A College Sized Faith - Awana

            As a Christian, it is really important to me to continually seek after and strengthen my relationship with Christ. This can be difficult in college, where you are always busy with other things, but college is also the most important time to rely on Jesus since you encounter all kinds of crazy situations. Personally, it is really difficult for me to read my Bible daily and actually finish Bible studies, but I had help by becoming involved at the AWANA program at a nearby church. AWANA (All Workmen Are Not Ashamed, after 2 Timothy 2:15) is a Bible program for preschoolers-highschool seniors and focuses on Scripture Memorization. There are handbooks with Bible verses, Bible studies and Bible book summaries to memorize and complete each year. Awana meets once a week at churches all around the world and teaches kids about God and how to form a relationship with Him.

I have been in this program since I was 4 years old, and since I graduated highschool a year early, I had one year of Awana left to finish. I really wanted to complete the entire program, so I decided to find a church in Missouri that had AWANA so I could finish while I was in college.

 

          To fulfill the requirements for completion, I had to finish the last books of memorizing Bible verses, memorize Bible book summaries, and volunteer in a Christian children’s ministry. So, I found a church who hosted the program and volunteered weekly with the kindergarten-2^nd grade group (called Sparks) by listening to them say their Bible verses, and said my own memorized verses to the other leaders after the club was over for the night. Having a program to finish made me continue to read my Bible and memorize Scripture regularly, which helped me strengthen my faith. I finally finished the program, and my 14 years of hard work earned me the “Citation Award”. Included with the huge plaque, sense of personal accomplishment and growth in my Christian walk is a $12,000 scholarship. However, the scholarship only applies to certain Bible-type colleges, so I am unable to use it, but I’m not too worried about that.

            Having to seek out a program in Missouri led me to several churches around my college, helping me gain independence and find new friends. The first church I visited was where I met Lacey and Victoria. If I hadn’t allowed God to lead me to that church that one Sunday morning, I might have a completely different set of friends and would have missed out on knowing such amazing people! The second church I visited and ended up staying at became my home church. I now go there on Wednesday nights to volunteer at Awana with my group of awesome little Sparkies and also on Sunday mornings with Lacey and Victoria for service when at school. I have also met some older women who are strong in their faith who are there to help me if I need it and provide solid Christian role models to look up to.

            Now that I am done with the Awana program, I plan to continue volunteering with the younger kids and find meaningful Bible verses to memorize on my own. I believe that it is truly beneficial to have God’s word in your heart so that you can remember God’s word in times of need and times of joy. Thanks to God’s plan and visiting churches, I now have friends like Lacey, Victoria, Megan and Aly to keep me accountable to God and help build each other up in our faith.

            So when you come to college, whether you are in a different country, state, city or commute, it is really important to continue your faith. When I came to William Woods, everything was new and unfamiliar. AWANA's and my faith in God was the one constant, familiar element in my life and prevented me from feeling completely isolated and alone, at least until I made new friends and adjusted to college life. God never changes. He is there for you even when everything else is different, all you have to do is make the effort to reach out and hold on to His Truth and Promises and trust that He will make everything work out.

~Jennah

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

            -2 Timothy 2:15