Our Vacation Bible School at Bible Community Church was held from 9:00 a.m. to noon each morning during the week of June 19-23, 2006. We thank the Lord for bringing in a good group of children and teens. They seemed to be interested in the lessons and many appreciated the extra attention given to them. Although I’m tired, I’ll miss seeing those personalities in action. Perhaps we will see them again in Sunday School and youth groups.

Bible Lessons

During the Bible time, I preached through The Chart of Salvation which was originally developed for my 11-12th grade Bible class at Mentor Christian School. But with God’s help and a bit of tweaking, I attempted to present the biblical truths on a level that elementary children could understand. One of the superintendents suggested that I use a Power Point presentation to teach the lessons. This turned out to be very helpful in keeping the audience focused on the message.

For several years, I have chosen not to give an invitation at the close of each lesson. My personal experience has been than many children will “do” whatever you ask, but with little evidence of change afterward. But would the children respond without being pushed? I was wondering if anyone was responding to the gospel when one girl piped up during a message and said, “I did that last night.” Another boy (who attended the Headlands Bible club this winter) prayed with a helper to receive Christ. Hearing of these events encouraged me to entrust the saving of souls to the Only one who really can.

Missionary Story

Tony Iorillo, our summer intern, taught a daily missionary lesson from William Miller’s book, Tales of Persia. The book tells the tale of the author’s work among the people of Iran during the early 1900’s. Tony wore a blue turban and called himself Mohammed (look for him in the back row of the group picture). The children must have enjoyed his stories because they all cheered when he entered the room for the group picture.

Awards Program

Throughout the week, the children earned buttons by learning Bible verses and bringing visitors. To honor their hard work we held a closing program Friday evening to reconized those who had learned all twelve verses, had perfect attendance, or had earned the highest amount of individual points. If the parents enjoyed seeing their children on the platform as much as I did, they must have been very pleased. With such a large group of parents there, I took the opportunity to present the gospel by retelling the third lesson with a Power Point presentation. That lesson emphasizes God’s need to intervene (John 6:44) and man’s need to respond with faith and repentance (Acts 20:21). I certainly hope that each will consider what God has done for them through our Lord Jesus Christ.

At the close of the program, I presented a gag gift to my assistant director. Laura Hatt was a blessing to work with. But for some strange reason, she would not wear a hat although every other helper and child was. After repeated attempts to get her to wear one, I concocted a plan to award her with a “Cheese Head.” This was awarded at the end of the Closing Program and got a few chuckles.

Conclusion:

All in all, this was a great week in which to serve the Lord. With the help of many people in our church family and several businesses which donated props, I believe the week was a good outreach into our community and something that honored the Lord. And after sleeping for almost twelve hours Friday night, I’m feeling pretty good!