How Awana Will Benefit Your Kids Now -- and for Life
A nationwide survey shows that Awana equips parents and churches to grow children and youth with lasting biblical faith, character

Read the complete Awana alumni study report to learn in detail how Awana prepares youth to follow Christ for a lifetime.

Parents and churches face unprecedented challenges today in your efforts to raise kids to follow Christ. The trends are troubling:

• Over half of all church-going teens abandon their faith after high school.
• As few as one in 10 possesses a biblical view of God and the world.
• The majority of children from Christian homes leave the church by age 19.

But we offer you hope and a proven plan for spiritual success. Most kids and teens trained in Awana continue to faithfully and passionately follow Christ as adults!

That was the summary of a recent independent survey of alumni who had participated in Awana as youth for six to 10 years.

Our adult alumni answered questions posed in a 2005 Baylor University survey that measured the beliefs and behaviors of churchgoers and the general U.S. population. Results of the Awana and Baylor surveys showed a stark difference between the spiritual beliefs and practices of our alumni and the rest of America.
 
Our alumni were found to be more devoted to God, His Word and their local church than even the nation’s most committed churchgoers. Here's why:

Consistent, long-term participation in Awana – accompanied by spiritual training from parents – reaps long-lasting results.

What happens when parents and churches work together to teach God’s Word across kids’ formative years? They produce young adults marked by steadfast biblical faith and character!

Awana calls these young people modern-day Josephs because they reflect the faith and character of Joseph from the Old Testament.

To help parents and churches raise modern-day Josephs, we weave five master life threads into our curriculum for ages 2 to 18. These character traits were taken from the life of Joseph. They are essential for preparing your kids to live lives that are faithful to God and His Word:

Respect: Joseph of Genesis respected God’s authority. (Emphasized in our Puggles club for 2- and 3-year-olds and our Cubbies preschool club.)
Wisdom: Joseph was wise and knew his wisdom came from God. (Emphasized in our Sparks club for kindergarten to second grade.)
Grace: Joseph practiced grace in his relationships. (Emphasized in our T&T program for third to sixth grade.)
Destiny: Joseph had a sense of destiny and purpose drawn from God. (Emphasized in our Trek middle-school program.)
Perspective: Joseph’s perspective on life started with the sovereignty of God. (Emphasized in our Journey high-school program.)

What are our alumni's spiritual beliefs and behaviors after participating in Awana?

Here are just a few of the key findings from our alumni study report:

Church attendance – 92.7 percent of our alumni continue to regularly attend church as adults. Only 1.8 percent said they had dropped out of church since high school. By contrast, 36 percent of Americans surveyed by Baylor who attended church at age 12 said they are now unchurched as adults.

Belief in God – 93.7 percent of our alumni said they wholeheartedly believe in God as opposed to 65.8 percent of Baylor respondents.

Jesus and salvation – 98.6 percent of our alumni believe Jesus is God’s Son compared to 70 percent of Americans and 85 percent of Protestants. 93 percent of our alumni believe Christ is the only way to salvation. 69.6 percent of Americans do not.
 
Belief about the Bible – 94 percent of our alumni believe the Bible is God’s Word compared to 58 percent of Americans and 73 percent of Protestants. Our alumni are also 3.6 times more likely to read in virtually every case the Bible several times a week.
 
Church service – At 74 percent, alumni were five times more likely than Americans polled by Baylor to serve their church 11 hours or more a month.
 
Personal evangelism – 70 percent of alumni said they share their faith with friends at least once a month compared to 35.7 percent of the national average, 48.7 percent of Protestants and 59 percent of the most devoted churchgoers.

Awana programs for ages 2 to 18 are strategically designed to build on each other. Together, they help parents and churches train kids and youth to know Christ as their Savior and to love and serve Him into and throughout adulthood. Learn more about our weekly programs and their benefits today!