April 2022 Ministry Update

 

Awana Basics Online- What is ABO and how to use it.

January 2022 Ministry Update

 

My Week- 10/27/2021-11/8/2021

5013 Miles

6 States

2 Rental Cars

4 Flights

5 Different Beds

Lot's of Coffee

Plenty of fast food

Started this trip visiting the club at First Baptist Roy, UT. Awana Ministry Director Rachel Mark and her team are doing a wonderful job at relaunching this club with new vision and new leadership. Great to see so many young children at this club as this indicates young families are attending showing a good future to the church and club.

I then drove to Meridian, ID to meet Awana Missionary colleague Jerry Berheim to attend the Utah/ Idaho Baptist Convention annual pastor meeting. This was a great opportunity for us to meet pastors and share the vision and ministry philosophy of Awana and how we might partner together to build a stronger church in the future. Many great conversations happened here. 

I then drove to Rock Springs, WY to visit Emmanuel Baptist Church. I have not had the opportunity to visit the club here, so I decided to come on a Sunday morning to meet the pastor and other Awana leaders. They've informed me that the enrollment of their Awana club has come back after a season of Covid. Praise God!

From Rock Springs, I drove back to Salt Lake City and flew to Chicago for 3 days worth of meetings with Awana Missionaries from around the country. We discussed many things, but when it was all said and done, the summary of our meetings were REACH-MORE-KIDS. 

I then came back to Salt Lake City and met with Pastor James Carlson at Clearfield Community Church in Clearfield, UT. Clearfield Community Church has started Awana this year, and Pastor James wanted to meet to discuss how they could make Awana more effective as a tool to reach out into the community to reach more children and families with the love of Jesus. 

Sunday, I went to Midvalley Bible Church in Bluffdale, UT. Midvalley has used Awana for over 50 years. I came to thank them for their ministry and the legacy they've had over the last 50 years at reaching the children and families of Utah with the love of Jesus. 

That's it for now. Thank you again to all who give, pray, and serve. Together, we are reaching the next generation of the Church. So thankful for you and all you do. 

Blessings!

October 2021 Ministry Update

 

My Week- 8/22/2021-8/28/2021

1072 Miles

2 Flights

1 Turo Rental

2 States

3 Different Beds Slept In

Lots of Coffee

3 Clubs Visited

I started the week out at Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley. Calvary is launching Awana this year. I got to share with the congregation about God's heart for kids and then did a Basic Training.

Tuesday, I flew to Las Vegas. This is the Reno Airport; you can see how dense the smoke was due to the Northern California fires. My flight was delayed 3 hours due to lack of visibility. 

Wednesday I visited the club at Spring Valley Baptist Church in Las Vegas for "Missionary Night" and "Ice Cream Night". I shared with the kids there what an Awana Missionary does along with how God is working in our area. Spring Valley served my favorite "Cookies and Cream". 

Due to Covid and lower travel business, many of the car rental companies have sold much of their fleet, and car rentals have been difficult to come by. This has created some problems for those of us who need to rent cars when they travel. I found out about TURO and this is my first TURO rental in Las Vegas. TURO is the Airbnb of cars and I rented this car from an individual owner. We must all stay in the creative mode as we all come back to whatever is normal now. 

I had the opportunity to visit Faith Christian Fellowship in Henderson and talk with Pastor Daniel Ozuna and his wife Liz about starting Awana here. Pastor Daniel was an Awana leader over 40 years ago at Las Vegas Bible Church and responded to an advertising flier I sent them. We had a great conversation and look forward to helping them start sometime later this year. Please be praying for this ministry.

I've been working with the folks here at Crescent Valley Baptist in Crescent Valley, NV. They will be starting their club September 19th and taking advantage of our Awana Basics Online. Crescent Valley is a very small community half way between Battle Mountain and Elko. Most of the children in this town could ride their bikes to club. Super excited to see how God will work here. 

July 2021 Ministry Update