Avalanche Ranch
We just finished with Vacation Bible School at our church and it was great! It was a western-theme and I (Seth) like wearing a cowboy hat. The highlights were hearing the kids sing great songs, say great memory verses (or butcher them trying - one girl said "The Lord is the onlyest true guy") and watching the leaders step up to the plate on helping the kids grow. We did well attendance-wise and a couple kids made decisions (I think they were serious). A few hours a day for one week is a start, but it's a long way from what those kids need. I'm praying that the impact doesn't stop with the kids - if we can reach the families, those kids have a much better chance of being discipled (not to mention that the families need to be reached anyway)!
Any ideas for follow-up with the parents/families? We had a family closing the last night of VBS and we sent home a letter inviting them to church, but is there more we could do?
Labels: our ministry
The Good News
Seth recently helped his Aunt Emily teach abstainance to a group of guys at the Roanoke Juvenile Detention Center (Auntie Em works for the local Crisis Pregnancy Center). Interesting. They were very open - we had quite a lively conversation! After we presented our two bits, a man from a local church shared the gospel with them and all 8 of the guys prayed to accept Christ. Usually I would be very excited about that, but in this case I'm not so sure. The man used an old translation of the Bible with lots of words they didn't know, alluded to lots of Bible stories they didn't know and used a lot of big theological terms to explain the gospel. In other words, I'd be surprized if they understood half of what he said. Also, there was no emphasis on the gospel actually changing the way you live your life - only on believing and being sure of your salvation. Am I the only one who wonders if this kind of presentation may do more harm than good? The Good News is a whole lot more than a free ticket out of Hell - it's a real relationship with the God of the universe and it effects everything!
Labels: our ministry
and it rained...
Last weekend Seth and a couple other great leaders took some of the guys from the youth group camping. It rained. we got sore, tired and stinky. But God showed up. Get this: right after a lesson about sharing God's love with others we had a chance to help some folks in a campsite next to us put up their tent and get their fire started (we had the only dry wood around) AND the guys decided they wanted to invite all our neighbor-campers to see some skits we had prepared (one was about Jesus) and they came! I couldn't have planned it better!
Labels: our ministry
Sweet Home Alabama
Seth had a fabulous trip to Georgia and Alabama June 3-9! He got to see lots of great people and meet with some wonderful churches! Although we won't know the exact percent for a few months, our support (both financial and prayer) was boosted a lot by some generous folks who have partnered with us to reach Ireland with the Good News! Many thanks to all y'all who made this trip such a blessing to Seth!
Labels: our support, travel
