November 2017 Ministry Update

Hello Family, Friends and Ministry Partners,

Summer is over, and the Awana club season is fully underway. God has been keeping us busy: here is a report of what we've been doing.

• New Club Development- There are 6 new clubs across our ministry area. Casa Del Padre in Reno, Crossroads Community Church in Gardnerville, Calvary Assembly of God in Ely, Kingman First Southern Baptist in Kingman, AZ, Shadow Hills Baptist and Grace Christian Center in Las Vegas are all new clubs reaching kids in their communities this year...Praise God!

• Awana Ministry Conference- Along with our training team, we provided advanced leader training on a variety of topics in 7 locations. Fallon, Reno, Las Vegas, Henderson, Pahrump, NV, Walker, CA and Fort Mohave, AZ. Over 300 Awana Leaders attended to find new ways to evangelize and disciple the children in the communities with the love of Jesus. It is very exciting to see God working in the hearts and minds of these "kid influencers".

• Nevada Baptist Convention- I was blessed to spend a couple of days at the Nevada Baptist Convention State Meeting at Life Baptist Church in Las Vegas. Awana has rightly postured itself as a "ministry of the church". Partnering and serving pastors so that they realize that Awana can be a key ministry to help them reach out to their community is a key part of our strategy. I had a great time catching up with old friends as well as making new ones at the NV Baptist Convention.

• Baja, Mexico- I have been developing a partnership with SOW Ministries in Baja. SOW works with churches and orphanages in Baja to help supply them with the various physical needs they have, ie food, supplies, appliances, furniture, school supplies, etc. We will be partnering with SOW to train leaders in churches and orphanages to help them fulfill the spiritual needs these children have through the ministry of Awana. I traveled to Baja and met with pastors in Tijuana and Rosarito. We will return in early 2018 to train 5 churches in Rosarito and Tijuana. Calvary Chapel in Rosarito is the largest church in Baja with 2,000 members and 500 children in their church. In addition, CC Rosarito has a church planting school and has planted another 18 churches up and down Baja. The pastor team at CC Rosarito would like to start with the Awana club in Rosarito, then train the additional 18 churches sometime down the road. Praise God!! Please be praying for this ministry.

Meeting with children's ministry workers in Rosarito, Mexico

Meetings with Children's Pastor at Calvary Chapel Rosarito

• Navajo Ministry- I made a trip to Gallup, NM to meet with the Awana missionary there to discuss strategy for reaching the children on the Navajo Reservation. Please be praying for this ministry.
• Team Meetings- As I mentioned in my last update, Awana has asked me to help 4 other missionaries in the US develop their ministries. These missionaries are in Alaska, Texas, Utah and the Navajo Reservation. I have spent considerable time helping them and brainstorming to develop strategies and plans for partnering with the churches in their areas reach the children in their communities. It is very exciting to see God working in other parts of the country.
• North American Missions Conference- I was blessed to spend a week with missionaries from around the US as well as other key leaders from around the world at Awana Home Office in Streamwood, Illinois. The purpose of these meetings is to encourage one another as well as to stay current on church trends, how Awana fits with these church trends and how we can serve our churches better to help them develop ministry that works in their community.

Awana Missionary Collegues TJ Sipes from Mississippi, Charles Nderitu from Kenya and Mark Morgan from Alabama

Encouragement from Awana President Matt Markins

Awana is still fun and exciting, even for missionaries.

• Club Visits- Part of my role as missionary is to visit clubs to encourage leaders and thank them for their ministry. At times, working as a children's ministry volunteer can be lonely and unrewarding. Encouraging these leaders and helping them see the value in their role as a kidmin worker will pay long term dividends for generations to come. I have made 12 of these club visits.

Over the last 3 months, God has used us as we've traveled over 11,000 miles by car, train, bus and airplane. We've been in 5 different states, two different countries and slept in 10 different beds. We've had countless Starbucks coffees and countless fast food meals; even Chick-fil-A. We've been invited into peoples homes as they hosted us with their accommodations and meals. And we've been humbled to know that God wants to use us (why us??) for His purposes and excited to see Him moving in the hearts and minds of people as they evangelize and disciple children.

If you reach a child, you can reach the family. If you reach the family, you can reach the community and if you reach the community, you can change the world.

That's it for now...

until all the children of the world know the love of Jesus
Jeff & Judy Gilpin
US Missionaries/ Pacific Southwest
jeffg@awana.org
awananv.org
Mobile 530-414-9497
Facebook: facebook.com/jgilpinx2


***If you'd like to support our efforts to reach more children in Nevada, California Arizona and beyond, tax deductible donations can be sent to:
Awana Clubs
C/O Jeff Gilpin
P.O. Box 697
Truckee, CA. 96160
* Checks should be made payable to Awana with a note on the memo of the check "Gilpin Support- Acct. 319"

or you can donate online at awana.org/missionaries/gilpin