Stories

Could we run Awana safely? Would enough kids come? Would kids be willing to abide by our guidelines? Would we have enough leaders to run the program well? After much deliberation and prayer, we decided to host Awana in person. In a time when many things were upended in kids’ lives, we wanted to give hope to these kids through the Gospel. We wanted to help them hide God’s Word in their hearts for whatever the coming year might hold. We had to rethink where our groups met to make sure each group had a large enough space. We had to re-plan many tried and true games to accommodate social distancing and to minimize person-to-person contact. We were anxious in the weeks leading up to opening night to see how many kids would come. By that first night, we had about 28 registered. Smaller than a normal year, but by God’s grace, a perfect number to get used to the different kind of year it would be. The year hasn’t always been easy. We’ve had leaders (including myself) who had to quarantine at various times due to Covid. We’ve been stretched to continue to come up with ways to keep our kids engaged in a safe and fun way. But, through it all God has been faithful. We’ve seen our most consistent attendance numbers ever this past year. Kids have shown up week after week excited to see each other and their leaders. They’ve been engaged with God’s Word through our large groups. And we’ve seen growth from the initial 28 kids registered. We now have 36 kids registered, and we had 11 new kids visit on our buddy night a few weeks ago. It’s been amazing to see God’s faithfulness to us.