Monday, June 4, 2012

Say Y-E-S to VBS!


Matthew 19:14 - Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."


It's VBS week!  That means one thing...kids, kids, and MORE KIDS!  I LOVED VBS when I was a kid, but I think I LOVE IT EVEN MORE now that I'm an adult! Ha ha!  It makes my heart so happy to see kids smiling, laughing, singing, dancing, and learning more about God.  Today was the very first day of VBS and it went great!  The theme this year is "Amazing Wonders Aviation" and it's all about airplanes and flying across the world seeing new and exciting things.  The overall Biblical content for the week is learning about God's awesome power. 

I have the amazing opportunity this week of teaching children in Pre-K all the way through 6th grade about missions.  If you know me, you know I'm loving every minute of it!  Opening the world of missions up to children is my absolute passion.  Helping them know about, see, and do missions are my most favorite things.  This year, our mission project is raising money for 3 different projects sponsored by the Baptist Global Response (BGR).  The grades are all in a contest to see who can raise the most money.  One group is raising money for water filters, the other is raising money for mosquito nets, and the last group is raising money for CHICKENS!  BGR uses the money given to provide these needed items to people around the world and through this is able to spread the Good News of Jesus with them.  This isn't just a one country thing, the children's gifts this week will help people all over the world.  That's pretty awesome, I think!

I encouraged the kids to think of different ways to raise money for the offering.  In a letter to their parents, I told them to take a picture of their "unique" way of raising money and send it to me so I could show it during VBS.  Within 5 hours of this challenge, I got my first picture.  You should have seen my face when I saw the picture...it was glowing! :)  Two preteen girls had made hair bows and sold them door to door in order to raise money for the offering.  I can't wait to see what else these amazing VBS kids dream up!

The theme of God's awesome power really hit home for me today as I was faced with a serious technical issue with the media equipment I use here at the church on a daily basis.  In the middle of teaching, one of the big projectors in the sanctuary suddenly went off by itself.  I know what you're thinking...YIKES!  Yep, I was thinking the same thing too, except I couldn't react because I was in the middle of teaching!  Our God is AMAZING, though, and through His AMAZING POWER, the problem was fixable and it's back to normal.  "With God, nothing is impossible!" (even a broken projector) :)

This year's theme is going to be very special to me by the end of the summer.  After VBS here at First Baptist, I will be teaching the same theme at our local Pregnancy Crisis Center VBS and also VBS at Clearwater Bay International Baptist Church in Hong Kong.  I'm excited to live out this theme this summer - God's power will definitely be at work!

I can't wait to see what the rest of this week brings.  God's going to do some AMAZING things, I can feel it!  Thanks for your prayers and keep 'em coming!!

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