Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do. Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!” Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” John 6:5-9 (NLT)
Jesus said I am the BREAD LIFE!We are not talking about a big ole peanut butter and jelly sandwich that satisfies us for a few hours, we are talking about the bread that will satisfy every hunger in life that we have. And at the last meal Jesus had with His closest friends He went further and told that the “bread” would represent His body…and He broke it, just like His body would be broken in a few hours. Broken for you and I…to make the only way for us to come back to God and be right before Him! This “bread” will NEVER mold…it will NEVER get stale…it will NEVER be out of date! It is eternal bread! GOT BREAD???
We had another awesome group of young kiddos today! We had two new kids today, both have never been to VBS before. I was talking to one of the parents and they asked how many had come this week and I said 32. He said that was practically the whole K-6 grade at the school! WOW!
Ms Lynett has done a great job with the 4, 5 and 6 year old. I had the older kids outside yesterday and we heard them having a blast! I think she likes being here! 🙂 We shared the plan of salvation with the older kids on Monday, and tied Jesus being the Bread Of Life…the one thing that would satisfy them completely. It is hard to know if they really understand this. As you talk you can hear them give you the correct answers about sin, Jesus dieing on the cross, etc., but the look on these faces shows it just doesn’t get to the heart. A lot of this comes from the culture and the fact they have heard all the stories year after year. The “words” and stories are familiar to them…the cross just does not register. But here is the greatest assurance that we have…”It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” Isaiah 55:11 (NLT)
One of the things that I have seen this year is we have had more one-on-one time with the kids. The biggest impact this year is having Haley and Jay with us. These kids are so used to seeing young adults and older adults coming, so having these young people on this trip has made a big impact. Haley and Jay have really connected with the “older” kids and that has been huge. I wish I could keep them up here with Christie and I the rest of the summer!
Last night our good friends John and La Rae Grey brought us dinner at the church. With these guys you can expect a great meal…and it WILL BE Alaskan tradition. Last night we had Salmon Chowder, salad, and for dessert Rice Pudding and Rhubarb/Blueberry Crumble. Now I must confess, I am not a big salmon fan…but this chowder was the best I have ever tasted. Several bowls were consumed is all I will say! As always the conversations with these guys is always very interesting and informative!
Tuesday is the last VBS day and the theme will be “Jesus Gives Living Water”. We are praying for a big day. Wednesday we will have a big FUN DAY. The kids are going to help Ms Kellie plant the school garden, we will have lots of games, face painting, and a hot dog cookout. After the cookout the kids will have their closing program where they will sing the songs from the week and we will give a short summary of the week and what the kids have learned. I have talked to most of the parents about this FUN DAY and how we really want them to come and enjoy it with their kids. This is the second year we have done this. We had a very good parent turnout last year. The closing program is small window we have to present the Gospel to them. Please be in much prayer for this day, and for the kids as we close VBS!
Also, please continue to pray for Christie and I as we will be in the village until the end of August. i am looking forward to doing VBS follow-up after VBS is over, IN PERSON!