You know the end of this great story.
VBS at Ridge Point was a great success as children from Ridge Point along with some neighbors and friends learned bible verses, stories and songs. They cheered each other on in some friendly competitive games and helped each other put together a few sea creature crafts.
Let me share how we got to this great ending. We were always planning on holding VBS at Ridge Point. After a few long conversations with Fairhaven and Community Reformed with the purpose of gathering some of their best practices we were ready to recruit volunteers. A bad cold and flu season followed by Covid-19 stopped us in our tracks and all planning became tentative. How do you plan, purchase and recruit for 200 kids when we didn’t know how long quarantine was going to last? Our dream of VBS faded with each passing week of not meeting. VBS at other churches were being canceled or going virtual. What were we in Children’s Ministry going do?
So, we started by praying. Being led by the Spirit we pushed VBS to the last week of July. We researched what the CDC was saying about kids meeting outside for day camps. We had conversations with Spring Hill and Pine Trails who were doing “day camps” and we looked at what God had provided for us. At Ridge Point we have plenty of parking lot room. We have a tent with a stage and electricity for sound and lights. We have yards of green space for small group meetings and we have you. You prayed over us and volunteered to make masks and put together craft bags, so no child needed to share markers or scissors. You volunteered to take temperatures, to lead a small group, to lead the singing, to set up and take down the stage or the games or the crafts.
For three days our children learned three stories of God’s truth from the Bible. For three days we heard children lift up their voices to recite scripture and to sing with joy to the God who will never leave them. For three days we focused on 65 children who grew closer in their relationship with God. Thank you for being a good part of our VBS story’s great ending.