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!
