Awana 60th Celebration - Reaching the Community for Christ Since 1834

Reaching the Community for Christ Since 1834
Awana has been an ideal fit for the evangelistic approach of a North Carolina church celebrating its 175th anniversary.

Crab Creek Baptist Church in Hendersonville, North Carolina held its first service on October 11, 1834. The recent 175-year anniversary celebration focused on God’s faithfulness centered on the theme “To God Be the Glory.”

“This church stands on the gospel,” said Brad Knox, the church’s pastor. “That is why the church has stood the test of time.” Crab Creek has used Awana for 20 years as an outreach tool to its community

The 277-member church enjoys a rich history in the community, pointing thousands of people over the years to the Savior. The emphasis on evangelism and outreach makes Awana a perfect fit for the church.

“Awana has been a staple at our church ever since we started it,” said Trey Allman, who oversees Crab Creek’s Awana ministry. “The pastor that wanted to start Awana really had a burden for the children in the area. Awana really helped our church as an outreach through the years.

“Although families have come and gone, I believe a lot of the families that came to our church came for the Awana program for the kids. Then when the kids placed their faith in Christ for salvation, it drew the mothers and fathers to start coming to Sunday services and through that, they would also get saved. Awana has been very beneficial to our church over the years. God has truly blessed us.”

Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, people come to Crab Creek from both sides of the mountain for weekend services and for Awana.

Twenty years of spiritual impact through Awana
Crab Creek has run Awana for 20 years. About 70 children and youth participate in the program from Puggles (ages 2 and 3) through Journey (high school). Forty adults from the congregation serve as volunteer leaders, providing a great leader-child ratio for mentoring and teaching.

“Crab Creek was one of the first churches in the region to offer Awana in the community,” Knox said. “Awana has been and is an effective tool for our church. We have five people who have served in Awana all 20 years. Many have been leaders for 13, 14 or 16 years. They are really committed to serving the Lord.

“We’ve helped a few other churches get Awana started, too.”

“Crab Creek is doing a great job up on the mountain,” said Al Schlosser, a North Carolina Awana missionary who serves Crab Creek. “They are a valuable resource. When I need to show a new church what Awana is all about, I send them to Crab Creek.”

Numerous children and teens have been invited to Crab Creek and Awana programs through personal invitations. Every fifth Sunday, the youth of Crab Creek organize an outreach event for a different subdivision in the community to raise awareness about the church and Awana.

In an effort to reach more boys and girls with Christ’s love, Allman and his volunteer team have also organized:

Theme nights throughout the year
The Awana Grand Prix pinewood derby-style race
AwanaGames™, an annual athletic competition among area Awana programs.

Generation after generation
Allman literally grew up at Crab Creek. From the age of six months, Trey has called Crab Creek his church home. He is the fifth-generation family member to attend the church. Now his 9-month-old daughter, Clara, makes it the sixth generation.

Trey is also in his fourth year overseeing Awana at Crab Creek.

“Awana has meant a lot to me,” Trey said. “I trusted Christ for salvation through the teachings of Awana. It was very influential in my life.”

Trey started in Sparks (kindergarten to second grade) and went all through high school. He earned his Citation Award in 2001, the highest achievement in Bible learning from Awana.

Reaching kids—and families—on Wednesday nights
“I had never been a part of Awana,” said Knox, who has served as pastor for a little over a year. “I was completely impressed and excited to reach children with the gospel and teach them the truths of God’s Word. We also reach families.”

This ministry season, Pastor Knox started something new for parents. After parents drop their kids off at Awana, he teaches a Bible study for moms and dads. New visitors have attended each week.

“Several new people have come to church because of Awana,” Knox said. “We are a family-oriented church, and we minister to the entire family.”

Pastor Knox’s own family benefits from Awana, too. His 7-year-old twins attend Sparks. His 4-year-old daughter participates in Cubbies (preschool).

“I love to hear them say their Bible verses,” Knox said. “I’m thrilled my kids are a part of Awana and that they’re hiding God’s Word in their hearts.”

A family changed by the power of an invitation
Trey is grateful for the many ways God has used Awana in his life. He is also thankful for how God used him in the life of his best childhood friend.

“I invited my friend to Awana, and through this ministry, he trusted Christ for salvation,” Trey said. “Then he started bringing his parents to church on Sundays and his father, who had never trusted Christ, made a decision to trust Christ. His mom was already a Christian.

“So through Awana, my friend and his family came to know Jesus. His mother still serves in our Awana program at Crab Creek, and my friend is a pastor at a church in South Carolina.”

It’s Amazing
What God
Has Done

Otto Melby was a carefree 13-year-old from a loving Christian family in Chicago when an unexpected event rocked his world.

When his father passed away in 1949, Otto struggled profoundly with the loss. His mother became deeply concerned as she watched her son grow increasingly confused and angry with God and those around him. It was clear to her that he needed a male mentor to fill the void left by his dad’s death.

Using Her Gifts to Serve Others in Full-Time Ministry and Awana

A few months ago, Mandy Hornbuckle’s box of Awana memories tumbled out the back of a truck going 60 miles per hour down a Texas highway. The box contained old Awana uniforms, pins and her Citation Award, the highest achievement in Awana.Mandy Hornbuckle earned the Citation Award for learning Scripture verses and truths

As the box hit the pavement, the contents scattered all along the road.

Celebrating 50-Plus Years of Faithful Awana Service

Gwendetta Albright’s 50-plus years of faithful Awana service at a church in Chicago has changed lives in hundreds of families

Gwendetta Albright grew up on the west side of Chicago. She trusted Christ for salvation at a summer camp at age 13. She then started serving as an Awana leader two years later in 1958.

First Family Church: Using Awana to Reach Kids and Parents for Christ

A few years ago, Roger Stuart’s life changed dramatically. He trusted Christ for salvation through the ministry of First Family Church in Overland Park, Kansas.The Sparks children's ministry club at First Family Church in Overland Park, Kansas

“I came to First Family Church in hopes of finding a great children's ministry for my daughter,” Roger said. “I was more concerned with her spiritual growth than my own. But listening to my pastor preach, I felt like he wasn't talking to a congregation of 2,000; he was talking to me and my own personal struggles.

Hope Amidst Hardship

For 12 years, Carlton Carty knew only intense poverty and suffering. Now, thanks to an Awana program in central Jamaica, he knows Jesus as Savior.

The first time they met, Carlton Carty made an immediate impression on Brad Rostad—but not exactly a good one.

An Oasis
of Hope

The Awana program at the only evangelical church in Gaza is extending God’s love, truth and grace to kids and families in this volatile region.

Thursday and Friday afternoons, a haggard bus drives a circuit through garbage-strewn neighborhoods in one of the world’s most volatile and densely inhabited areas of the world, where half of the population is under age 15.

31 Years of Service Brings Generations to Lasting Faith in Christ

If you’re ever looking for someone from the Wallace family, there’s a good chance you’ll find them at Harvest Bible Chapel in Lake Zurich, Illinois on Monday nights.

Every Monday starting at 5:30 p.m., four generations of Wallace family members serve in Awana. Bob, age 85, and Lucille, 82, along with their daughter Diane and granddaughter Jill, are faithful leaders in the Sparks (kindergarten through second grade) and T&T (third to sixth grade) clubs. A great-grandson, Brayden, is only 1 and stays in the nursery but is certain to someday be in Puggles (for 2- and 3-year-olds).

The Model Awana Leader

Jim Barker was facing a dim future when his aunt brought him out of the backwoods of Tennessee to live in Chicago during the Great Depression.

Jim resided in one of the poorest sections of the city. He was painfully shy. He had a meager educational background. He wasn't good at sports. His Southern accent made him a target for insults. He didn't own a car and rarely had money in his pocket.

Baseball Continues To Be a Tool to Proclaim the Gospel

Alvin Davis has hit his share of home runs over the years. As first baseman for the Seattle Mariners from 1984 to 1991, Alvin racked up 160 home runs and batted .280 in 1,206 games. He homered in his first two big-league games and once belted a grand slam with both Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr. on base. Alvin Davis played eight seasons and made the All-Star team with the Seattle Mariners

Alvin was named 1984 American League Rookie of the Year and was also selected that year for the All-Star Game. He was the first inductee into the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame in 1997.

Committed
to Awana and Helping Their Own Kids Develop Lasting Faith

You may know what it’s like to get one or two kids ready for Awana and to church on time. But can you imagine getting six kids organized and out the door?

The Pilgrim family lives in Huntsville, Alabama, and all six children participate in Awana at Whitesburg Baptist Church every Sunday night:

Building a Worldwide Kids’ Ministry From the Ground up

Art Rorheim is co-founder of Awana. Art built Awana from the ground up from its early days as a weekly club program at the North Side Gospel Center in Chicago.

Art was introduced to youth and children’s ministry in 1935 at age 17 when Lance Latham, his church’s pastor, asked him to serve as a club leader at the North Side Gospel Center.

Leading Awana to Influence Generations of Kids to Follow Christ

Since 1999, Jack Eggar has served as President/CEO of Awana. He has provided strategic leadership for the ministry’s efforts to equip churches and parents in raising children and youth to know, love and serve Christ. Under his guidance, Awana has expanded its impact from a total of 9,000 churches around the world in 1998 to over 22,000 as of 2011.

Knowing that parents are the key influencers in their children’s spiritual development, Jack invested vision and passion to give direction for the recent launch of the Modern-Day Joseph and Awana at Home initiatives.

Celebrating 50-Plus Years of Faithful Awana Service

Gwendetta Albright’s 50-plus years of faithful Awana service at a church in Chicago has changed lives in hundreds of families

Gwendetta Albright grew up on the west side of Chicago. She trusted Christ for salvation at a summer camp at age 13. She then started serving as an Awana leader two years later in 1958.