Awana GO, Verse-a-Thon: Teaching Kids How to Love God’s World as He Does
As children’s ministry leaders we desire to see and help kids become resilient disciples of Christ who follow Him and continue to grow more like Him for the rest of their lives. Because kids model what they see, they need your help to teach them how to love God’s world as He does. Awana GO, Verse-a-thon and the new International Verse-a-thon provide ways for you to cultivate in kids this love and show them how to live beyond themselves, pray for the lost and share the Gospel with others.
Awana GO (Global Outreach)
Awana GO is based on three pillars — educate, engage and empower. The tools developed around these pillars will prepare children and youth to participate in the Great Commission in fun and meaningful ways and make a difference in the world. I encourage you to walk through the three pillars in this order:
Educate: Use the free downloadable lessons that teach Bible truths and connect kids in your care to kids around the world.
Engage: Take your kids on a journey around the world through prayer with 30-second prayer videos. Play the videos each week during your opening session or Large Group Time to give kids a glimpse of 30 locations of Awana around the world. After watching the videos, take time to pray together for the people in those locations.
Our kids love being a part of Awana GO.The videos are instrumental in putting a face to the need for Christ in kids around the world. Plus, seeing what other clubs look like and knowing kids their age are hearing the Gospel makes a huge impact. – Lisa, from Oklahoma
Once you take your kids through the Educate and Engage pillars, they are ready to live out their faith and share Jesus with kids around the world.
Empower: Organize a community outreach project or an Awana GO fundraiser, such as Verse-a-thon or Fun Run, which gives kids the opportunity to demonstrate generosity, serve together and participate in the Great Commission.
Verse-a-Thon
Verse-a-Thon is similar to a Walk-a-Thon, except kids memorize Scripture instead of walking. Each child gathers sponsors who will donate a fixed amount per Bible verse the child recite from their current handbook on a given night or during a specific timeframe. Funds raised are used to train and equip leaders to start Awana ministry in their church or community. You can designate the area of the world you wish to support. This year there are two types of Verse-a-Thons you could host.
Organize a traditional in-person or online Verse-a-Thon. The Getting Started Guide in the Verse-a-Thon kit will walk you through the steps to running your own special event and will provide you with all the forms and promotional tools you’ll need.
I love seeing the kids get “it.” They memorize Scripture all year long; but when they are able to say their Scripture all at once for a good cause, they just beam! – Kendra, from Florida
New this year, you can partner with Awana South Asia in the first ever International Verse-a-Thon. Use the International Verse-a-Thon as your Awana GO fundraiser for the year or sponsor a Nepali child as an individual, yourself.
By partnering with us, you’re empowering these young disciples from Nepal to live out and share their faith while helping us raise money for our region of the world. – Gajendra Tamang (Global Vice President – South Asia)
Access the Great GoMission Kit to get started. In it are visuals to promote your Missions Month or fundraising event, coloring sheets, lessons, videos and more.
Teach Kids to Love God’s World
It’s so important that we instill into the next generation the very foundational biblical call to share the Gospel with everyone they can. God loves everyone, and every believer has a part to play in reaching the lost —fulfilling God’s Great Commission — whether it’s actually taking the Good News to kids in their school or someone on the other side of the globe or being among those who will help, who will give, who will pray. Awana GO is an engaging and memorable tool to help kids love the world and become all Christ wants for them.
Additional Resources:
Quick Steps for Hosting a Verse-a-Thon
17 Practical Ways to Help Kids Shine in the World Blog Article
Chris Dunrud’s passion for engaging kids in the Great Commission was instrumental in developing Awana GO, a key part of the Awana ministry that equips leaders to connect kids to God’s heart for the world in fun and meaningful ways. Chris has engaged in Awana in various capacities since she was a child. She helped start an Awana club in her church and served as the Awana Ministry Director for 12 years before joining staff at Awana headquarters in 2011. She is married (40+ years) to her husband, Tom, and has three grown children and seven grandchildren.
