Kim and I are thankful to be the Awana missionaries to Western Oregon.  Allow me to share about us, our ministry area, and our vision for the future of Awana in Western Oregon.  

Kim and I have two children.  Heather, our daughter, is 25 and married to Joel Hergert.  They are both graduates of Corban College.  Heather has degrees in Language Arts Education and English, and Joel in Music Education and Piano Performance.  Matt is 22 and recently married to Joy.  He graduated from Corban College with a degree in Business Management. Heather and Matt have been active in our ministry over the years.

I was saved in the Awana Club at First Baptist Church in Cottonwood, CA in 1968.  The truths from God’s Word that I learned in Awana became the foundations of my faith in Christ.  One of my ministry dreams is that every young person in Western Oregon would be within driving distance of an Awana Club.   Kim was saved at Trinity Lutheran Church in Redding, CA while in fourth grade.  She responded to the gospel as shared by her Sunday School Superintendent after a friend invited her to Sunday School.  We celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary this past June.

We became missionaries with Awana on January 8, 1995.  We served in the Northern California and Northern Nevada from January of 1995 through July of 2005.  We have had the privilege of traveling to Germany twice to assist with the Awana ministry there, including starting the first Awana club in former East Germany.  In March of 2005 we were asked to consider changing our ministry area to Western Oregon.  After a time of prayer we gladly agreed to this change.  We serve 132 churches that currently use the Awana ministry as well as the many churches have contacted us regarding starting Awana in the future.  

 Our current ministry goals are: 

1. Awana is a ministry built on relationships.  We want to build relationships with every Pastor and Awana Commander in the churches that use the Awana ministry. 

2. As a faith supported Missionary couple, we must raise 100% of our support, both for ministry needs and personal needs. 

3. We need to develop our Ministry Team.  The Ministry Team is a group of people that have been trained and equipped to help us with training leaders, conducting events, and presenting Awana to churches.  We are praying for the people that God would bring to our team throughout Western Oregon.

4. We wish to build a sense of community among the Awana clubs through special events such as Bible Quiz, AwanaGames, and Fall Leadership Training Conferences.

As Awana Missionaries we exist to serve the local church.  Please let us know if there is any way we and our Ministry Team can help you.

Because of Calvary,

Ed & Kim Gossien

Awana Missionaries - Western Oregon

edg@awana.org

www.oregonawana.com