One of Children’s Ministries goals is to come along side parents/guardians as they train up their children in the way they should go.  With that in mind, we were able to help children know more about what they believe and how they can share their faith with others.  This was accomplished through our Kids’ Evangelism Explosion program and Vacation Bible School “Hooked on Fishing”.  We saw many children receive the Lord as their Savior and many others recommit their life to Christ through these programs.

Our Kids’ Club program on Wednesday Nights continues to evolve as we write our own curriculum. This year’s theme is CE3K which stands for Christ Encounters of the Third Kind.  There are three different kinds of close encounters a person may experience.  Close encounter of the first kind is a sighting, close encounter of the second kind is physical evidence, and close encounter of the third kind is contact.  This year we’re looking at the people Jesus came in contact with while He was on earth.  Our program is growing and we have team of enthusiastic leaders!  

Sunday School and Children’s Church continue to strive in helping children to grow in their knowledge of God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, His Word, His Plan, and how they fit into that plan.  We also emphasize the importance of relationships.  We do this through worship, games, sharing prayer requests, wearing name tags, etc.  We continue to encourage children to learn and memorize God’s word and this past quarter we had 33 students receive the Perfect Memory Verse Award. 

Another huge part of Children’s Ministries is our volunteers.  This past year we had over 200 volunteers help equip, empower, and encourage the children who attend these various programs. Recruiting and training volunteers continues to be one of the biggest challenges to this ministry. If you would like to serve this ministry please do not hesitate to contact me.

Rebekah Pearce came on in June as our Children’s Ministry Intern and has done a fantastic job!  Not only does she help put all of these programs together but is also involved with training the volunteers and teaches the children as well.  She is a huge asset to this ministry. 

Looking forward to an exciting 2009!

We had a great time at VBS this week! There were over 300 kids registered and 125 volunteers who made it all possible. All the praise goes to God for the program running smoothly and keeping everybody safe! There were 50 kids who made decisions to follow Christ and become “fishers of men.” I personally had the opportunity to talk with many of these kids about the relationship with God they are entering into. They had the brightest smiles on their faces and were so excited that they could have their very own Bible to take home! These kids expressed their joy for being able to have a personal relationship with Christ, who will never forsake them!

On Friday, the closing program was filled to see what the kids learned during the week, watch the video made by Allyson Socash, and eat lunch. 500 people were served by the refreshment team.

Thanks for allowing your kids to be a part of this amazing program. If you were a part of the staff or helped prepare for VBS in any way, we really appreciate your time and service.

 Praise God that everyone was safe on Wet & Wild Wednesday! We all had a blast riding down that 17-foot water slide during recreation.

The verse for today was Matthew 16:17, which quotes, “and Jesus said, ‘blessed are you, Peter, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father who is in Heaven.’” The story was about the transfiguration of Christ, where He revealed Himself as the son of God. Many children understood this for the first time and made a commitment to be followers of Christ.

Missionary Trisha Wynn told the kids about Slovania, which is where her family is headed.

The Kindergarteners are just plain FUNNY!

…An announcement had to be made so that no more kids undressed on the patio. It was a strange concept for these kids to have to go to a bathroom before changing out of their wet swimsuits.

…One child came on the stage during the opener on Tuesday to tell me, “teacher, I have to go potty.”

Here is one situation that occurred in today’s Bible lesson:

Teacher: Peter was friends with Jesus. Do you guys have friends? (meant to be a yes/no question)

Child #1: (raises her hand) My friend’s name is…ummmm

Child #2: (raises her hand and points to counselor) She’s my friend

Child #3: (points to same counselor) She’s my friend too.

Teacher: I’m glad you have friends like Peter did.

I hope these stories made you laugh as much as I did…here are a few pictures from today taken by Allyson Socash.

Only 2 days left of VBS. Please pray that counselors have enough energy to finish the week off. They are doing a fantastic job so far!

Tuesday of VBS was a fun day of learning and making friends. It was Twisted Hair Tuesday. Many kids came with hair in several pony tails and colored hair spray on their heads. Here are a few posted pictures of kids today. More pictures will be coming in the days ahead.

Today’s Bible verse was found in Matthew 16:15-16. “‘But what about you?’ He asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Christ, the son of the living God.’”"

Peter was right on the dot when he answered this question. Although Jesus had never directly told His followers at that point, Peter knew He was the One! Peter expressed that he was more than willing to give his life to follow the living God. Because Peter understood who He was following, He did his best to give His all and be a servant 100% of the time. When Jesus asks us to follow Him, He wants us to be all in. We’ll find out later this week that even though Peter tried with all His heart to follow Jesus, he still let his leader down. Intentions and promises are difficult to keep, but no one is perfect. Ashamed, Peter was approached by Jesus after His resurrection and given forgiveness. What grace! God offers each of us this same magnitude of grace, or love and forgiveness that we don’t deserve. I am so thankful for that!

The first day of Vacation Bible School was a success! We had over 270 kids on campus between pre-school and 6th grade. That is the largest number we have had on a Monday in nearly a decade! We have over 100 volunteers running the program. If you see anyone in a staff t-shirt, be sure to thank them for their tireless work.

“My favorite part was the Bible story,” exclaimed Seth Bourgeois (first grade), “because we learned about Jesus’ disciples.”

Fifth grader, Josiah Pearce said, “I love recreation because we figured out we’re really strong and we beat the 6th graders at tug-o-war.”

The Bible verse of the day was found in Matthew, where it quotes, “Jesus said, ‘Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’” The story was about how Jesus called several fishermen to leave their nets and be fishers of men. We also had special guests, Jonathan and Traci Shoemaker, share about missionary life in Portugal. This couple, along with others, will spend this week sharing their experiences in life as a result of their choice to be “fishers of men”.

Each day is started together with music, a puppet show, a fishing game, and the announcement of the team scores. Throughout the day, each group rotates to various stations which include crafts, recreation and refreshments, missions and music, and Bible story.

Friday will be the only exception to the normal schedule because there will be a closing ceremony and FREE luncheon for the kids and their families. Please join us from 1:15am until 1:30pm on Friday, August 8.

…and we’re all getting ready!