If anything, I tend to over-communicate with the leadership
of our church but I can’t help but share with them what God is doing in our
church here at Gaylord E-Free! During our
MINION WEEK Vacation Bible School this week, I have been sending them an update
email each night to share with them what God is doing. Today’s update was so amazing, I can’t help
put post my letter to our Elders, Staff and Leadership Team publicly for
everyone to see! To God be the glory!
Dear
Elders, Staff and Leadership Team:
I
have been part of leading or teaching Vacation Bible Schools for 29 years but I
have never seen God working in a VBS like He is this week here at E-Free. The
stories
are too numerous to tell but I can tell you that 10 more kids made salvation
decisions today which means that through 4 days of VBS we have seen 91 kids
make decisions to receive Jesus as the personal Savior! Way to go, God!!!
Today
was one little boy's first day at MINION WEEK Vacation Bible School. As he left, my wife heard him say to his
grandma who picked him up at the end of the morning, "Grandma, now I know
everything there is to know about God!"
Tomorrow
is the last day of MINION WEEK but tomorrow night at 7pm is our family
celebration. We have invited all of the parents to join us and all of the
drawings for prizes, including the grand price of 4 tickets to Avalanche Bay, will take place then! Best of all, I will have
the opportunity to share the Gospel with the parents much in the same way I
have with the children every day this week! Even if you have not been able to
join us for VBS this week, I encourage you to join us this Friday Night!
Now
let me switch gears and show you another way God is working among our children
and our young people. I AM LITERALLY
BLOWN AWAY!!! I told you earlier in the
week of the little boy who brought me 15 pennies out of his piggy bank that he
wanted to give toward our nursery expansion.
Something else happened in this same arena today!
This
morning, two brothers (age 6 and age 7) came up to me at VBS and gave me
envelopes with money in it from their own savings that they wanted to give to
our nursery expansion project. Their mother told me that they have been talking
about this as a family and that it was totally these two boys idea to take a large portion of their savings money
and give it to the church to help pay for our new nursery.
I asked them if they were sure they wanted to give this money for our new nursery! They smiled and said, "YES!" I asked them why they wanted to give it. They smiled and said, "SO MORE PEOPLE CAN LEARN ABOUT JESUS!" I looked at their mother and said, "This is amazing!" Now it was her turn to smile as she replied, "They're amazing boys!"
I went downstairs and counted the money. One envelope contained $191.00! The other envelope contained $182.00! Between these two brothers (ages 6 & 7) they sacrificed (I mean really sacrificed) and gave $373.00 toward our new nursery!
If all of our adults would catch the vision for our church that these two boys have, nothing would stop us! Though young, these boys are examples of faith for all of us here at E-Free Church to follow! By the way, these two boys are also planning to do a lemonade stand later this summer so they can give more money to our nursery project.
I asked them if they were sure they wanted to give this money for our new nursery! They smiled and said, "YES!" I asked them why they wanted to give it. They smiled and said, "SO MORE PEOPLE CAN LEARN ABOUT JESUS!" I looked at their mother and said, "This is amazing!" Now it was her turn to smile as she replied, "They're amazing boys!"
I went downstairs and counted the money. One envelope contained $191.00! The other envelope contained $182.00! Between these two brothers (ages 6 & 7) they sacrificed (I mean really sacrificed) and gave $373.00 toward our new nursery!
If all of our adults would catch the vision for our church that these two boys have, nothing would stop us! Though young, these boys are examples of faith for all of us here at E-Free Church to follow! By the way, these two boys are also planning to do a lemonade stand later this summer so they can give more money to our nursery project.
That’s not
it! I saw on Facebook tonight that 2 of
our teenagers are having a bake sale and garage
sale tomorrow! There will be coffee,
cookies, lemonade, rice Krispie treats and much more! All proceeds from the bake sale benefit our nursery
expansion. Here is what they wrote on Facebook, “This is just our way to do
something big for someone little!”
Our
kids and teens have caught the vision of our church! I could not be more proud
as a pastor! If our kids and teens have caught the vision to the point that
they are sacrificing, I think it is appropriate that I ask each of you in
leadership, have you caught the vision?
Seriously, what will you sacrifice so that
you can give BIG for someone LITTLE?
Blessings!
Scott
