Country Info
We minister throughout Central California.
Background
We met at Crossroads Church in Turlock, CA (back in the day Turlock Evangelical Free Church). Marti was teaching school at Turlock Christian and Tom was in his sophomore year of college, MJC and then transferred to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. We were married in 1979 and Marti taught school for three more years and Tom was a Pest Control Advisor working for Stanislaus Farm Supply in Ceres, CA. Marti then “retired” and was able to stay home and raise our five daughters. Tom worked for Stanislaus Farm Supply for 14 years.
We served faithfully in the Awana Club at Crossroads Church. We were involved in many children’s ministry activities. In Awana we were leaders, directors and then commanders. Our girls enjoyed Awana and two of them trusted Jesus Christ as their Savior during Awana. We were challenged and asked to consider becoming Awana missionaries when our Awana missionary was going to go and work at Awana Headquarters in Streamwood, IL. We were thrilled to begin this new ministry in December of 1992!
Amy was 10, Karen 8, Melinda 6, and Renae 4 when we began ministry and included the girls in everything. They went with us when we did club visits, church visits, and events (Bible Quizzing, Awana Games and conferences). We were busy and travelled LOTS. Then our Hannah came along 2 years later. We have decided that God sent our Hannah to remind me (Marti) that my main ministry was raising our girls. She has been a great gift to us. Our ministry for many years was events, but Tom is now State Director over 10 missionary units covering California, Nevada, and Hawaii.
Amy and Justin (our son-in-law) have our two grandkids, Piper and Malachi. They live in San Anselmo. Karen is working at a local preschool as the assistant director and infant room teacher. Melinda is working at a local café and owns her own massage therapy studio. Renae is a high school social studies/history teacher in Newman, CA. Hannah is now a junior at Biola University.
Ministry Description
Awana is an international, Bible-centered children’s and youth ministry providing local churches with weekly clubs, programs and training for students in preschool through high school. Our goal is to equip churches to reach kids, and their families, with the gospel of Christ and train them to serve Him. (Learn about the prayer, vision, mission and values of Awana.)
The acronym Awana comes from the first letters of Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed as taken from 2 Timothy 2:15.
Awana began in 1950 as a youth program at the North Side Gospel Center in Chicago, Illinois. Lance Latham, the church pastor, worked with Art Rorheim to develop a program that would appeal to young people, reach them with the gospel and train them in the Lord’s work. Other churches heard about the success of the Awana program and asked if they could use it. By 1960, Awana had registered 900 churches to start Awana.
Today, more than 12,000 U.S. churches run Awana with programs in all 50 states. Awana can also be found in over 3,900 churches in 109 other countries and six continents. Jack Eggar is our President/CEO. Art Rorheim serves as our co-founder.
Regional missionaries and ministry teams will assist you in establishing Awana as a vital part of your local church’s outreach, discipleship and volunteer training. Find your area missionary and contact him today, or learn more about what we believe or register to start Awana online. If you’re interested in working for Awana, check out our current job openings. If you’re looking for an Awana program in your area, use our club finder to locate local churches with Awana. as a Bible-teaching ministry.
Serving With
Awana Clubs
http://www.awana.org