WOW…what a day today in VBS! We had 33 kids join us today. We started to get the kids ready for music and they just kept coming! God is so good and moving in the hearts of the kids in McGrath. We were talking with one of the ladies that works in the school and she said that was almost all of the kids in K – 6 grade! She was pretty blown away by who all came!
Today’s Bible story was from Numbers 22-23, Balaam and his donkey. The kids kept telling me a donkey could not talk…until they met “Donkey”, that is what we named Balaam’s donkey. We had a good time with the story and the kids learned that God wants us to “listen” to Him, and if we don’t He might even use a donkey to get our attention!
Wednesday is a BIG day this week in VBS. We are going to present the salvation message to the kids. For this we made a decision to rotate the younger kids (ages 3-5) and the older kids (6-13) to Bible Story / Games so we can focus on them understanding the message. The theme this week has been “Finding Your Place In God’s Story”. That place is found in the cross and what Jesus did on the cross! We will tie Day 1, the story of Adam and Eve and their SIN to God to providing a way back to Him and to be forgiven of our sin. This is always a hard lesson to teach to these age groups, so please be in prayer for us.
We have really been amazed at how good these kids have been. VBS can get loud and chaotic at times, but this is a great bunch of kids!
One of our “new” events this week was to sponsor an adult movie night at the church. We really had no idea who might attend. We had 9 local people attend, including one young man who comes to McGrath every other week and does work for FAA. Again, God moves and shows His presence. The movie we showed was “Unconditional”.
But I have saved the most incredible part of this day. After VBS Leah, my daughter, asked me if I had my iPod charger cord. I said no, but I can go back to the house to get it. She no, that’s Ok I will charge it tonight. I told her, “No, I will go get it!” On the way to the house I passed a young man and elderly woman walking towards me. I did not know either of them. The young man walked by and we spoke. The elderly lady walked by and stopped, looked at the t-shirt I had on (it said, “Need God?”), and pointed at the “Need God”. She said, “Need God all the time!” Then she walked closer and hugged me. The young man turned around and came back and asked me my name. I told him and a conversation started about God. I asked him if he needed God and he said that he had God, but he falls off the wagon a lot,and pointed to the bag he was carrying. There was a weak smell of alcohol on his breath, but he was not drunk. He talked to me about the Roman Orthodox Christians, and what he understood they believed. I them asked him if he had ever accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord. He said that he loved Jesus. And then he started to talk about hell and how he believed God would never let anyone burn in hell, just burn the body! Open door!!! I shared a little about the fact that Hell was a “real place” and Heaven was a “real place”, and that we had a choice that determines where we went after we die. I asked him if was to die today does he know where he would go….He answered very quickly, to Hell! I shared how special he was to God and how much God loved him, loved him so much that He sent His only son to die on the cross for him. I told that I loved him and was here to share that with him. I told him that I did not want him to go to Hell, but to Heaven. He said he needed to get his life straight and asked if I lived here. I told him no, but I would be here until Friday for him to come and let’s talk. He said he would come to the church or the house I am staying. Then I was able to pray with him right there in middle of the street! It was AWESOME!
Please be praying that this young man, Jeremiah, would feel God working in his heart and meet with me. This was “no chance meeting”. “So he left Judea and returned to Galilee. He had to go through Samaria on the way.” John 4:3-4 (NLT)
Pray that I will be given the right words to say to Jeremiah to lead him to Christ!
What a day…it is good to dwell in the presence of the Lord!