Summer kicked out with our Association's Bible Camp the first week of June. We had a glorious time, despite the grey cool weather that made swimming a little less fun. I taught Missions, emphasizing on European Peoples and helped in Crafts. We took seven kids, three of whom are unchurched having only visited our church a handful of times. One of our kids professed faith at camp, which is such an answer to prayer! God is faithful!
Worship through song:
Worship through the word:
Missions:
Recreation:
Food:
I'm always so excited during VBS, then kind of depressed afterwards when we don't seem to "catch" those kids for a normal Sunday service. But the Lord is using it to teach me to trust him with results.
A mere two weeks after VBS, we hit the road to Fort Wayne, Indiana to join our friends in Kentucky on mission trip. It was an exhaustingly joyful week. Here's a breakdown of the mission trip:
- 35 teenagers, 29 adults, 1 baby, and 1 dog
- 5 churches representing 5 states: KY, IL, IN, MO, and OH
- Painted one barn and one church
- Put siding on one church
- Built one ramp and a set of stairs
- Passed out about 1400+ flyers for various VBSes and BYBCs
- Passed out about 1000+ bottles of dish soap with a "Jesus washes away sin" flyer
- Led 5 Back Yard Bible Clubs
- Weeded one prayer garden
- We put 1500 miles on the church van
While we were in Indiana, our adults worked along others in our association at the Lewis County Fair: face painting, balloon animals, the wordless book, salvation bracelets, etc... Honestly, the fair was kind of a bust. Horrible weather kept attendance low. But overall, obedience in ministry is the measure of success, not numbers.
July was a month of benchmark anniversaries in our church. The Briscoes celebrated 60 years being married! The Lillards celebrated 50! We had a surprise party for them with tiny wedding cakes so they could recreate their wedding day.
July 12th was James' 37th Birthday. We celebrated in style with a "rectangular cake with stripes" as per Hudson's instructions.
August 13th, our association went to the MO State Fair to serve at in the Evangelism Ministry. In total for the two weeks of the fair, 31 people accepted Christ as their savior.
The second weekend in August, I was in charge of organizing an evangelistic block party as part of our Annual Meeting (see below). It was held at FBC Ewing and we had a great time. It took a lot of preparation and organization with some frustrations along the way, but all in all I'm counting it a success.
Here at the end of August, we have our association's Annual Meeting. It's basically a big business meeting - blah. But the Friday night before, is always a worship service. This year we were super blessed to have Pastor Frank Page, President and CEO of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention as our special guest.
This last Sunday was promotion Sunday at church. Three darling kiddos promoted to the next Sunday, including Hudson! He was so weird getting his certificate - completely surprised.
Also, this summer we had a Southern Gospel Trio - the Calvary Road Trio - lead us in worship on a Sunday evening, which was a treat.
I realize that these ministry updates often focus on children/youth ministry because that's what I do. But James has been busy as well. He's preaching through Mark on Sunday mornings and recently finished Ruth on Sunday night and is now in Nehemiah. Sadly, he's preached a couple of funerals this summer, but in an older community that's just part of it. He's actually really good at it which I consider a gift because I feel so awkward and such at funerals. He continues with his monthly nursing home ministry, which again is something he excels at. We joke that I am good with kids and he's good with the elderly so together we're a good team! Hospital visits, home visits, generally sharing the love of Christ with whomever he sees all the while doing sermon prep for three services keep James really busy.
Praises:
- We have a new family of four (soon-to-be five) attending our church. It's super encouraging. They have a daughter Hudson's age and they are hilariously cute together.
- Little D, who is 9 years old, is asking a lot of questions about becoming a Christian. It started during VBS. She knows all the right things to say, but is still rather stuck on baptism, so we're taking it slow. I got her this book recently and am hoping it helps her understand even better. Pray for her sweet heart - her parents aren't believers.
- Mr. N, one of our trustees, is recovering from back surgery. He's wowing everyone with his strength and determination! #WilliamstownTough
Prayer Requests:
- Donna and Ken our new Preschool Teachers. Hudson and Anna Grace will graduate from the nursery at the end of August. So Donna and Ken (a married couple) have agreed to be our new preschool Sunday School teachers. Bless them, they have never taught before. Can you say, trial by fire? Here's hoping H and A are sweet little 3 year olds who make teaching a delight.
- Our youth: Summer is a great time for youth ministry because they are out of school but it's also a frustrating time because our kids are getting older which means they get cars and jobs and we don't see them much any more. There have been many Sunday mornings where our youth group class was vacant. Pray for them. I understand the need of a job, but it's a difficult balance between work, school, and church. While we don't want to be legalistic about church attendance, we do want to see some more commitment. The struggle is real.
- Little Bridget. Sweet B's grandparents attend our church. She's had a tough little life and is only a month older than Hudson. She has been diagnosed with liver cancer and is under treatment at the Children's Hospital in St. Louis. The tumor is shrinking, but she's got a long road ahead of her.
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