For the past year, Awana East Europe Regional Director Pavils Grigas has also served as our interim Awana Ukraine national director. This past month we welcomed Olga Kravchenko as the new national director for Awana Ukraine. Pictures (above, clockwise): Olga Kravchenko, Pavils and Anita Grigas, Brian and Sandee Rhodes, Matt, Katie and Warren Markins, and… The post Meet Our New Awana Ukraine National Director appeared first on Awana ..read more

Those familiar with Awana know that AwanaGames is often the highlight of a child’s week. But in Ukraine, it might be the highlight of a child’s life!   Awana Ukraine recently hosted AwanaGames at First Baptist Church Cherkasy for around 150 children. Between 30 and 40 leaders participated in the games, and many parents cheered from the sidelines. In addition to playing games, everyone heard the Gospel, received gifts, decorated cookies and attended a lunch.   Awana missionaries Sergey and Tatyana Pyasetskiy organized and hosted the event, doing an incredible job even though both of t ..read more

Even though the Awana Clubs ministry year is over for your kids, their education about Christ shouldn’t end. You can support their growth with these fun activities  — some of them suggested by Awana leaders via the Awana Ministry Director’s Facebook page – that will keep kids in the Word, help them retain what you taught them and encourage them to experience God in new ways. You may even want to use these activities as a way to stay connected with your fellow leaders and volunteers!   Josh Winstead says his church “offers a weekly summer program at the same time slot … that focuses o ..read more

Bogdan, a Ukrainian refugee who’s been living with his wife and children in Lòdź, Poland since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, saw a need for Awana Clubs in the Ukrainian refugee churches in his new home country. So, after pleading from his children — who missed attending Awana — and a lot of prayer, he started an Awana Club in Lòdź. It proved so successful, he set out to tell leaders at other churches about Awana.   As a result of his coordination, determination and reliance on God, this past month around 40 participants from at least 10 churches — including delegates from Belarus — attend ..read more

On my last day of high school forever kids slammed their locker doors for the last time, threw their folders and papers up in the air and ran out of the building, leaving behind any thoughts of what the past year, let alone the past three years, entailed. There was freedom! I imagine for leaders, the end of Awana Clubs could feel similar. So before they or you pack the handbooks and leader guides away and leave the past year behind, do the one thing that will make your next ministry year easier:   Evaluate!   Now that one word is pretty loaded –  and perhaps no surprise to you ..read more

May is an important month in regard to prayer because it’s the month this country observes The National Day of Prayer. When you participate in your local NDP activities, join friends to lift up the needs of the nation or take time alone to pray to God on behalf of your local leaders, you are taking part in a tradition established by the founding fathers of our country.   Since the Continental Congress first asked the colonies in 1775 to pray for wisdom in forming the nation, the call to pray has continued throughout history. From 1789 to now, the President of the United States has proclai ..read more

You have been entrusted to care for the children and youth in your ministry; their spiritual, as well as their physical safety, is of utmost importance. We have put together a bundle of resources, in partnership with our friends at the Evangelical Council for Abuse Prevention and Julie Lowe, to provide you with tips to keep kids safe in a variety of situations. You’ll want to share these resources with the parents in your ministry, too!   15 Ways to Keep the Kids in Your Ministry Safe and Secure Does your ministry screen its leaders and volunteers? Do you have a process by which someone c ..read more

As we’ve reported for the past two years, our Awana Ukraine team has been at the forefront of the humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, ministering and discipling families and children who have lost their homes, belongings and sometimes loved ones. Not only has our team provided Ukrainians a sense of normalcy and safety in these turbulent times but they have also delivered God’s grace.   To hear directly from some of our Awana Ukraine team members and to learn what the past 24 months have been like for them, we invite you to join us at 5 p.m. (CT) March 19, for a video premiere event, Postmen ..read more

You’ve seen their faces when they receive physical recognition for the hard work they put in and the success they achieved. They beam from ear to ear, their eyes dance and they scan the room to make sure they know their family sees them. They’ll proudly display their award in their home and will dream of the next success. This happense at the end of every ministry year during your end-of-year ceremony. But are we talking only about the kids in your club? What about the adults?   Of course there is intrinsic reward with leading and discipling kids, and seeing them understand who Christ is ..read more

The race with the calendar is on! Your Awana club is about to end, yet you have kids who aren’t on track to finish their handbook. And for some of those kids, you are praying for a miracle and a method to get them over the finish line. We can’t promise you anything — except that we’ll join you in prayer! —but focusing on a kid’s learning style may make the difference between their success and struggle.    Kids learn in a variety of ways. There are visual learners, auditory learners and kinesthetic learners. How a child learns also impacts how they memorize Scripture. Visual learners ..read more