The Child Discipleship Podcast

Awana CEO, Matt Markins, and host, Ross Cochran discuss the two shifts that have happened in children’s ministry, and reveal a third shift that will take us into the future of child discipleship. SHOW NOTES Learn more about Awana’s book, Resilient .  SUBSCRIBE wherever you get your podcasts today so you never miss an episode. You can leave a voicemail for the show at 630-289-5353 and e...

Pastor, Author, and Speaker John Mark Comer joined the podcast with Matt Markins and Mike Handler for an in depth conversation about child discipleship and how churches can prioritize discipleship in their communities. SHOW NOTES Check out Practicing the Way, the new ministry founded by John Mark Comer Check out ChildDiscipleship.com the new resource from Awana that features more from Matt about t...

God has opened up a door for Awana to reach millions of kids in Africa for Jesus! We call it The Africa Child and School Initiative, and we invite you to join us in this groundbreaking opportunity. SHOW NOTES Learn more about The Africa Child and School Initiative. SUBSCRIBE wherever you get your podcasts today so you never miss an episode. You can leave a voicemail for the show at 630-289-5353 an...

Founder, speaker, and author, Jerrad Lopes, focuses in on the importance of fathers discipling their kids.  He then goes a step further and provides small ways for dads to include discipleship in everyday opportunities. SHOW NOTES Learn more about Jerrad’s ministry. Learn more about  Dad Tired And Loving It SUBSCRIBE wherever you get your podcasts today so you never miss an episode. You can...

Anita is a leader in Ukraine and has served with the Awana ministry for most of her life. To conclude our miniseries about child discipleship during the war in Ukraine, Ross Cochran and Anita share her story in an honest conversation about how we must take every every opportunity to advance His kingdom. SHOW NOTES Support our leaders and child discipleship in Ukraine. Get the latest updates about...

State Director for Colorado Kids Belong, Tracee Rudd, and Harbor Church Family Life Pastor, Kayla Maxey, give heartfelt and practical wisdom on how any church or person can become foster friendly, and W.R.A.P. around the foster care families in their lives. W ords R espite A cts of service P rayer SHOW NOTES Learn more about Tracee’s ministry. Learn more about Kayla’s ministry. SUBSCRI...

February 24, 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In this episode we hear about the impact of the invasion on child discipleship and how the needs of the Ukrainian church are being met by people like you. Awana leaders in Ukraine talk about the realities of war and how they are providing children and families with practical care and the good news of the Gospel. SHOW NOTES Suppor...

Host, Ross Cochran, and Awana curriculum writer, Jenny Smith, interview Dr. Shelly Melia to understand adverse childhood experiences and how the Church can help heal them through real relationships. SHOW NOTES Learn more about Shelly’s ministry.  SUBSCRIBE wherever you get your podcasts today so you never miss an episode. You can leave a voicemail for the show at 630-289-5353 and email the s...

To better understand the church in Ukraine today, you have to turn the clock back over 30 years. On this episode we’ll look at the church in Ukraine from the time it was able to worship Jesus publicly to the invasion of Crimea in 2014. We’ll talk to leaders there about the persecution the church faced and how prioritizing child discipleship helped shape the faithfulness we see today. S...

On February 24, 2022 Russia launched a full-scale invasion in Ukraine. On this special miniseries from The Child Discipleship Podcast, we will hear from leaders in Ukraine about how the Church and their families were impacted, and we’ll look ahead to what comes next for our ministry there. Hear the first part of our story Monday, November 7, wherever you listen to podcasts. SHOW NOTES Get the late...

Director of Lifeway Kids, Chuck Peters, wakes us up to the reality that if we truly want to disciple the next generation, we need to have genuine relationships with them just like Jesus did with His disciples. SHOW NOTES Learn more about Chuck’s ministry. SUBSCRIBE wherever you get your podcasts today so you never miss an episode. You can leave a voicemail for the show at 630-289-5353 and em...

Field Chair of Education and Counseling and Program Head of Children and Family Ministry at Moody Bible Institute, Elizabeth Smith, speaks with Awana CEO, Matt Markins about where the church lost sight of spiritual formation, and how to adjust with God as our number one priority. SHOW NOTES Learn more about Elizabeth’s ministry. SUBSCRIBE wherever you get your podcasts today so you never mis...

Author, teacher, and spiritual director, Lacy Finn Borgo explains our need to be with Jesus in order to lead our kids to Him so God can have the last bat over their lives. SHOW NOTES Learn more about Lacy’s ministry.  Purchase Lacy’s book, “All Will Be Well”    Use promo code: AWANA22 for 30 percent off plus free shipping! SUBSCRIBE wherever you get your podcasts today so y...

Derwin Gray uses biblical examples of how Jesus broke through racial divisions to show us how to break through them today. SHOW NOTES Learn more about Derwin’s ministry. SUBSCRIBE wherever you get your podcasts today so you never miss an episode. You can leave a voicemail for the show at 630-289-5353 and email the show at podcasts@awana.org. Watch Today’s Episode on YouTube The post Derwin G...

John Mark Comer gives practical and holistic wisdom to walking alongside a child, and pointing them to Jesus as you follow Jesus. SHOW NOTES Learn more about John Mark Comer and his ministry. SUBSCRIBE wherever you get your podcasts today so you never miss an episode. You can leave a voicemail for the show at 630-289-5353 and email the show at podcasts@awana.org. Watch Today’s Episode on YouTube T...

Mike Handler, Melanie Hester and Ross Cochran got together to discuss their immediate takeaways from the 2022 Child Discipleship Forum. Even if you weren’t there, this episode has insights for you about the direction that the Awana ministry is heading, plus details about our new website childdiscipleship.com that you’ll want to check out today! SHOW NOTES Our team has intentionally cra...

Pastor, Sam Luce, Awana CEO, Matt Markins, and host, Ross Cochran , discuss what to expect at the 2022 Child Discipleship Forum (CDF), and why you won’t want to miss it. CDF will be held on September 22nd and 23rd. SHOW NOTES Get more information about attending CDF 2022. SUBSCRIBE wherever you get your podcasts today so you never miss an episode.  You can leave a voicemail for the show at 6...

Shannon Scott and Mariska Harris from Church of the City joined Ross Cochran to share how the Holy Spirit moved to raise up leaders to serve the kids and their families in their church community. Shannon was able to make a specific appeal for volunteers that you’ll hear in this episode that you don’t want to miss! SHOW NOTES You may have noticed we’ve changed our name! We are now...

Wife, mom of four, author, executive director of GEMS Girls’ Clubs, and 2022 CDF Faculty member, Cindy Bultema, helps us understand the adversity that girls face today, and how spiritual growth needs to be modeled for all kids through our personal relationship with Jesus. SHOW NOTES Listen to Cindy’s previous episode. Learn more about Cindy and her ministry. Learn more about CDF 2022 The pos...

Dr. Rebecca McLaughlin joined Ross Cochran to discuss her book, 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask and Answer about Christianity, as well as to discuss how adults can help teens navigate today’s world. SHOW NOTES This conversation originally appeared in season three on December 30th, 2021.  Get a copy of all of  Rebecca McLaughlin’s books . SUBSCRIBE  wherever you get your podcasts today so...

2022 Child Discipleship Forum Faculty Member, Sam Luce, helps us understand how the approach to children’s ministry must adapt for today, while keeping the solid foundation of Jesus.  With help from the Barna Group research, we learn that Parents and the local church must work together to point their kids to Christ.  Thanks for listening. SHOW NOTES Learn more about Sam Luce and his ministry...

Daniel Copeland is the Associate Vice President of Research at the Barna Group. He joined Ross Cochran and Matt Markins to discuss the practical implications of  Children’s Ministry in a New Reality and how kidmin leaders and senior leadership can apply the latest research about the future of the faith. SHOW NOTES SUBSCRIBE wherever you get your podcasts today so you never miss an episode. ...

David Kinnaman is the author of the bestselling books Faith For Exiles , Good Faith , You Lost Me and unChristian . He is also a speaker at the 2022 Child Discipleship Forum, and the CEO of The Barna Group and, which partnered with Awana to produce Children’s Ministry in a New Reality which is a research project with direct implications for your upcoming ministry year. David, Ross Cochran, a...

Awana is excited to celebrate a monumental milestone on this journey: reaching 5 million children around the globe each week with the Gospel. We didn’t want to miss the chance to celebrate this milestone on the podcast, so we’ve compiled just a small sampling of what reaching 5 MILLION children with the Gospel sounds like. You’ll hear from children and leaders all over the world,...

Carl Trueman, Professor of Biblical & Religious Studies at Grove City College, helps us understand how to develop generations of Jesus followers during the rise of the modern self, cultural amnesia, expressive individualism, and sexual revolution. SHOW NOTES Learn more about 2022 CDF faculty member, Carl Trueman SUBSCRIBE wherever you get your podcasts today so you never miss an episode. You c...