Awana is an international, Bible-centered children’s and youth ministry providing local churches with weekly clubs and programs for preschool through high school. The goal is to reach children and teenagers, and their families, with the gospel of Christ and train them to serve Him.  The acronym Awana comes from the first letters of Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed, taken from 2 Timothy 2:15.

Awana began over fifty years ago (in 1950) as a youth program in a church in Chicago, Illinois. Local church leaders worked to develop a program that met three basic objectives:

• Appeal to young people
• Reach them with the gospel
• Train them in the Lord’s work

God blessed the work done by the believers in that Chicago church and news of the program’s success grew.  By 1960, Awana had registered 900 clubs.

Today, more than 10,400 churches in the United States have Awana programs. There are clubs in all 50 states, and Awana can also be found in 3,200 churches in 109 other countries on six different continents.