First Vacation Bible School
August 07, 2024
As we began our first day of Vacation Bible School (VBS) for children from our hometown and surrounding villages, the sky’s were clear and cooler temperatures had finally displaced the extreme heat in Hungary. What a gift from God as our entire VBS is held outside under large tents. We had over 100 kids all the way from first grade to twelfth grade and plenty of volunteers from our church who served in unity throughout the week.
Above: After meeting together for registration at the local community center, we chaperone the kids on a ten minute walk to the camp grounds where we spend the rest of the day together.
Above: Our first hour is spent with learning the songs we'll be singing throughout the week along with Miki giving brief teaching on various themes in the lyrics. We used to have the lyrics projected on a screen, but found that the kids were able to quickly learn the songs with the help of motions from the front.
Above: Ellie teaching in the main meeting time. After worship, we present the main teaching for the day that the children will continue to discuss afterwards in small groups. Our theme this year was on the miraculous power of God's love. We used various stories from the Bible to express the ways God's love is completely different than the world's definition of love and how this is culminated in Christ laying down His innocent life for sinners to be restored to God.
Above: Dáriusz watching over Barnabás. As with every VBS, this year we had a few 'problematic' kids that brought many challenges with their extreme behavioral issues. Barnabás was one of those kids that needed extra attention and help throughout the day. Many years ago, Dáriusz was also 'one of those kids' and it is a blessing to see the fruit of many who were patient with him and continued to love him through those years at VBS. Now Dáriusz is helping someone that was just like him was he was younger. Every year before camp begins, I put up specific requests for our church to pray so that we are spiritually prepared for VBS. One of those requests is this. "Let's pray for the "troublemakers" to have a powerful encounter with Jesus as Paul did in the dessert. Let's pray that they become passionate followers of Jesus Christ." Although Dáriusz is not passionately following Jesus yet, it is clear God has been gracious to bring many changes to his life. Please pray for these young kids who may cause the most disruption because of their behavior at camp to be transformed by God's grace and turn to Jesus.
Above: Younger helpers, Barbi and Eli (right) helping in small group time. Eli had just recently learned that her dad who had attended our church for years abruptly decided to leave his wife and his four kids for another woman. This was shocking and disturbing news as her dad had shown so many signs over the years of believing and times of growth in discipleship. Needless to say, his kids were devastated. Thankfully his wife is in a great place with the Lord and has been experiencing God's faithfulness to direct her steps and provide in this challenging time. Please pray for Eli and her three siblings who are still processing all of this. I was thankful to see how Eli was enjoying serving and also being ministered to as she was surrounded by the loving community of saints. I'm sure being at VBS was an encouragement to her and a reminder that God is the sure foundation of her life, even when everything else seems to be crumbling apart.
Above: As I mentioned above, we also had older kids attending all the way up to 12th grade. In their small group, Miki usually invites staff to give testimony as to how they met Jesus. Morgan (above), who came from the U.S. to serve with us this summer, was able to share her testimony and also able to develop relationships with a few of the girls who speak English. One text that Morgan shared was one of the older girls saying, "I really do want to have a more serious relationship with God and would like to talk about it more." Praise God for these open doors. Some of the girls that Morgan has been talking to had made a decision a few years ago in camp, but their parents do not allow them to attend Sunday worship service. Pray that the seeds planted may flourish in these teens' lives and that Morgan may have opportunity to keep the conversation going with those she connected with now that she has returned to the U.S..
Above: Adilene was able to continue to be with many of the kids she initially began connecting with in the local middle school in Petofibánya. You can often see kids hanging onto her, going to her for hugs and just being in her presence. We're very thankful for her hard work since she has been here and thankful for how she pours out the love of Christ to these kids.
Above: Kids have a variety of things to do at free time from baseball, to soccer to crate climbing to crafts. Throughout the week, our Hungarian teammate said she received great feedback and even had parents calling and asking if they could send their kids to the following VBS which is scheduled for next week.
Above: Ellie wrote and produced this year's drama that ended each day with a cliffhanger. Ziva even had a role as "Mercer-Mama", an affectionate name for grandma Mercer.
Above: On the last day of camp, the parents and children look forward to seeing the highlight film of the week. We had a great turn out and perfect weather for the event.
Above: We also had a small group designed for the parents who attended Saturday. Over the past few years, we've noticed a bit of hardness in these meetings with not many being willing to openly share. I began this year with an ice-breaker to get everyone involved which helped parents feel more at ease with each other. Afterwards, I turned their attention to the important topic of love that we taught throughout the week and read a passage from God's word about the contrast between God's love and the world's love. I was thankful to see more of an openness from parents to participate in the discussion. We had a table set up with evangelistic material and Bibles that were free to take and by the end of the day the table was empty. We also had children's Bibles available and one child commented after taking one, "I can't wait to get home and read through it. But it may take a while."
We thank God for keeping unity among 46 volunteers, serving over 100 kids in the name of Jesus Christ! It was a great week and we have another VBS just around the corner starting Monday. Please pray for us and for the children attending that this would be the place that they hear and understand the good news about salvation in Jesus Christ. Pray for a continued spirit of unity in the Lord and for the power of His love working though us to be used to draw many into His kingdom. Here are some highlight films from this past weeks camp to enjoy :)
Above: After meeting together for registration at the local community center, we chaperone the kids on a ten minute walk to the camp grounds where we spend the rest of the day together.
Above: Our first hour is spent with learning the songs we'll be singing throughout the week along with Miki giving brief teaching on various themes in the lyrics. We used to have the lyrics projected on a screen, but found that the kids were able to quickly learn the songs with the help of motions from the front.
Above: Ellie teaching in the main meeting time. After worship, we present the main teaching for the day that the children will continue to discuss afterwards in small groups. Our theme this year was on the miraculous power of God's love. We used various stories from the Bible to express the ways God's love is completely different than the world's definition of love and how this is culminated in Christ laying down His innocent life for sinners to be restored to God.
Above: Dáriusz watching over Barnabás. As with every VBS, this year we had a few 'problematic' kids that brought many challenges with their extreme behavioral issues. Barnabás was one of those kids that needed extra attention and help throughout the day. Many years ago, Dáriusz was also 'one of those kids' and it is a blessing to see the fruit of many who were patient with him and continued to love him through those years at VBS. Now Dáriusz is helping someone that was just like him was he was younger. Every year before camp begins, I put up specific requests for our church to pray so that we are spiritually prepared for VBS. One of those requests is this. "Let's pray for the "troublemakers" to have a powerful encounter with Jesus as Paul did in the dessert. Let's pray that they become passionate followers of Jesus Christ." Although Dáriusz is not passionately following Jesus yet, it is clear God has been gracious to bring many changes to his life. Please pray for these young kids who may cause the most disruption because of their behavior at camp to be transformed by God's grace and turn to Jesus.
Above: Younger helpers, Barbi and Eli (right) helping in small group time. Eli had just recently learned that her dad who had attended our church for years abruptly decided to leave his wife and his four kids for another woman. This was shocking and disturbing news as her dad had shown so many signs over the years of believing and times of growth in discipleship. Needless to say, his kids were devastated. Thankfully his wife is in a great place with the Lord and has been experiencing God's faithfulness to direct her steps and provide in this challenging time. Please pray for Eli and her three siblings who are still processing all of this. I was thankful to see how Eli was enjoying serving and also being ministered to as she was surrounded by the loving community of saints. I'm sure being at VBS was an encouragement to her and a reminder that God is the sure foundation of her life, even when everything else seems to be crumbling apart.
Above: As I mentioned above, we also had older kids attending all the way up to 12th grade. In their small group, Miki usually invites staff to give testimony as to how they met Jesus. Morgan (above), who came from the U.S. to serve with us this summer, was able to share her testimony and also able to develop relationships with a few of the girls who speak English. One text that Morgan shared was one of the older girls saying, "I really do want to have a more serious relationship with God and would like to talk about it more." Praise God for these open doors. Some of the girls that Morgan has been talking to had made a decision a few years ago in camp, but their parents do not allow them to attend Sunday worship service. Pray that the seeds planted may flourish in these teens' lives and that Morgan may have opportunity to keep the conversation going with those she connected with now that she has returned to the U.S..
Above: Adilene was able to continue to be with many of the kids she initially began connecting with in the local middle school in Petofibánya. You can often see kids hanging onto her, going to her for hugs and just being in her presence. We're very thankful for her hard work since she has been here and thankful for how she pours out the love of Christ to these kids.
Above: Kids have a variety of things to do at free time from baseball, to soccer to crate climbing to crafts. Throughout the week, our Hungarian teammate said she received great feedback and even had parents calling and asking if they could send their kids to the following VBS which is scheduled for next week.
Above: Ellie wrote and produced this year's drama that ended each day with a cliffhanger. Ziva even had a role as "Mercer-Mama", an affectionate name for grandma Mercer.
Above: On the last day of camp, the parents and children look forward to seeing the highlight film of the week. We had a great turn out and perfect weather for the event.
Above: We also had a small group designed for the parents who attended Saturday. Over the past few years, we've noticed a bit of hardness in these meetings with not many being willing to openly share. I began this year with an ice-breaker to get everyone involved which helped parents feel more at ease with each other. Afterwards, I turned their attention to the important topic of love that we taught throughout the week and read a passage from God's word about the contrast between God's love and the world's love. I was thankful to see more of an openness from parents to participate in the discussion. We had a table set up with evangelistic material and Bibles that were free to take and by the end of the day the table was empty. We also had children's Bibles available and one child commented after taking one, "I can't wait to get home and read through it. But it may take a while."
We thank God for keeping unity among 46 volunteers, serving over 100 kids in the name of Jesus Christ! It was a great week and we have another VBS just around the corner starting Monday. Please pray for us and for the children attending that this would be the place that they hear and understand the good news about salvation in Jesus Christ. Pray for a continued spirit of unity in the Lord and for the power of His love working though us to be used to draw many into His kingdom. Here are some highlight films from this past weeks camp to enjoy :)
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