Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed (AWANA): Arthur Rorheim co-founded AWANA with Lance “Doc” Latham, a Scripture – centered kids ministry in the 1940s at a time when Sunday School was it for kids in churches (or not at all). He then saw the organization grow from a weekly club at his church on Chicago’s North Side to 47,000 churches from 100 denominations – gathering more than 3.7 million participants a week. His creativity included introducing curriculum handbooks, outreach events that appealed to non-churched children, a system of awards to motivate handbook completion, uniforms, and a Game Square to capture children’s interest. He eventually named the program AWANA, based on its key verse: 2 Timothy 2:15 (Approved Workmen Are Not Ashamed). He died on Friday, 5th January 2018 at the age of 99 having served AWANA for 70 years. Rorheim’s wife, Winnie, nicknamed “Mrs. Awana,” died in 2015. They had two children, four grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren, and three great-great-grandchildren.
CREDIT: http://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2018/january/died-mr-awana-cofounder-arthur-rorheim-youth-ministry.html.