Art Rorheim, founder of Awana, shares the true inspirational story of how he started a nonprofit with no money and is still going strong at 93

Hosted by Margaret Agard author of the In His Footsteps memoirs.

Click to listen to Art Rorheim

Art tells us

• What Awana is
• Why youth who participate in Awana are 6 times as likely to go to church after graduating from high school as those who do not
• How to start a nonprofit organization with no money
• The miracle God sent to keep Art in Awana
• How he keeps going strong at age 93

Click to listen to Art Rorheim founder of Awana

Keep Scrolling For the Transcript (if you’d rather read it) Additional Information and Related Posts

Margaret Agard:  Today, you’re going to meet Art Rorheim, the 93-year-old founder of Awana.  When I met him, I thought he was about 70.  So you want to know the secret to staying young?  Art’s going to share it with us.

Male Speaker:  Now here’s this week’s bible question and answer brought to you by the amazing Bible Timeline.  Quickly see 6,000 years of bible and world history together on one color-coded wall poster.  Find out more about the amazing Bible Timeline or ask your own bible question at amazing bibletimeline.com.

Margaret Agard:  This week’s question: when was the word “bible” first used?  The word bible comes from the Latin “biblia” and it refers to a collection of books rather than just one book.  That’s what the bible is.  A collection of books written by various authors over hundreds of years and the word “biblia” itself comes from the Latin root word on such things as bibliography.  Remember those horrible term papers you had to write in high school?  Bibliography, biblia, the bible.

And the word referring to actual collection of the holy books we consider the bible was used to refer to the Greek version of the Jewish scriptures centuries before Christ.  As for the Christian bible, it was being called the bible as early as 223 A.D.

When I ran into Art Rorheim, the founder of Awana, I went in to sit down and pick his brains about how that program, which is actually a tool used by many different churches, many different denominations, let’s say, non-denominational bible study tool for youth ages two through high school and youth who go through that program are six times as likely to remain in the church after they turn 18 as those who don’t because what it does is give them a foundation for spiritual growth.  There’s one other fact I shared with Art before I asked him to explain how he’s so successful and even better, he shares how his life is an example of growing spiritually by trusting.

But first, that other statistic that might have you thinking about whether or not you’re growing spiritually.  It certainly had me pause and think.  Recently, I spoke with Arnie of backtothebible.org and he pointed out that after seven years of research, they showed that the only activity that had any true impact on spiritual growth, moving people closer to Christ was for people to be engaged with our bible.  Now, you’ve shown some good statistics about what happens for youth who are involved in Awana.

Art Rorheim:  Well, first of all, we have to know how to reach youth and you’ll never reach youth unless they have fun, unless they have a good time.  So we have a unique game period that has been designed and reaches everybody, practically all ages and you get them in for the games and they really get to know people, have friends, but then we also have a program of memorizing scripture.  The thing you’ll have to realize, kids when they’re young, they’re wired differently.  Those kids can memorize scripture very quickly.

Margaret Agard:  Better than I could as an adult.

Art Rorheim:  It’s amazing.  The older you get, you’re not really as able as you were.  These kids memorize scripture and I’ve had kids that recited the entire books of the bible from memory.

Margaret Agard:  I can’t imagine.

Art Rorheim:  I had a boy who was six years old.  He recited the whole book of Revelations to me.  Well, that has to do with parents.  Parents who really want to invest in their children.  They see that the ability that they’ve got and they have worked with them.  I have another group of three girls and they recited with motions about two or three chapters in Revelation, but now, those girls also know Japanese.  They also know Chinese, and they’re able to recite in all three languages.  Now, they were able to do this as children.  They pick this up very, very quickly.  If you were an adult, you couldn’t do that, but to see these kids…

Margaret Agard:  Well, memorizing scriptures could always come across as a parlor trick.  How does it really change a life to memorize scriptures?

Art Rorheim:  They get to memorize scriptures but then get to hear the Gospel.  They get to hear how they can be sure of going to heaven by putting their trust in Christ.  And when these kids get saved and truly get born again, God does marvellous things with these kids.  Now, right now, there are children that are now adults, they’re all around the world.  I had one little fellow, well, he was 13 years old.  He said I believe God’s calling me to be a missionary doctor.  That’s quite a statement for a 13-year-old of age.

Margaret Agard:  That’s true.

Art Rorheim:  But to know God was in it—and he married an Awana girl—he went through to medical school, he went into Nigeria, actually build a hospital and he had been there for over 30 years as a doctor there…

Margaret Agard:  And why should that not be true?  Because look how young Samuel was when God spoke to him.  If God wants you to be a doctor, you probably have to start at a very young age.

Art Rorheim:  We found out that like in my own life, if it weren’t my wife’s being such a vital part of it, there really wouldn’t be Awana today, but this doctor, he had a wife who had a heart to reach kids and we didn’t have anything in foreign languages that time, she took and translated it and put it into their language and some of the first things those kids have ever read in their life was the word of God.

Margaret Agard:  Now, I want to just interject two points.  One is that Awana is non-denominational and it’s used by many different churches to reach their youth.  When you first started it, your initial vision was a local program, is that correct?

Art Rorheim:  Yes.  I didn’t plan to start an organization.  My pastor who I was youth director and my whole (inaudible 0:07:26) was the neighborhood.  Okay?  I didn’t really have any training of any kind, but there again, God gave me the ability to know how to reach kids and it was long before I had a 100-200 kids that were coming in.  Two hundred of them.

Margaret Agard:  That’s incredible.  Where were you located then?

Art Rorheim:  This was in Chicago.

Margaret Agard:  Okay.  Outside Chicago or right in the city?

Art Rorheim:  Right in the city of Chicago.  The churches then heard about what a success we had and they were beginning to come and wonder what’s this all about.  They saw what was happening.  They came in and viewed our program and they said can we do this in our church?  I said I’ll be glad to share anything to you that we have.  I had nothing but mimeograph sheets, paper that I had put together.

Margaret Agard:  I remember mimeograph machines.

Art Rorheim:  That’s all we had.  But then I thought well, the Lord’s work out to be done better than that and it all at least be printed but I had no money.

Margaret Agard:  In case you just joined us, I’m Margaret Agard, and you’re listening to In His Footsteps.  Our guest today is Art Rorheim, founder of this wildly successful, international, organization that has bible study for youth, and Art is about to share with us how he started God put a burden on his heart but he had no money.  Gosh, has that ever happened to anyone you know?  No money and a desire to go out and do something good?

Art Rorheim:  Absolutely nobody gave money for me.  I found out that you could get money by collecting newspapers and weighing them by the pound and you’d get money for it.  So I got a group of boxes 30-40 kids, I said, “Well, Saturday morning, I want you out there—every Saturday morning at 8 o’clock and we’re going to take our bus and go up and go up in on the streets to collect newspapers and when we get enough money, we’re going to buy a printing press”.  And I bought a little used printing press and then well, now, I didn’t even know how to run a press, I had learned how to run a press.

Margaret Agard:  It’s amazing what God requires us to learn to his work.

Art Rorheim:  Yes, everything.  That’s right.  Normally, you say, well, I can’t do it.  But God said I’ll teach you and then I would print early in the morning and I’d put these pages out on tables and so forth.  Here was a beautiful thing—these kids, they said, we want to be a part of this too.  So they came every day after school and collated the books for me.  And I had just a little machine that I could put plastic binding on and they would then put all the books together for me.

Margaret Agard:  That’s great that they had a heart to serve because that’s what comes when you grow closer to Christ.  You develop a servant’s heart.

Art Rorheim:  But you see, there’s another thing that if you’re going to reach kids, they got to know you care for them and you love them.  These kids came in after school and it was like this is where they want to hang out.  They want to hang out there.  And one (inaudible 0:11:03) with all these kids that want to come in and when you look at the average church today, you know, I didn’t have the greatest facilities in the world, but I look at gymnasiums and things that churches have, and they’re hardly being used for that thing because every day, you could have kids coming in after school.  And there’s a ministry all by itself but it’s not being done that way.

Margaret Agard:  Someone has to have the heart for it.

Art Rorheim:  Somebody has the heart and realize that if you work with these kids—you know the bible says (inaudible 0:11:36) and it says over in Psalm 126:6 “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with Him.”  And that shows if you got a heart and your soul will seed, God’s going to reveal it to you.  That’s the joy I have of being as old as I am, is to see a fruit of what God had done.

Margaret Agard:  Am I allowed to ask how you are, Art?

Art Rorheim:  I am 93.

Margaret Agard:  Oh, I never would’ve guessed that.  I was guessing maybe late 70’s.  Okay and how old were you when you started this ministry?

Art Rorheim:  Well, I was probably about 25 when I started it.

Margaret Agard:  So you have been around to see the fruit of this.

Art Rorheim:  I sure have.

Margaret Agard:  Of the many years of effort.  Recently, you are focused more on involving the parents along with the children.  Have you seen a change in the family?

Art Rorheim:  Well, yes, we see it time and time again.  For instance, I’ll give you an illustration.  We have a big event called Olympics where the kids come and compete, different churches come and compete, and we invite the parents to come to this event.

Margaret Agard:  Do they compete in scripture mastery?

Art Rorheim:  No.  This is just an—

Margaret Agard:  Physical?

Art Rorheim:  —activity.  Olympics; and the kids play games and so parents are very interested in seeing their kids compete in this and so from all backgrounds and denominations, they come in and this one lady who came in and she had never been there before.  She sat on the grandstand and then at half-time, a pastor got up and gave the Gospel, showed how you could become a Christian by putting your trust in Christ as your Saviour and that he paid the price in full for your sins and if you’ll do that, God will give you a sure hope of heaven.  This lady says I heard that and right there on the grandstand, she said I believe it.  I believed it.

Margaret Agard:  Her heart was touched.

Art Rorheim:  And she says my life was changed.  I’ve been an Awana leader for about 15 years and here she came, you know what I mean—

Margaret Agard:  Just to watch her kid.

Art Rorheim:  Just to watch her kid and then it completely changed her life.  So when kids come home and another thing that they’ll see—because sometimes kids are unruly and don’t mind like they should at home and they find out that when they’re in Awana, we have real areas of discipline where if we’re going run game periods, we count to five and everything has to be silent, absolutely silent, and they learn discipline.  Kids who come from undisciplined homes, they love it because it’s consistent.  (inaudible 0:14:51) home is inconsistent because they change…

Margaret Agard:  So they respond to this firm, consistent, and loving environment.

Art Rorheim:  They do and they love that.  They respond to the consistency there.

Margaret Agard:  Do they carry that home with them?

Art Rorheim:  They do.  They come home and the parents see the difference in them.  So that’s where they say hey how did that happen?  And so that’s what draws them to the church.  Then we put on programs in the church where the kids demonstrate scripture memory and so forth and all of a sudden, you’ll hear, whoa, I didn’t know my kid could do that.  I want to come to this church if that’s what they’re doing with my son.  There’s no better way of reaching parents than through their kids.  It’s the best (inaudible 0:15:53).

Margaret Agard:  And you know what, that’s part of why you started your prison ministry, is that correct?  Was to reach the fathers?

Art Rorheim:  Well, not really.  First of all, the warden who’s a Born Again man, asked me to come in and he said, we want you to try and reach as many kids as you can because the kids of the inmates are seven times more apt to come into prison—seven times.  If we don’t reach those kids (inaudible 0:16:35) coming in here with those kids.

Margaret Agard:  Exactly.  And you know how you stop.  Let’s say if your bath tub is overflowing, how do you stop it?  Turn off the tap.  So that’s what you’re doing.  You’re turning off the tap.

Art Rorheim:  Well, okay, we didn’t have enough Awana clubs, of course, to take care of the kids of all these prisoners, but we start to work with the prisoners.  There were 5,000 of them and they were all (inaudible 0:17:01).  Now, through the Gospel and with the seven chapels on there, we’ve been working with the chapels and now 1500 are born again and you could see the difference in their lives because they love one another.  You could really see it in their lives.  And then of course the thing that they really appreciate is once a year, we have what we call Returning Hearts and we’ll begin about 600-700 of their children enrolled bring them in from all around the country for one whole day.

Margaret Agard:  Oh, that just breaks my heart to even…

Art Rorheim:  To bring them in there and we have wonderful activities for them.  Some of them haven’t even seen their kids before.

Margaret Agard:  This must cost money.  How did you make that happen?

Art Rorheim:  Yes, we probably have to raise about $20,000 to just make it all happen.  The impact that has on homes and parents and so forth because now, the person naturally when they were going through or they were doing, they broke all relationship with their homes because they were wicked people.  And now, they’re completely changed.  Now, some of the wives are starting to come back.  When they see that their husbands are different, then we have program called the Malachi Dads and these are Christian dads that we work with them constantly, showing them how to build up relationships with their kids and with their homes.  They write letters and so forth and they’re starting to savage great things.

Margaret Agard:  If you’ve just joined us, I’m Margaret Agard, and you’re listening to In His Footsteps.  Our guest today is Art Rorheim, and he is about to share with us a few of the miracles that occurred in his life personally as he took up the call in his heart to serve the youth.

I want to ask you a little bit about the impact this had on you, Art.  When you were in your mid-20s, were you married at that time?

Art Rorheim:  Yes, I was married.  I married when I was 21.

Margaret Agard:  Okay.  And you didn’t expect this to become your life, but it became your life.

Art Rorheim:  That’s right.

Margaret Agard:  How did it impact your home life?  How did it change you?

Art Rorheim:  Well, first of all, my wife also a part of it.  I also ran a youth camp for about 30 years.  A youth camp every summer, a youth camp.

Margaret Agard:  Hard work.

Art Rorheim:  An Awana Camp and so my wife was very much involved with that as well so the fact that my wife has been a part of it weeks the before I started it, put together uniforms and we had neckerchiefs, my wife sold out all of those for us.  She was part of a—

Margaret Agard:  Do you have children?  Two?

Art Rorheim:  We have two children.  They were with us all the time.  Now, I have four grandchildren.  I have 10 great grandchildren and every one of them are Christians.  Every one of them are.  In fact, one of my grandkids has been a missionary in (inaudible 0:20:35) for 20 years.  They had three girls.  Two of those girls now, one of them is missionary in her way and the other one is in Africa right now.  This is one of my great grandkids.  When they train and so forth, they have a heartbeat for missions, boy, they just go right for it.  It’s a matter of one generation after another.

Margaret Agard:  You started this as a volunteer organization.  What we’re you doing to earn a living before?

Art Rorheim:  Before that, I was a photographer.  I worked for a company that printed pictures and so forth.  Then I worked for a machine shop and I was making parts for the atom bomb during that time.  I didn’t know what I was making but that’s what I was doing.  Then my pastor, he saw I had an interest in kids and we were running our camp and he asked if I would come and help him run the camp.  So I left my job with my two kids and went up to camp.  I had no idea what I’d be doing after the summer was over with.  They asked me to become the youth director, well, this was a shock too because I was making probably about $150 a week at that time at the machine shop and when I got my first check from this, it went down to $40 a week.

Margaret Agard:  Was 25% of what you were making.

Art Rorheim:  That’s right.  And now, God had helped me provide for me because I couldn’t make it otherwise.  Well, we had a two-story building that we bought during the depression for $6,000.  It was quite a nice building and then someone said, why don’t you develop this, because they had two floors, into apartments, small little apartments that you can rent out.  And I had (inaudible 0:22:53) there were skilled carpenters and so forth and they worked with me and put together three nice apartments and with that, I had enough money that I can get along.

Margaret Agard:  What a wonderful story on how God provides.

Art Rorheim:  Isn’t it?  Yes.

Margaret Agard:  He doesn’t expect us to go hungry and be on the streets.

Art Rorheim:  We didn’t expect that at all.  I just knew God was in it, but I had no idea what would happen.  Awana is miracles after miracles because when you think that Awana today is reaching around the world and I had no training, no experience, and God had to teach me everything in regards to curriculum or (inaudible 0:23:36) management and had to teach me how to raise money and everything.  I had to start from scratch.  That’s why Awana is such a miracle because all through it is this one miracle after another.  Like He says in Jeremiah 33:3, just call, I’ll answer and I’ll show you great, mighty things which you know none.  And that’s what it has been.

Margaret Agard:  If someone is listening today and they feel in their heart and I’m going to repeat that we’re doing at a conference and I’ve dragged him off to a not quite so quiet corner to get Art’s wisdom, one of our elders, in life, what would you want to say that you haven’t said yet to that person or how would you sum that up?

Art Rorheim:  Well, here’s what you have to do.  You have to realize that before the foundation of the world has called us (inaudible 0:24:36) over there in 2 Timothy 1:9 and he says, “Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling—not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us as Christ before the world began”.  And we realized that before the world began, before he threw the galaxies and space, he was more interested in selecting the people who are going to fulfil the body of Christ.  The thing is, you have to be praying and ask what does God want of my life?  What does God want?  What are things that I like to do or I’m handy at but what does God want me to do?  Because I would never have done what I’m doing—because I never thought I could do that.  That’s the secret to it all.  Really seek God’s will whatever it may be.  It can be in a church or you can be faithful in the church, whatever it may be, whether it be as an usher or everything.  You’ll find out that the way up in God’s program is to go down.  

Margaret Agard:  It’s true.

Art Rorheim:  Go down to go up.  That’s right.  You don’t strive for the top, you just strive to just do what God wants you to do.

Margaret Agard:  Christ washed his disciple’s feet.

Art Rorheim:  That’s right.

Margaret Agard:  That’s right.  Okay.  Thank you, Art.  That is beautiful.  I love that story.  I love that story of how you started and where it took you.

Art shared with us how God qualifies the called rather than calling the qualified, how he made it possible to support his family while still going out and carrying out the mission he felt God had called him to do, and more importantly, he points out that—well, I’ll just point that living your life in God’s service and in the service of His children, creates this incredible fountain of energy and youth.  He looked about 20 years younger that he is and acts it too.  I really enjoyed talking with Art.

I’m going to share with you (inaudible 0:26:46) another one of our manure stories where once again, Parker was too busy to go out and get some of the items we wanted for own garden in our own place because he was so busy helping other people.  This time it was hay.  We wanted mulch hay.  We wanted to spread it all over our big garden and all around out fruit trees. We looked in the papers and we’re trying to find some and everything we could find, we were going to have to travel long distances.  Finally, because he was too busy to get it, I started praying and saying, “You know, God, is this like the manure while Parker’s out serving, you’re going to supply us with mulch hay?”  And I felt like it was true.  He was.  That I could do what God wanted me to do and Parker could do what God wanted him to do and he would make sure our needs were supplied and sure enough, a neighbor called us, we went inside and he had a bunch of mulch hay.  He told us where he got it.  It was right around the corner and then he actually hauled all this mulch hay over to us so we have enough not only for this spring, but for next fall also.  That’s the way God is.  You cannot out-give God.  You cannot out-serve God.

If you’ve had similar experiences of doing God’s to-dos while he gets your back, please share it with me.  You can write to me at P.O. Box 52, Fort McCoy, FL 32134 or visit the website https://inhisfootsteps.com and leave a comment on the blog.

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