BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

In January 2005, the Johnsons moved to Charlotte, N.C. That fall, Jenni met Matt Drennen, and less than six months later, they married. Her father laughed and said, “I told you so!” A Trio No More They had been in Charlotte only three years when Dana got a call from Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas. The church had never had live praise and worship for kids, and wanted Dana to come on staff as their children’s worship pastor. He accepted the position and Jenni’s parents moved back to Texas. Although Dana and Linda were now busy with their responsibilities at Gateway, the family still rallied to orchestrate the Superkids’ ministry at conventions. Though now living in Charlotte, Jenni was one of a team of five people who wrote the material to launch the first Superkid Academy Children’s Church Curriculum in 2009. ************************************* Follow Us on Twitter for timely words from Kenneth & Gloria twitter.com/CopelandNetwork ************************************* In 2011, Dana’s schedule was becoming overwhelming. Between overseeing eight worship teams and producing his first children’s worship album at Gateway Church, he didn’t know how much longer they would be able to work with Superkids at the conventions, which took months of preparation. 2013 marked the Johnsons’ 20th Superkid Academy at a convention. They allowed that milestone to be their last. After a family discussion, Dana and Linda met with Kellie and gave her their resignation. It was time to turn the reins over to a new generation. Back home in Charlotte, Jenni felt as though she was a balloon that had been untied from its anchor, adrift. It felt strange as she prayed to hear the Lord’s next plan for her life. A New Door The tables were laden with sumptuous foods at Thanksgiving in the home where Jenni and Matt were celebrating with his family in West Virginia. Jenni’s phone rang, and she answered. It was Kim Stephenson from KCM. “Hey, guess who’ll be coordinating Superkid Academy at convention next year?” Kim said. “Who?” Jenni responded. “They asked me! Want to help?” Jenni froze, the hustle and bustle around her fading into the distance. Working with Kim would be a dream, she thought. Kim’s administrative gift would take the burden off of her and allow Jenni to do what she loved without carrying the full responsibility. “I prayed about it and told Kim I’d do it,” Jenni says. “I realized that I wanted to keep Superkids alive. When I realized that this had been the Lord’s plan all along, I started laughing and called my dream team: my parents. What I suggested was that they carry no responsibility for planning, staffing or oversight. What we needed was for Commander Dana to preach the evening messages and direct the praise and worship. We needed Commander Linda as our morning speaker. “I thought it was a win-win situation, but they just said they’d pray about it. I didn’t hear from them for three weeks. I sweated, but refused to put any pressure on them. Finally, they heard from God and agreed to do it. While they minister the Word, I’m the creative director. I write the scripts, train and direct the team. During the 2014 convention, we ministered to more than 900 children.” Today Matt and Jenni Drennen are raising a new generation of Superkids. Their children, Rhett, age 7; Macy, 5; and 3-year-old Cora-Jane, are already dreaming about becoming cadets. To date, through the ministry of Superkid Academy, Dana, Linda and Jenni have empowered Superkids at 795 services over 21 years at 48 conventions. They have planted the Word of God into the hearts of 53,614 children, of which 2,313 received Jesus as Lord and Savior and 3,185 received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. “None of us ever planned on working in children’s ministry,” says Jenni. “Back in California, my dad led a men’s Bible study before our pastor asked my parents to take over as children’s pastors. My dad thought, Man, I don’t even like kids. They annoy me. The Lord must be testing me just to see if I’ll obey, so I’ll do it. “Thank God, he answered that call, fell in love with children’s ministry and learned to live by faith. Because of KCM, and what we all learned about faith, I’m choreographing dance instead of sitting in a wheelchair. Through KCM, our family discovered our destiny.” Over the years, through Superkid Academy, KCM has planted faith into the hearts of boys and girls who’ve grown up to be mothers, fathers, pastors, teachers, evangelists, doctors, attorneys, educators, politicians, military leaders, pilots and scientists. A whole generation of children didn’t have to wait until they were adults to do the work of the ministry. By the time they reached adulthood, they knew their gifts and who they were in Christ. Jenni, her parents and all those who worked with Superkids lit a flame that is shining the light of God into the world. V 16 : BVOV

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