Awana History and NTM

Awana and New Tribes Mission come from the "same family tree". The founder of Awana, Lance Latham, was also a co-founder of New Tribes Mission and was on the NTM governing board for decades.

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God revealed His plan to take Awana abroad to Awana Co-founder Art Rorheim during a trip to Venezuela with New Tribes Missions Founder Paul Fleming. Art saw children aimlessly roaming the village while he helped shoot a film for New Tribes. He decided to draw an Awana game circle into the dirt along a riverbank and, through an interpreter, invited children to join him for a game. The kids responded with unbridled enthusiasm. "It was there on that riverbank that God gave Awana a mandate," Art said. "The Lord called us to reach out to a world of boys and girls who desperately need to hear God's offer of salvation."

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Awana still appreciates the ministry of NTM.

"New Tribes and Awana share a common heritage. Their roots run together all the way back to the days of Paul Rader and the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle. Paul Fleming and Lance Latham were products of this groundbreaking evangelist's ministry. Their vision to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ to the four corners of the earth continues unabated…I thank God for their dedication to fulfilling the Great Commission."

Jack D. Eggar
President/CEO
Awana Club International

Awana and NTM are still working together. Here's one example:

As Awana missionaries for eight years, Terry and Linda Davis were originally introduced to the country of Papua New Guinea on a short-term mission trip as leaders of a Missionary-in-Training team of teens.

The team worked with missionaries from New Tribes Mission who expressed a need for a new program. They wanted an adaptation of the traditional Bible-memorization emphasis of Awana that would work in a tribal situation. Since the natives of Papua New Guinea do not have a spiritual foundation remotely related to Christianity, work in PNG must begin from the very basics. Linda Davis went so far as to say that "basically they don't even know who God is."

The Davises returned to the U.S. once their MIT trip was over and began preparations for the new tribal curriculum. Development of the TruthSeekers program for New Tribes Mission and for Awana has impacted far beyond the initial vision. Ready for use wherever spiritual fundamentals are lacking, especially with tribes of spiritist and animist beliefs, TruthSeekers begins with the very foundation of the Christian faith. Presenting a clear and systematic picture of God, the curriculum explains the basics of God's Word for children who have mixed or confusing spiritual beliefs.

One year after their MIT trip ended, the Davises were back in Papua New Guinea in 1999, working as Awana missionaries "on loan" to New Tribes on a part-time basis. (Information taken from the AWANA web site.)