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...showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and His strength and His wonderful works that He hath done. Psalm 78:4b
 Art Rorheim
Art was born in 1918 to Norwegian immigrant parents in Chicago. Although raised in a Christian home, Art wasn’t convinced of his need for Christ until he was ten years old when his brother, Roy, died suddenly of spinal meningitis. The turning point for him was overhearing his brother plead with his parents to lead Art to Christ the night before Roy passed away. With Roy’s words to their parents seared into his memory, he received Christ as his Savior the next day.
As a new Christian, Art got involved with the weekly club program at the Chicago Gospel Tabernacle that was a forerunner to Awana. There he met Lance Latham, who would be instrumental in the founding of Awana and in Art’s life as his mentor and pastor.
In the 1930s, Art volunteered as a weekly club leader at a new church that Lance established, the North Side Gospel Center. During World War II, he joined the Gospel Center staff as full-time youth director.
“I’ve told people many, many times, I had no idea what God had in store for me when I became youth director of the North Side Gospel Center,” Art explains. “My mission field was strictly the mission field of the church and the neighborhoods. In fact, I always say that if I had known what was in store, I probably would have been scared. I would have run away.”
Art’s unwavering commitment to leadership training and reaching and discipling children and youth can be seen in his 60 years of leadership at Awana. He values the role that adults play in the lives of young people because of the enormous impact that Lance Latham made on him.
 Jack Eggar
Jack grew up in Texas and attended church regularly with his family. He participated in religious education classes at his church and was confirmed at a young age. At age 13, Jack asked his priest, “Am I going to heaven?”
The priest replied, “Of course you are. Weren’t you confirmed?”
When he learned that head knowledge was not enough to ensure his eternity, Jack made a personal decision to trust Christ when he was 17, and God transformed his heart. He soon discerned that full-time Christian ministry was God’s calling on his life. He enrolled in Bible college to begin his training.
Jack was introduced to Awana when he returned to the U.S. to pastor a church in 1987. Jack and Dona used Awana as a tool for community outreach, bringing hundreds of kids and families to faith in Christ and sparking record growth for their church. Their involvement in Awana deepened when they helped launch Awana in the former USSR in 1992. Jack was hired as Awana international missions director in 1997 and became Awana President/CEO two years later.
Jack and Dona are the parents of four grown children: Joshua, Justin, Jessica and Bekah, all of whom participated in Awana and follow Christ today, along with four grandchildren: Daniel, Emma, Erin and Eric.
 Johnathan Falwell
Jonathan Falwell is the Senior Pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church (TRBC) in Lynchburg, Virginia. He served at TRBC under the leadership of his father and Founding Pastor, Dr. Jerry Falwell, from 1995 until his father’s death in May 2007. Jonathan’s responsibilities include preaching, managing a staff of 250 and long-term planning for ministry outreach. He also serves as Vice Chancellor for Spiritual Affairs at Liberty University. Jonathan was an Awana clubber as a child and grew up understanding the importance of family devotions.
Reverend Falwell and his wife, Shari, have four children who have been active in Awana: Jonathan Jr., Jessica and twins, Natalie and Nicholas. They reside in Lynchburg, Virginia.
 Larry Fowler
Larry Fowler serves as Executive Director of Global Training for Awana and has a committed passion for seeing parents and churches raise children and youth to know, love and serve Jesus Christ. For over 30 years, Larry has pursued this mission in a range of capacities within Awana as a local church volunteer, an Awana missionary and director of international ministries. Outside of Awana, he ministers as a speaker, author and key influencer of children and family ministry.
Larry and his wife, Diane, have been married for 37 years and reside in Algonquin, Illinois. They enjoy faithfully encouraging their two children and three grandchildren to walk closely with Christ.
 Shawn Thornton
Shawn has served as the senior pastor of Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village, California since 2008. For ten years prior to that, he served for ten years at Bible Center Church in Charleston, West Virginia.
Shawn grew up in Awana and has served as a Sparks’s leader, director, game director and children’s pastor where he acted as commander of the club. Currently he serves on the Awana Board of Directors and has been a frequent speaker at Commander College. Shawn and his wife, Lesli, have three children who have all been in Awana: Jonathan, Katie and Megan. They live in the Westlake Village area of California.
 Dennis Lee
For over 35 years, Dennis Lee has used ventriloquism, scripture and music to reach audiences everywhere with the gospel of Jesus Christ. His hope for this day is to uplift you as the audience through the gift of laughter, while pointing you to learning.
Dennis Lee is a gifted, award winning ventriloquist, author, storyteller and musician. He has ministered to children across the world and has crafted 36 episodes for television, along with 30 DVDs, 12 CDs and countless children’s books.
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