About Us / Ministry Staff / Harkness Background Info
Paul & Janet Harkness - Background Information
We were both raised in the Ord - Arcadia, Nebraska area. Janet trusted Christ as a child at age 7, and Paul trusted Christ as a young adult at the age of 20.
In our third year of marriage the Lord led us to Grace College of the Bible in Omaha, Nebraska to begin preparing for ministry. Paul received his B.A. in Pastoral Ministries and Bible. Busy raising our children, Janet was able to complete 30 hours of credit at the college. During our college years Paul was interim pastor at two churches in the area.
After graduation we served three more churches in Nebraska and Oklahoma as Pastor and Associate Pastor for a total of twenty years of pastoral ministry. In these roles we could clearly see the Lord at work in the lives of children and youth. We were particularly impressed with how He used Awana Clubs to reach these young people. In 2006 God called us to become Awana Missionaries. We serve Nebraska and Southeast Wyoming in the area of development. Our primary responsibility is to introduce the ministry of Awana and assist the local church to begin clubs. Our home church is Bethel Baptist Church in Ord, Nebraska.
We have four children: Nate, Ben, Lucretia, and Dora. Nate and his wife, Daphne, live in southwest Nebraska where they are in business. They have three beautiful children. Ben and his wife, Melissa, live in Iowa where Ben is a bicycle mechanic and Melissa works at Starbucks. After teaching English as a foreign language in Vietnam, Lucretia is a teacher in a Christian School in southwest Nebraska. Dora is attending a Bible Institute in Wisconsin.
