Brion
I grew up in a small farming community in northwest Missouri, where I attended church on rare occasions. At the age of seventeen a friend of the family shared with me, from the Bible, that I was a sinner and that Christ loved me so much that he died on the cross, was buried, and that He rose again the third day so that I might have eternal life. It was a typical mid-west hot summer evening when I accepted Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. In 1979 Connie and I became involved in Awana while stationed in Virginia with the US Navy. The following year I was asked to be the Commander. As God has moved us across the nation we have always been involved in an Awana church.
Connie
I grew up in a divorced home, so I experienced life both in the country and the big city. I attended church most of the time, but never really had a personal relationship with Christ. I thought baptism would save me. After Brion and I were married, we moved to Rota, Spain. We were invited to attend a missionary church and for the first time in my life I heard the true gospel. About a year later, at a revival meeting, I realized that I knew about Christ but didn’t have that true personal relationship with Him. On Sept 18, 1977, I asked Christ to be my Savior and have lived for Him ever since.
Call to Ministry
While stationed in Nebraska I was nearing my 22 year tour with the US Navy in 1997. It was at this time that I initially applied with Awana Clubs International but did not have complete peace about it. After praying about the situation and I applied with a banking firm in Washington State knowing that if God closed those doors then His Will would be obvious. Basically, the bank hired me that week, our home in Nebraska was purchased by a cash buyer, and the movers were packing us out within the following month. We discovered what “peace with God” was all about. The following year our current home church in Oak Harbor went through some rocky roads, the Awana commander resigned and the church leadership asked me to fill that gap. It was all part of the Master’s plan. Three years later (2001), Darrell Weiland, past Awana missionary for Western Washington, announced that Awana Headquarters had asked him to take on a new leadership role. It was at that time, we knew that God was not through with us yet. As we re-applied to be Awana Missionaries, we had total peace about the whole process. More evident was the fact that the whole application process took less than two months (normally it’s a six month plus process). We are so blessed by such wonderful people as we are allowed to share our passion for Awana.
