I have heard of AWANAS and I know a bit about it but not much. My sister put her kids in it a few months ago and they love it. I am wondering what all they do, how much it costs, and any other helpful info. Is it associated with a particular denomination? I have read/heard negative things about the program, like it teaches kids to believe that as long as you are saved by Jesus you will always be happy and never have any hardships and nothing will ever go wrong in your life. Am I way off base? Is what I heard wrong? Any help would be great!
Yeah, you're way off base, lol! I have NO IDEA where you got the "everything's perfect!!!" idea! It's basically a children's discipleship program. Most churches run the program from age 3through grade 6. However, they do have programs for age 2, and all the way through high school. Rachael got her Citation Award, the highest award possible through the program. Faythe is now doing the high school program, and Phillip is finishing up the middle school program. It is associated with the Baptists, but there are lots of non-Baptist churches that do it. Cost varies. You generally have to buy some kind of a uniform. A vest for the preschoolers, another one for Sparkies (grades k-2), and a shirt of some kind for grades 3-6. The older groups don't have a uniform. Then there's your workbooks, and weekly dues (which pays for crafts, etc.) A meeting usually has a game time, lesson time, and time to say your verses. Kids usually work at their own pace. It basically teaches Biblical doctrine. It stresses Bible memorization and service. The kids learn not only WHAT to believe, but WHY. They are given "back up verses" to support everything they are taught.
My daughter is in AWANA and loves it. Ongoing study and memorization of scripture is something I'm happy to see her involved in, but more important to me is the entire environment at AWANA. She's immersed in a remarkably positive environment when she's there, teaching positive values grounded in scripture, and it's FUN! They have really engaging games for the kids that have them running around like banshees, as well as a reward system for the kids to inspire them to commit to ongoing study. Many chapters participate in inter-chapter competitions as well. AWANA is the highlight of my daughter's week. I'm so glad we discovered it!
Shortly after making a decision for Christ I "accidentally" became a part of our AWANA ministry at our church.... I say accidentally because it isn't something I would have thought I would be doing but there are no accidents in God's eyes. It is a disciplining ministry for children and I will openly admit it was a disciplining ministry for me as well as a new Christian and I've grown because of it.
One more thing that I feel is very "telling". I had read Ken Ham's book "Already Gone". It talks about the large number of children raised in the church that leaves it as young adults. He claims most of those kids are "already gone" while they're in middle school and high school, even though their bodies are still in the pew and at youth group. There's been a study that says more than 90% of the children that got through the AWANA program stay with the church as adults. To me, that's one BIG reason to stick with it!
Jackie- That is a big reason. I will say that I have noticed the trend of children's hearts already being gone. In our last church when my dh and I taught the 13-14 yo they didn't really know ANYTHING about the church or the bible (of the other book) or what Christ taught. They would just sit there texting and playing on their phones and they really didn't care about God or Christ. I will admit that because the bible feels foreign to me I didn't want to attend another church because I was afraid I would be seen as "less" somehow. It was my 13yo ds that pushed me to find something. He has a good heart and he really wants to follow God and Jesus. His heart is in the right place. The only awanas I found is an hour away :shock:, which we can't do. I am going to call them today and see if they know of any closer to me. I know I saw a sign for it over the summer in the neighboring town...maybe I should just call churches until I find it.
We actually drive a good 40 minutes one way to attend a program that has a high school/middle school program. Rachael did it independently, because there was no program in the area. Then the church up north from us started it for the older kids. Friends of mine are running it, so we're driving up there. And it REALLY makes a difference for them! I doubt they'd be willing to do it on their own.
My daughter loves AWANA. We don't have any dues and there is no cost at all. The Church provides each group with a colored shirt (Cubbies are Yellow, Sparks are Red etc) and the appropriate AWANA book. My daughter wears her shirt and brings her own bible. I think it goes up until 13 or 14 yrs old. When we moved here my older daughter was too old for it, but she has attended the Youth group while my younger daughter is in her AWANA class.
Thank you Minthia for asking and thank you to all those who explained!! I now need to find an AWANA group, I never knew what it was and never looked into it. I was a girl scout leader for several years and then went to the Dominican Republic for 3 years, we just got back and I was thinking about going back to my old troop, but I think this is more my style! I will find an AWANA that will need someone like me, and get my girls into it too! Great! Thanks!!
Let me warn you that, while AWANA is an outreach ministry, there are some churches that only allow members to work it. That will vary from church to church. I would help out some at the AWANA program my children attended, even though I wasn't a member. And my 19yo is working at a program near the college she attends, but she doesn't attend church there. But other churches are more picky.
AWANA We LOVE AWANAS!! Our church doesn't participate in it, but our previous one did. I used to be a leader and basically what you do is learn scripture and biblical principals and get awards for doing so. Patches and pins worn on vests for the little ones and tshirt for the older elementary kids. There are games and even competitions between other churches to make it fun. Basically, the way it was done when I was part of it is that everyone is given a booklet when they first come that has a few verses in it, mainly John 3:16. once they learn the verses in that booklet they are signed off by one of the AWANA workers and can move into their book. The books cost $10 I think. They also have the vests for the kids up to 3rd grade that must be purchased and those cost $10 as well, or the shirts for the 3rd-6th grade that are $10. There is a game time each time too where the kids can get up and get active and burn off some energy. both of my girls loved AWANA and my whole family learned a LOT of verses by doing it. It's a really good program.
Yes, this is how it was at our old church. They also did background checks, but I think that's the law now when you are working around kids.
I understand why they do that, and I'm sure not going to complain about it! But the church my younger two attend for AWANA has parents coming from quite a way, since it's the only middle/high school AWANA program. Some of the parents are willing to stay and help, rather than doing the 30-45 minute one way drive home and then turn around and come back. They got a new pastor, who is saying members only; the director convinced him they should at least "grandfather in" those that helped last year.
