badges and patches should be a fun experience and not feel like schoolwork for the girls. When selecting badges and patches for the Program Year, Adult Members can discuss with the girls their interests. Life Skills is just one of the six Program Emphases. It is important to balance Life Skills with the other five Program Emphases for the Program Year.
To equip you with implementing this Program Emphasis, AHGresource is furnished with tools such as A Christ-Centered Balanced and Progressive Program, and Program Emphases Overview. A training is also available through the AHGequip App, AHG Badges: An Overview of the Life Skills Program Emphasis. The 2020 AHG Girl Handbooks each provide a page of information which is a great way to begin the conversation on this topic with the girls. (TH/EX, Page 46; PI/PA, Page 52)
Spirit of the Badge
The AHG Program’s framework is designed to support a girl’s development of a Biblical worldview with a strong focus on a girl’s relationship with Jesus Christ. Behind every badge requirement is an intentional skill or principle for girls to learn and discover as she grows into a woman of integrity.
The Spirit of the Badge gives individual Troop Ministry Teams the freedom to adapt the AHG Program to their needs while keeping a standard of excellence across the AHG Ministry. Some Troops may encounter limitations and may need to find a creative way to accomplish the heart behind a badge requirement. To carry out the Spirit of the Badge, Troop Unit Leaders use discernment while looking at the intent of the requirement and have the ability to teach the girl the same skill in a different way. AHG suggests the Spirit of the Badge Principle be applied sparingly. Examples of how to apply this principle are offered in AHG’s Spirit of the Badge Principle resource.
“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
1 Peter 2:4-5, NIV
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