Awana Clubs+: Navigating the “How” to Reaching and Discipling Kids

Last week, in our blog The Road Best Traveled: Navigating the Detours of Pandemic, you learned that in the midst of uncertainty, it’s important to “Remember the Why” you offer club. At that time we told you to not let the “how” to offer club distract you. But now that you are clear about your “why,” let’s address the “how.”

In our current situation with COVID-19, you could either decide to throw your hands up and say, “there’s not much I can do considering the circumstances,” or you could take this as an opportunity to reach and disciple your kids differently.

My dad always told me, “Your problem is not your problem; how you deal with it is.” My gut response to that is, “Thanks dad; but you never had to raise kids during a pandemic.” Yet there is truth in his statement. The pandemic is not our problem. Our problem is how we face what is placed in front of us. So, what is in front of us? A restricted way to connect with kids and share the gospel. An opportunity to reach kids and disciple them in a new way. Our mission doesn’t stop!

That our mission was given to us thousands of years ago from the Savior of the World doesn’t make this any easier. In fact, I’ve heard from hundreds of Awana Leaders that they just don’t know what to do. We’re right there with you, feeling the pains of this current time. We’re working as hard as we can to share helpful tools with you so you can focus on helping your students Belong to a community of faith, Believe that God is in control and Christ is their Savior, and Become lifelong followers of Jesus Christ.

That’s why we developed Awana Clubs⁺—an answer to “how” that will help you live on-mission in a difficult and uncertain season!

Who is Awana Clubs⁺ for?

Churches—If you serve in a local Awana Club you can go to awanaplus.com and share the resources to your own website, send links to families to engage with, or simply download and use the materials in your club. The variety of options gives you freedom to use these resources how they fit best your unique church.

Families—Parents/caregivers can go to awanaplus.com, themselves, and interact with the content provided. Whether they download resources, watch videos, or sing Scripture songs, the content will help families and students grow in their faith.

Here are some things you’ll find Awana Clubs⁺ in more detail:

Video Lessons—We have crowdsourced videos from Awana leaders across the U.S. to help you teach and prepare kids for what they will learn in their Awana handbooks. Every age group has videos that walk children through the Bible lessons that tie directly to their handbooks – with the exception of Sparks lessons from the first “Who” teaching book, which focuses on people from Genesis to Joshua. There are many ways to get these videos to your families. You can direct them to awanaplus.com or share the link via Facebook, email, or your messaging app.

Parent Pages—To help parents engage with the lessons their children are learning in club, we’ve created special pages. Parents can download these pages and use them right from their mobile device to discuss handbook lessons with children and reinforce God’s Word and direction in their lives.

Scripture Audio—For the younger groups, you will find Scripture audio verses and songs that kids can listen to from your phone or computer. These songs are available for free on Spotify, or with a subscription on Amazon Music or Apple Music. Play them in the car or connect to a bluetooth speaker and take them anywhere. You can reinforce Scripture memory in many ways!

More Resources are Coming—There are other resources on the site such as online events you can attend, a COVID-19 playbook, and more. We want Awana Clubs+ to work for you! So tell us what you need to reach and disciple your Awana students this year. You can leave us a comment, below, or tell us on any of our social channels.

Now that you can answer “how” to offer club this year, head over to awanaplus.com to explore all of the resources available. They’ll help you reach and disciple kids in a new way and may possibly give you a new outlook on the situation you’re in. We know you’ll love what you see!