Awana
Awana is an international evangelical Christian nonprofit organization in child and youth discipleship. The headquarters is in Streamwood, Illinois, United States.History
In 1941, the children's program at the North Side Gospel Center in Chicago laid the foundation for the principles of Awana. Lance Latham, North Side's senior pastor, collaborated with the church's youth director, Art Rorheim, to develop weekly clubs that they believed would appeal to all children. Rorheim served as the CoFounder/President Emeritus until he died on January 5th, 2018.
Other churches became interested in the program and inquired about its availability. In 1950, Latham and Rorheim founded Awana as a parachurch organization. The name is derived from the first letters of "Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed" as taken from 2 Timothy 2:15. In 2020, Awana claims to work with 63,000 churches in 125 countries.Programs
Awana offers resources and Bible-based training programs for children ages 2 to 18 in churches.
