The Herald & Review Newspaper featured a story about our Awana Club. Read the following article and get to know more about our fun filled children’s outreach program.
AWANA Club Still Going Strong at Riverside Baptist
By Sheila Smith- H & R reporter (photos by H & R)
DECATUR - Part of all the fun McKenzie Suka, 6, Chloe Okins, 4, or Savannah Piper, 3, enjoy as part of the Awana Club is getting to know God a little better.
Every Wednesday children pack Riverside Baptist Church for the club that has been going on for the past 54 years. The program includes different groups - Cubbies (ages 3 and 4), Sparks (kindergarten through second grades), Truth and Training (third through sixth grades) and Trek JV's (seventh through eighth grades) - and runs Sept. 7 through May 10.
But it's those devoted long-time volunteers keeping the Awana Club flourishing.
Helen Hall moved to Decatur in 1954 and became the church secretary at Riverside Baptist. She was there at the very beginning when the Awana Club started in September 1955.
"We would pick the kids up and bring them on buses to the church. When we stopped picking up the kids that is when the numbers dropped. But there are also more Awana clubs now," Hall said.
Back then, she added, only children in the eighth grade through junior high took part in Awana Club. Today there are toddlers up to teens who participate in all club activities. Awana uniforms also have changed from gray blouses and shirts to vests and T-shirts, she said.
"I think the program is really great for the kids who learn Bible verses, have game time and get to compete with other clubs around the state, which we have gotten first place a lot of times," Hall said.
Many adults who grew up attending the Awana Club still remember Hall, who said, "I go to the hospitals and different places and people come up to me and say they remember me and how much they enjoyed the Awana's Club. I still look forward to it every week. And I keep saying this is my last year, but it's hard to give up."
Charlotte McGhee began as a volunteer with the Awana Club in 1962. She recalled when her stepson was in the club at the old Riverside Baptist church building off Cleveland and Jasper streets.
"We would have girls on one night and boys on another night. The kids have changed so much since then," McGhee said and how more things are available today such as CDs that make it easier for children to learn stories from the Bible.
"I love the fact that the kids are learning, and there is just something addictive about it (the Awana Club)."
Marti Taylor is in her 22nd year of volunteering with the Awana Club. She now has an 8-year-old granddaughter, Aleena, in the club.
"I love these guys," Taylor said about the 3 and 4 year olds she teaches and how they just finished learning what God created in the book of Genesis. Of course, the club has changed over the past couple of decades as a new crop of children come in each year, Taylor admits.
Marsha Michel who is a volunteer for the 5 to 7 year olds, said, "A lot of parents bring their children to the Awana Club because they remember how much fun they had being in it, even though they don't attend any church (on Sundays)."
Sheila Long adores the 3 and 4 year olds that she teaches. Her husband, Bill, also volunteers as a group leader. Their sons, Alex, 15, and Austin, 14, went through the entire program.
"I just love seeing the expression on these kids' faces; the newness and excitement when they learn something from the Bible," Long said. She said that is her passion for continuing to volunteer.
Awana comes from the phrase, "approved workmen are not ashamed," which is based on 2 Timothy 2:15 in the Holy Bible.
Awana Clubs International started in 1940 and evolved as a ministry tool used by churches to reach and train children and youth. The biblically-based program uses handbook study, social interaction skills and game time led by trained and screened volunteers.
Riverside Baptist Church has one of the longest running programs out of 900 clubs around the country. New children are constantly coming each week and registering.
"The whole purpose of the Awana Club is to share the gospel with children and help them allow God to work in their hearts," said Riverside's Awana Club Commander Bruno Tondello.
COPYRIGHT © 2011, RIVERSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH