August 14, 2000

WMU leader addresses Awana
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___WACO--Baptist mission leaders who want to know "what to do" about an Awana program in their churches may be asking the wrong question, according to Shelda Hoffman, preschool and children's missions consultant with Woman's Missionary Union of Texas.
___"The question is, 'How can we help our children know God and his heart for the nations?'" she said.
___Hoffman, who assists Texas Baptist churches in their Mission Friends, Girls in Action and Children in Action missions programs, led a conference on "Understanding the Challenge of Awana" during the Texas Leadership Conference in Waco July 27-29.
___A church should strive to offer a well-rounded children's ministry that offers age-appropriate learning activities and a holistic understanding of the biblical message, she said.
___Competition from Awana and other organizations should prompt local Baptist church missions leaders to become more clearly focused on their purpose, help their churches determine available resources and offer guidance in evaluating programs for children, she added.
___Awana is an international, non-denominational, Bible-centered organization that provides weekday clubs and programs for 3-year-olds through high schoolers. Awana is an acronym for "Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed," taken from 2 Timothy 2.
___The Awana program requires participating churches to teach according to the organization's doctrinal statement in its entirety. The document is posted on the group's website at www.awana.org.
___The Awana doctrinal statement includes articles regarding the Trinity, the virgin birth and resurrection of Jesus, the sinful nature of humanity, the necessity of salvation by grace through faith and the importance of believers' baptism by immersion.
___It also affirms the verbal inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible, teaches a pretribulation resurrection and premillenial interpretation of the end times and excludes any charismatic practices. The doctrinal statement does not mention missions.
___"The heart of Awana is evangelism," Hoffman said, quoting from the organization's materials. The program stresses Scripture memorization, focusing particularly on Bible verses related to the Christian plan of salvation.
___Hoffman challenged leaders of missions organizations to be as clearly focused on their purpose as Awana leaders are on theirs. "Our purpose is to help children and their families understand and be involved in God's mission."
___Hoffman later added, "Churches concerned about providing missions education for their children should not substitute Awana for Mission Friends, RAs and GAs--the heart of which is missions education."
___In evaluating possible children's programs, Hoffman suggested asking:
___ What are the children learning?
___ Do activities have a purpose?
___ Are there a variety of ways offered for children to learn?
___ Do children have a choice of activities?
___ Are the activities age-appropriate?
___She suggested church leaders look carefully at what a group means when it uses the term "missionary." Baptists traditionally have understood a missionary to be one who seeks to obey Christ's Great Commission by sharing the gospel across cultural barriers. A "missionary" in Awana parlance is an organizational representative who helps churches start new Awana groups and sells Awana materials.
___Hoffman also recommended that a church determine its philosophy about how much it wants to emphasize the use of extrinsic rewards. Awana uses a rewards system as a motivational tool to encourage participation by children.
___If a church has Awana in place, Hoffman encouraged missions advocates to work in cooperation with the organization's leaders to incorporate missions activities into their program.
___She suggested singing a missions song, praying for a missionary child, watching a video with a missions focus, dramatizing a missionary's story or doing a mission-action project.
___"Try something new," she urged. "Find a way to help children and their families discover God's heart for the nations.
___"I believe the best way is still an ongoing and consistent missions education program," she added.

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