Yesterday was an awesome day! So many great things took place and I don’t believe I have heard about all of them yet. As for my musings …
-Yesterday we celebrated our outstanding week of Vacation Bible School in several ways. In the morning during our worship the kids sang 5 or 6 songs that they loved from the week of VBS. There was a skit from 2 characters who were with us at VBS, the skit was a great summary of the week. My wife recapped the lesson where the gospel was presented, and several kids made the decision to receive Christ. We showed a video highlight of the week. I shared for 2 or 3 minutes and we gave each family a DVD that showed highlights from each night of VBS. It was a great morning. And, it was a great time of worship and celebration.
-VBS went very well last week. It was one of the smoothest I have ever seen. We averaged 50 kids and had 61 different kids attend. We had plenty of workers and our volunteers did an awesome job.
-Yesterday, during one of the children’s Sunday School classes, 4 children prayed to receive Christ as their Savior. On top of that, 2 children who are already following Christ prayed for the other children as they accepted Christ!!! They are already participating in discipleship.
-We had over 145 in attendance for worship the past 2 Sundays.
-Last evening, we rented the city pool for an hour and a half for another time of celebration, and fellowship, for VBS. It was a blast. There were parents and siblings who do not normally attend who were part of the celebration last night. The weather was perfect as well.
-During VBS, the kids gave $969 in offerings. All this money is being given away to help kids and families in other countries, or communities. Seeing the joy on the kids faces, and hearing their cheers, as they heard how much they were giving away was inspiring.
-We collected school supplies in the month of July. Our people gave enough to fill 40 backpacks to help elementary students who might not have had supplies otherwise. These were handed out yesterday as part of backpack giveaway with several churches in our community.
-Another encouraging thing during VBS was that we had several teens who helped. That is significant because we haven’t had teens in the past. Now we have several, and they are serving.
-Yesterday we added a class for 5th and 6th graders. This is because our children’s workers have been doing such a great job in reaching children, and retaining them, that we now have enough of them for a class. They will begin a 5th and 6th grade group on Wednesday nights when our new semester kicks off in September. Last fall my people began mid-week ministries for children and youth. This was a new thing for us. They began with 1 children’s group and 1 youth group. In September we will have a preschool group, an elementary group, a 5th and 6th grade group and a teen group. My people are awesome.
-I am looking forward to teaching a class on Fatherhood this fall on Wednesday evenings.
-This morning my wife and I will head out to spend a few days with our daughters, sons in law, and 5 of our grandkids. It will be a great time. We will miss my son, daughter in law and the other 5 grandkids.
-Later this week will mark the 43rd wedding anniversary for my wife and myself.
-I enjoyed watching several people lead during our VBS. My role was basically one of cheerleader, and I loved my role.
Here’s hoping you find someone to encourage this week by cheering them on and that someone will cheer you on as well.
Dennis
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