RA FAQ

• What is Royal Ambassadors (RAs)? 
• What resources do I need to start Royal Ambassadors at my church? 
• What resources does each boy need to get started in Royal Ambassadors? 
• How many leaders do I need to start a chapter? 
• Are there any fees/dues to pay or contracts to sign before you can start Royal Ambassadors? 
• If Royal Ambassadors is primarily for boys, how do we involve our girls in mission education? 
• Where can I get more information about the RA ministry before I commit to purchasing materials? 
• Is there training available for new leaders or those who need a refresher? 
• How do I begin planning a budget for my RA ministry? 
• Are there any promotional resources we can use to explain the program to our churches? 
• How do I find out if any neighboring churches have Royal Ambassadors? 
• How do I order RA resources? 
• Do we need to register our RA chapter? If so, how? 
• What are the components of the RA ministry? 

What is Royal Ambassadors?

Royal Ambassadors (RAs) is a Bible-centered, church-based, Southern Baptist missions-learning ministry for boys in grades 1-6. The ministry involves boys in learning about missions through weekly meetings, mission projects, interest activities, meaningful relationships, and an advancement plan. For more than 100 years Southern Baptists have accomplished this in RAs through a mentoring relationship of Christian men to boys. Children in grades 1-3 are Lads, and those in grades 4-6 are Crusaders.

What resources do I need to start Royal Ambassadors at my church?

• Leading Royal Ambassadors – This manual provides an overall description of the RA ministry. Inside you’ll find information on how to start the ministry, how to train leaders, and how to find the basic materials you’ll need.
  
   
• Lad Leader and Crusader Leader – These magazines are created especially for RA leaders. Sixteen pages of meeting plans for the month are inserted into the center of the magazine the boys use. Leader magazines contain session preparation, discussion questions, interactive activities, mission projects, and additional leader helps. One-year, nine-month, quarterly, and monthly subscriptions are available.
  
   
•  RA Resource Book – This free download will help you plan and organize your chapter. The annual Resource book contains helpful forms, planning info, and more.
  
   
• Annual RA Resource Kit – The resource kit contains all the items you need to support your weekly meeting, including posters, maps, videos, and games.

What resources does each boy need to get started in Royal Ambassadors?

• Lad or Crusader magazine – These award-winning publications contain the essential content for RAs. Each monthly magazine focuses on a biblical virtue and RA Pledge part by featuring missionary stories, learning activities, fun games, jokes, and news about RA chapters. One-year, nine-month, quarterly, and monthly subscriptions are available.

How many leaders do I need to start a chapter?

You’ll need at least two leaders for up to 10 boys. We suggest one additional leader for every five boys after that.

Are there any fees/dues to pay or contracts to sign before you can start Royal Ambassadors?

No. As Southern Baptists, the money your church sends to the Cooperative Program supports the RA ministry.

If Royal Ambassadors is primarily for boys, how do we involve our girls in mission education?

Girls in Action (GA) is the counterpart for girls in grades 1-6. The Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) produces the GA materials specifically with girls in mind. Visit the WMU Web site for more information.

Where can I get more information about the RA ministry before I commit to purchasing materials?

Contact the Mission Education team of the North American Mission Board at 1 800 634-2462. You may request a free information packet. Sample copies of the RA magazines are available upon request.

Is there training available for new leaders or those who need a refresher?

RA training is done primarily through state conventions. Ask your state convention for more information. Find your state’s RA contact.

How do I begin planning a budget for my RA ministry?

The cost to run an effective RA ministry depends on how many boys and how many leaders will be participating. Typically, you’ll need to budget $20 for each student for 12 monthly issues of the magazines, a Personal Growth Plan Workbook, and a membership patch/pin. You’ll want to budget $17 for each leader. That’s the cost for 12 monthly leader magazine issues. You’ll also want to purchase one Resource Kit ($27.95). A chapter with 10 boys and two leaders would need to budget at least $260 for the year. You probably want to add some additional money to your budget to pay for additional patches, mission projects, vests, promotions, other events, and leadership training. You can use this budget form (PDF) included in the RA Resource Book to project your own budget. Then go over this budget projection with your church budget.

Are there any promotional resources we can use to explain the program to our churches?

Yes! There are downloadable and free promotional resources:

For parents: “What is your Son Worth?” (Order free brochure and specify quantities) 

For the church members: “What Do the Boys in Your Church Need Most?” video

How do I find out if any neighboring churches have Royal Ambassadors?

Contact the person in your state Baptist convention responsible for Royal Ambassadors to find other RA Chapters in your area. Find your state’s RA contact.

How do I order RA resources?

Do we need to register our RA chapter? If so, how?

Yes! Each RA chapter should register every year. Registration will help your state RA leader know that your church has a chapter. You’ll also get information about training sessions and regional RA events. Plus, you’ll get a cool registration certificate that you can frame.

When you register your chapter, you’ll also get an opportunity to name your chapter. Many RA chapters choose to name themselves after a missionary that is connected to their church. It’s a great way to personalize missions for the boys. You can even send a copy of the registration certificate to the missionary or his or her sponsoring church.

You may name multiple chapters after the same missionary or have a different missionary per chapter.

What are the components of the RA ministry?

1. Chapter Meetings
2. Interest Activities
3. Mission Projects
4. Advancement
5. Meaningful Relationships

How do those components fit together in the RA ministry?

Chapter Meetings
Every week you’ll hold a 45-minute to one-hour gathering where you’ll teach the boys about missions through the Lad Leader and Crusader Leader magazines. In the leader version of the magazines, you’ll find a five-part meeting format in the lesson plan. Each of the five parts uses teaching activities to keep the boys’ interest. These activities reinforce the monthly virtue focus throughout the month’s meetings. Boys in all six grades can be placed together for same activities or grouped into various grades for more specialized activities. The suggested meeting activities can be flexible depending on the abilities of the RAs or the resources at hand. At the beginning of each plan there is a Prepare for the Meeting section. In this section, there are suggested items to gather or to order to assist with teaching. For more information, e-mail us or listen to the training podcast. Each meeting part has a suggested time frame for pacing the meeting. In some meetings, you may choose to shift time from one point to another.

Here are some additional questions for your meeting plans: (Think unconventional)

• Do activities always need chairs and tables?
• Can the activity be done outside?
• How can pencil and paper activity be accompanied with a physical activity?
• How can reciting a Bible verse or reading a story be accompanied with a physical activity?
• Does the room have space for activities that need movement?
• Are there supplies on hand like paper, pencils, scissors, etc?

The leader inserts of Lad Leader and Crusader Leader magazines provide many good suggestions for each of the parts of the meeting.

Interest Activities
Understanding boy appeal of activities is important in holding their interest. Safe yet physical play is important. What does the boy enjoying doing? Is it making things? Figuring puzzles? Building something? Taking it apart and putting it back together? Does it involve using and learning how to use tools? Check your RA Resource Book for a risk management plan involving activities and present your ideas to church leadership for their input.

The more the activity captures the boy’s imagination and interest, the better the response and he will keep coming back. The RA organization involves boys in interest activities for outreach and evangelism through projects like RA Racers and crafts. You can obtain them by contacting Royal Racers.

Camping is another way of creating interest. In RAs the teaching of camping is Campcraft. A Campcraft leader manual is available from the Campcraft Web page. Many of the suggested interest activities come directly from the Lad and Crusader Leader magazines.

Mission Projects
The Lad Leader and Crusader Leader magazines have suggested projects that can involve planning in all four meetings to prepare boys to impact their community for Jesus. These mission projects can involve the total church. The projects can involve other RA groups within the church and RA groups in other churches working together.

Advancement (Personal Growth Plan)
Projects and participation in weekly meetings that reinforce biblical virtues are the basis of Advancement. Advancement is designed to help create meaningful relationships with the boys. The goal of Advancement is for boys to live out the RA Pledge as Ambassadors for Christ. Each grade level book has five sections with a record sheet for point credits. Points are gathered during the weekly meeting as the five parts of the meeting are completed. Pins and patches may be earned by the RAs as the points accumulate.

Meaningful Relationships
RAs does its best to point boys to Christ as Savior and Lord of their lives. The leader will have mentoring responsibilities as he or she shares his or her personal journey with Christ with the boys. The boys learn cooperative mission work that Southern Baptist use effectively through the Cooperative Program. RAs gives the boy an opportunity to be part of God’s mission in the world with a passion to reach people for Christ. The commitment of leaders as mentors to the boys is critical to the success of RAs. You, as a leader, have a vital role as a mentor.

Still have questions? E-mail royalambassadors@namb.net or call 1 800 634-2462.