Don & Nancy EstepAwana MissionariesCentral & Southern Illinois |
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Don & Nancy Estep |
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Our Ministry:
- Presentation
- Present and explain the club ministry to church leadership and congregations.
- Contact interested churches in your area to acquaint them with the potential of using Awana.
- Make acquaintance with your Awana pastor.
- Make follow-up contacts on new clubs.
- If requested, speak in the church services
- Training and Service
- Coordinate Basic Training for leaders on an area and/or individual church basis.
- Meet with area leaders and/or individual church leaders for encouragement, information, problem solving and planning.
- Encouragement, information, problem solving and planning. Speak for club meetings, special events, parents' night, award nights, etc. as requested. Conduct Basic Training for leaders on an area and/or individual church basis.
- Develop leadership conference workshops designed to help all leaders become more effective in their club work. Meet with area leaders and/or individual church leaders to encourage vision and participation.
- Events and Activities
- Area Development
- Develop Ministry Teams in strategic locations to assist with the ministry and events.
- Serve as staff on the Scholarship Camp of your area and additional camps as requested.
- Attend Church Conferences, Pastors' Conferences, etc. to represent Awana.
- Present the Awana ministry and/or conduct leader training in Bible Colleges in our area.
- Produce and initiate a regular newsletter to promote the Awana ministry in the area.
- Responsibility to Headquarters
- Send monthly activity and expense reports.
- Attend specially scheduled meetings for coordination information and unity of the Awana work.
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Enlist staff that will assist in planning and conducting:
Leadership Training Conferences, Basic Training, Clubs, J.V. and High School AwanaGames, Sparks-A-Rama, Area Bible Quiz and other events as practical to promote Awana unity and growth.
Our Testimony:
Don's testimony
At the age of 12, I went through the motions of becoming a Christian. At that time, no one told me that it took a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus to become one of His children. For the next six years I acted the part but lacked the real peace in my heart. It was during the winter of 1971 that I was sitting in the evening church service of a Bible-preaching, Bible-teaching Baptist church in Decatur, Illinois. The Lord had been working in my heart and life through my exposure to His Word. When the invitation was given, I realized that I had not accepted the Lord as my personal Savior. It was then that the Holy Spirit convicted me of my need. That evening, February 22, 1971, at Riverside Baptist Church, I asked the Lord to save me and according to His Word in Romans 10:13, He was faithful and graciously saved me and started me on a path toward heaven. The following fall after Nancy and I were married the Lord brought across my path individuals who served the Lord and they encouraged me to prayerfully consider if God would have me in full-time Christian service. Following a season of prayer, we were convinced that this was the direction God would have us to pursue. By January of 1972, I was enrolled at Faith Baptist Bible College and began my training. During my four years of Bible College the Lord had me prepare to assist pastors in local church ministries; much like Timothy was to Paul.Devotional and prayer life
As a Christian, whether in full-time Christian service or as a faithful layman, a regular time of prayer and Bible study is essential, not optional. With this in mind, my own personal goal and plan is to spend time in prayer and in the study of the Word on a daily basis. It has been through my personal time with the Lord and with His Word that has been the greatest source of spiritual growth of all my Christian experience.Call to Awana ministry
Following graduation from Bible College in 1976, my involvement was an Assistant Pastor. During these first five and a half years, I was responsible for assisting the pastor in his ministries, along with concentrated effort in the areas of youth and education. The following three years I was involved in pastoring and pulpit supplying. It was after these three years that my home church asked me to be their Assistant Pastor in the area of education and youth. With the above experience and the direct involvement of eight years in the Awana ministry, I have been sensitive to the needs and opportunities of local churches to have a strong evangelistic and discipleship structure. With this in mind, I have always been excited about what Awana is doing and can do for local churches to fulfill this biblical mandate of "evangelize and disciple." Ever since my first exposure to the Awana ministry, God has given me a love and a desire to be involved as much as possible. That has grown over the years in my service in Awana. In August, 1987 the former Awana missionary shared at an area Awana leaders' meeting that he was assuming a position at Awana Headquarters and that the area would be in need of a new Awana missionary couple. Immediately God spoke to me to prayerfully consider pursuing this opportunity of Awana ministry. Since that time, I have been convinced that God would have me pursue serving Him in this capacity. In December of 1987, we made formal application to Awana Clubs International in the area of Awana missionary. During the process God assured us and reminded us that this was His will for our lives at this time. Final acceptance was in May of 1988 and we began the transition of beginning our Awana ministry on June 20, 1988. In our ministry with Awana, the Lord has given me the opportunity to share the Word and Nancy and I the opportunity to be used of the Lord to serve churches, pastors and Awana leadership. It is with "serving" in mind that we daily approach our ministry. What we have shared with Awana leadership is that God has called us to fulfill the responsibilities as their Awana missionaries by serving the Lord through being a servant to them.Nancy's testimony
As a child, I went forward and made a profession of salvation. However, as I grew older, I realized that something was missing in my life. I knew a lot about the Lord, but He was not real to me. I had a lot of head knowledge about Christ but I did not have a personal relationship with Him. In the summer of 1975 I was at our church camp, Camp Manitoumi. The Holy Spirit began convicting me the next day after I arrived. I began searching my heart and I was not sure of my salvation and didn't have peace within. Following the evening service on July 27, 1975, I acknowledged that I was a sinner and I asked the Lord to save me. I am so thankful for my salvation and for the fact that I can know that I am saved as found in I John 5:13.Devotional and prayer life
I realize that as a Christian I must spend time with the Lord and with His Word. My goal each day is to set aside a quiet time with Him not only in prayer but being in His Word too. This is how I can maintain my own spiritual growth.Service
My first responsibility is that of wife and mother, then an Awana missionary's wife. The Lord has enabled me to balance each of these responsibilities and I just look to Him each day to keep that balance in line. At church I'm the Girls' Director of the Awana Truth & Training Club.Our Support Needs:
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Awana Missionaries are Faith Support Missionaries. They are completely dependent upon the gifts of God's people to meet their living and working expenses. Each month their financial needs are met only as churches and individuals share in their ministry.
We sincerely appreciate and thank God for each and every church, family, and individual who help to meet our support needs. We count it a great privilege to be your Awana Missionaries. If your church is supporting us, we thank you for deeming us a worthy ministry to invest in.
If your church has not yet added us to their missions' budget, would you please ask them to consider our needs? We hope that one day all of our Awana churches will realize the importance and benefits of helping their Awana Missionary stay on the job. If you would like to partner with us, please complete the "Declaration of Intent to Support" form. May God richly bless you and your ministry for your faithfulness.
Awana Clubs International now offers several methods to give to the Awana Missionaries, including credit card donations via an online account, Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) directly from your checking account for regular giving, and workplace-based giving (including matching donation programs and the Combined Federal Campaign). Check out more at the Donate web site.
WEBMASTER NOTE: Don and Nancy are currently at 93% support.
Our Commissioning and Sending Church:
Riverside Baptist Church1250 W. Mound Rd.
Decatur, IL 62526
For more information, please contact:
| Don & Nancy Estep
Missionaries to Central & Southern Illinois 194 N. Western Avenue Decatur, IL 62522-1026 Phone: (217) 963-2972 Fax: (217) 963-9994 E-mail: DonE [at] awana [dot] org |