VBS!

We have had a wonderful time at Vacation Bible School this week so far. We are doing a theme set in Bethlehem during the time of the birth of Christ. The adults and kids alike are enjoying it so much. (I might be having more fun than the kids!) We are all dressing up in costumes and imagining that we are back in Bethlehem. As you can see in the picture in the upper right, Jason and Eddie enjoyed it a little too much. :) They went to Arby's in their costumes. In the upper left picture the kids are singing the theme song and doing the motions. We only have one calm song for the whole week. It's very tiring, but it is so much fun! The picture in the lower left is, of course, Jason and me in our costumes the night that I had to be the aunt Rebekah of Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, in a skit. The picture in the lower right is a picture of the tribe of Gad in their "home". They are our oldest class and this is the first of at least three years that our oldest class has been the second largest class. Our preschooler class is the largest by far. Tonight I got to be Anna in a skit and I had to be sarcastic to the shepherds. I had one of the best lines. The shepherds were trying to tell me about seeing the angels and then going to see baby Jesus and they told me that the most wonderful thing had happened. Before they could tell me what it was I, in turn, responded with sarcasm. "What happened? Did one of your sheep say 'Baa'? Or I know, you fell asleep counting them, is that it?" It was great. We have our last night of VBS tomorrow night and then we have our family night on Friday. Please be in prayer for the parents and children that will hear the gospel message on Friday night. The children have been hearing it all week, but a lot of the kids don't go to our church and I'm not sure if they go anywhere. I just know that the kids from our church brought them this week and we will do anything we can to get the gospel out to those precious children while we can. Hopefully some parents will hear it too, but as we all know, VBS is for reaching out to win the souls of the children and to plant seeds in their hearts that they might know Jesus Christ for their personal Lord and Savior. "Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it." -- Proverbs 22:6. A lot of churches will use their VBS to get to the parents through the children. I agree that the parents need to be reached just as badly as the children. However, I believe that children should not just be written off as a means to get to the adults in their lives. I do think that Family Night is very important. It is the one opportunity we have to reach the parents of some of these kids. The only time they will ever set foot inside a church building is to come and see what their child has been learning that week. So we will have a full gospel presentation during our program that will reach children and adults, as well as any older siblings they might have that come. Thank you so much for praying for these precious souls. I will let you know how things go. I love you all.

Bethany