Vacation Bible School

Our church recently held a Vacation Bible School which my family and I helped with. This year's VBS theme was Colossal Coaster World with a memory verse from 2 Timothy 1:7 which states; For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. My wonderful mother was in charge of the craft room which she excelled in. Laura Ashley and I were group leaders (I led the third graders). And Andrew was a participator. Each day at the VBS younger kids would watch part of a short video about a boy who trusted God and faced his fear of riding a roller coaster. After the video, I would lead the kids to each station; crafts, snacks/missions, bible study (about Peter the disciple), recreation, and music. Each station would tie into an amusement park or people who faced their fears and trusted God. While VBS took place, upstairs a man was leading an adult VBS (which was more of a bible study)  for the parents of the kids that were attending downstairs. When Vacation Bible School was over two children and two adult made confessions of  their faith. This whole VBS experience made me appreciate school teachers a lot more and realize that they are not paid enough. :) Actually, I had a great time and look forward to helping again next year.

Youth Trip

Eating at Cheddars 

At the beach

Sorry for not blogging lately, one reason was we went on a church youth trip to Lake Sam Rayburn and New Boston. We rented a cabin at Lake Sam-Rayburn, but arrived 2.5 hours late due to a trailer tire blowout. We checked out the campgrounds, went swimming, and ended the day with a Bible study.


Day 2 started with a devotional, then a rented pontoon boat for a day on the lake and TUBING (it was my first time). That evening we played games, ate hamburgers, went snipe :) hunting, had a Bible study, and made smores.

 the Youth group at U air trampoline park. 

Day 3, we packed up and headed for New Boston. Meanwhile Mom, Dad, and Andrew went to find a clinic because Andrew's hand had swollen up after being bitten by an unknown insect. They met up with us at a gas station; where we found out that we had a tire which was bad and needed to be changed.
After a second new tire, we drove to Air U, which is an indoor trampoline park in Longview. After a fun time bouncing and playing dodgeball on trampolines, we decided to take a quick trip to the Longview Mall for lunch in the food court.  We also played glow in the dark mini golf, then continued on to New Boston.

Once we arrived at Faith Missionary Baptist Church; we unloaded, ate dinner, visited with the youth from the Faith Missionary Baptist, then listened to a lesson from Brother Josh.

The youth group from F.M.B.C and the youth group I'm in.

Both youth groups at Pizza Inn

Day 4, started with a Bible lesson and then some games. These included a game where you had to dip a broom in a bucket of wet oatmeal and empty the oatmeal from the broom into a cup that your team member was holding with their teeth. The team who had all of their cups full first won.  After we finished the games, we went swimming at church member's homes.

That evening we got in the church vans and went to Texarkana to Chuck E Cheese to play games; but ate dinner at Pizza Inn where they had a buffet and private room where we had a bible study. The neat thing about the restaurant was, another youth group was working there to help pay for a youth trip.


After dinner we went back to the church and played underground church which is best described as a version of hide and go seek in the dark.


Day 5, (the last day of the trip) had a bible study and started packing our bags. Then, we played another game of underground church. Before leaving we helped clean up the church and said our goodbyes to the other youth group. On the way home we had another trailer tire blowout. Yes, you counted right, this was the 3rd trailer tire for our trip. We arrived safely back at the church without anymore blow outs and then my family and I got into our car and headed home.

Me tubing at lake Sam-Rayburn. 

Don't get me wrong, I had a great time and got to know our church's new youth minister better, plus had some bonding time with the other youth; but I felt that we didn't really get to help or minister to others.  I am already looking forward to our next trip being a mission trip so we can help others in need.

Jesus

Today, I will be telling you about the most important person in the world. Perhaps you've heard about him. His name is Jesus. Why is he so important? Because he died for my sins and yours. (John 3:16 states "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Everyone will have eternal life but unless you ask Jesus to come in your life you will have eternal life in hell.  

To be saved all you have to do is believe and say the ABC's to become a Christian. 

The ABC's to becoming a Christian are:

1. Admit you are a sinner. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23)

2. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you, was buried, and rose from the dead.
3. Confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Romans 10:9 says, "If you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."

If you believe and say a simple prayer like this one below, that's all there is to it. You can accept Jesus Christ at this moment and not spend your eternity in hell.

Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. In Your Name.

Amen.

A helpful site for new believers is here.

Now that you know how to become a Christian, you should do the following to help build your faith and gain support from other Christians.

Go to church. This is important because you can fellowship with other Christians.

Read the Bible so you can grow closer to God.

Share the gospel with other nonbelievers.

Becoming saved will not mean that your life here on earth will be perfect. The Bible states "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33.  Christians still have problems BUT we are not alone, we have God to help us through hard times.



If you decide not to say this prayer today and are not saved, please talk to a saved friend or a pastor of a local Christian church soon to understand the importance of this message.  Don't wait.  You may comment on my blog and I will do my best to help if you have questions.

Chuch Youth Day Trip

Our church got a new youth minister recently. So far he has had a lot of good ideas like a community garden and such. Another one of his ideas was to take a youth day trip to Waco, Texas. Since it was only a day and we had limited time, we were only able to do a few things. Soon as we arrived in Waco, we went to Fazoli's which is a Italian restaurant that has the best breadsticks ever! We ordered four dozen breadsticks. Then, we drove around mission Waco and past the old fashioned houses to get to the zoo at Cameron Park. I had a great time and it was really fun; I can't wait to go on another church youth gathering soon.

Below is a lion fish

 

I think that this was a DikDik

A huge, fat rhino

 Then we went and ate at Rudy's And got milkshakes at the Health Camp. Over all, it amounted to one really fun and busy day.