La Harpe-"Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed" is the meaning of Awana, a Christian program taken from the Christian Bible in the book of II Timothy 2:15. The Awana program was started at North Side Gospel Center in Chicago, in 1950.
Lance Latham, the church pastor there, worked with Art Rorheim to develop a program that would appeal to young people in teaching them the gospel while preparing them for the Lord's work.
Other churches heard of its success and asked if they could use the program in their church youth programs. By 1960, there were 900 churches registered in the program.
Today there are more than 11,700 American churches and 4,100 churches oversees that use the Awana program.
The goal of Awana is to equip churches to reach kids and families with the gospel of Christ, and then train them to serve Jesus. They do this by blending Bible teaching, scripture memorization, and tons of fun. They start as young as preschool and go through high school.
The Union Church in La Harpe offers the Awana program to the youth in the La Harpe community. They invited The Quill to come and visit them October 29 when they held their fall party.
The evening started with the presentation of the United States and Christian flags and prayer time. They then spent time in their books and in memorizing scripture.
They are able to earn patches and Awana Bucks for the scriptures they memorize. Usually, this time is followed by a special guest, but that evening, plans had been made for a special party in the downstairs of the Union Church.
They were divided up into groups and took turns bobbing for apples, decorating cupcakes, doing a cake walk, and face painting. They also enjoyed a meal of hot dogs, chips, and pop. Needless to say the kids got a little wet but still had a great time. The Union Church offers a Cubbies class for 3 year old to Pre-Kindergarten, Sparks for Kindergarten to 2nd grade, Truth n Training for 3rd grade to 6th grade, and a high school youth group.
They are held on Sunday nights at 5:30.