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91_HR0913
LRB9115030RHrh
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to honor milestone dates in the
4 history of organizations in the State of Illinois; and
5 WHEREAS, Awana is one of the largest non-denominational
6 children and youth ministries in the world focused on
7 spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ through the local
8 church; and
9 WHEREAS, Awana will be celebrating its 50 years of
10 service to the Chicago area; and
11 WHEREAS, Chicago's North Side Gospel Center created Awana
12 clubs in the 1940's as a vehicle for attracting neighborhood
13 children to church; and
14 WHEREAS, Spurred by interest from a growing number of
15 other churches, Awana Youth Association was officially
16 established in 1950 with Art Rorheim, the program's founder,
17 as executive director; and
18 WHEREAS, Awana named its first full-time missionary in
19 1966, its main focus was to establish clubs in local
20 churches; and
21 WHEREAS, Beginning in the 1970's through the 1990's,
22 Awana expanded to include preschoolers, teenagers, special
23 needs children, urban children, and international children;
24 By 1972 Awana clubs operated in 46 states; and
25 WHEREAS, Awana clubs now operate in more than 100
26 countries around the world; 8,500 churches in the United
27 States offer clubs, which are run by more than 150,000 adult
28 lay leaders; more than 1 million children will attend Awana
29 clubs this school year; therefore, be it
30 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
-2- LRB9115030RHrh
1 NINETY-FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
2 we congratulate Awana on its 50 years of dedicated service to
3 the children of Chicago; and be it further
4 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
5 presented to Awana as an expression of our esteem.