First Full-Time Awana Missionary Goes Home
Former NFL lineman Don Bunge started and serviced clubs throughout western U.S.

Missionary emeritus Don Bunge, the first full-time Awana missionary, passed away on November 17 in his sleep at his home in Nebraska. Don was 81. Don joined Awana as a missionary in 1966. At the time, his territory consisted of everything west of the Mississippi River. Don retired in 1991.

Below is an article written in 2000 about Don and his amazing 25 years of ministry as an Awana missionary.

Standing tall for the Lord
Then-Awana Executive Director Art Rorheim was running an exhibit at a 1965 Sunday school conference in Iowa when a hulking 6-foot-8-inch man approached him.

"Do you think Awana would ever need anything like a missionary?" Don Bunge asked. "If so, I'd like to be that man."

A year later, Bunge became that man. A former lineman for the NFL's Washington Redskins, Bunge was appointed to a new playing field as the first full-time missionary for Awana. His assignment was to start and develop Awana clubs west of the Mississippi River.

Unlikely Awana missionary
A few years before his appointment, Bunge would have seemed an unlikely candidate. While pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Pontiac, Illinois, Bunge listened to a presentation of the Awana program. He was highly skeptical of the whole concept.

"I was kind of like Missouri," he said. "I had to be shown."

Bunge reluctantly agreed to give Awana a try. Within a year, 90 kids were coming to club meetings each week. Unchurched families were won to Christ. Bunge became one of the most ardent spokesmen for Awana.

After he took over a pastorate in Omaha, Nebraska, Bunge moved quickly to register his church with Awana. Soon, so many children were attending club that the church had to rent a school gymnasium to accommodate the crowds. These experiences left Bunge convinced that God was calling him to meet a critical need to promote Awana around the country.

Overwhelming responsibility
His decision was confirmed shortly after his appointment. Bunge was inundated with requests to present Awana. He presented the program to a different church every Sunday for the next three years. Churches were desperate to hear about a youth program that could help them evangelize their communities and disciple their children.

"I remember one week going to a church Sunday school in Washington state and then another church morning service and then another church Sunday evening service -  three presentations in one day," Bunge said. "Then I presented Awana again on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday of that week. The interest in Awana was incredible."

Bunge presented Awana to several hundred churches between 1966 and 1982. He started and conducted the first Bible Quizzing and AwanaGames^TM  meets in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Washington and Missouri and introduced Awana in several states. He ran Leadership Training Conferences and Basic Training seminars and visited clubs.

Sioux Falls (South Dakota) Baptist Church gave Bunge one of his most unique assignments. Awana leaders stacked the pews along the walls of their sanctuary so Bunge could set down a tarp and paint a game circle on it. The sanctuary was the only available space for Game Time.

On the road again
Bunge's schedule was so packed with church visits and other responsibilities that his plans occasionally got confused. That realization dawned on him during a presentation at a church in St. Paul, Minnesota.

"One of the church leaders asked, 'What is your territory?' I said, 'West of the Mississippi River.' He replied, 'But you're east of the Mississippi.' I got my schedule mixed up."

The constant traveling was anything but glamorous. Bunge drove his car from city to city and state to state on a weekly and, sometimes, a daily basis. To stay within budget, Bunge slept in spare bedrooms and on couches in the homes of church families. Bunge once had to sleep on a spare mattress on the floor of a baby's room. He was too tall to fit in the family's spare bunk bed.

Living on the road was a lonely lifestyle for a husband and father. Bunge's work separated him from his wife and children for up to six weeks at a time. Don and Mary would keep in touch by swapping audiotaped messages they personally recorded for each other.

Physical hardships
A couple of major physical trials only complicated matters. In 1980, Mary spent five months in the hospital suffering from severe paralysis that forced her into early retirement. Don lost sight in his right eye due to a detached retina that was complicated by a tear.

Despite so many hardships, the Bunges faithfully carried out their ministry. They trusted God for the strength to persevere. Their example left a legacy for future missionaries to follow.

"God has called us," Bunge said. "Therefore we must be faithful."

One million miles in 25 years
By the time Bunge retired in 1991, he had left an indelible mark on the western half of the United States for Awana. Thousands of clubs exist as a result of the estimated one million miles of driving Bunge logged over 25 years. Today, kids from St. Louis to Seattle and all in between are reached and trained for Christ. They can thank the man clubbers affectionately dubbed "Uncle Don" for that opportunity.

But Don thanked Someone else. "It's all the Lord," he said. "It's nothing I've done. I'm just the one He chose to use, that's all."