By By Adrienne McKenzie
The First Baptist Church Atmore children have been looking forward to AWANA starting back up Aug. 29, according to FBC children's minister and daycare director Tina Francis.
"I think it will be great," she said. "Everybody who came last year loved it and they'll bring friends."
AWANA is a discipleship program designed for children that combines Bible teaching and scripture memorization along with a lot of high-energy games. AWANA stands for Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed, from 2 Timothy 2:15 and the slogan of this program is "Because Kids Matter to God."
This year AWANA will be open to children ages 3 through fifth grade. Last year the program was open to sixth graders also but the church is doing something a little different this year.
"The sixth graders are going to move up to youth," Francis said.
The program will begin Wednesday from 6 p.m. until 7:30.
"We will have an extended registration night Wednesday night," Francis said. "Parents will do registration for them Wednesday. We are going to do a brief meeting with the parents at 6:15 p.m. to let them know what AWANA is about and what they can expect."
Last year was the first time FBC Atmore tried the AWANA program and Francis said they exceeded their expectations.
"We had set a goal of 50 children reached," she said. "By the end of the program we were a good bit up from that."
Those in charge of getting the message to the children are called the "AWANA team." Members of the "AWANA team" have a book that tells him or her their specific duty. They also have "scripture ministry" to ensure they can present the gospel clearly.
For more information on this program, please contact Tina Francis, First Baptist Church Atmore at 368-0570.