- Natalie Raynor
THE GREAT ESCAPE VBS
We started the beginning of August with our 3-day Vacation Bible School. We had 30 volunteers serve from our church to help with all of the different areas. When the kids come onto the church property each morning, the first thing they do is sign-in with a parent/guardian. Then the child is walked back to our courtyard area where they can have some free time playing with bubbles, draw a picture with sidewalk chalk, swing on the swing set, or play some games with our volunteers. Then we gather all of the kids into the sanctuary and they sit through a 45-minute program that includes games, worship, teaching, and video. They are then dismissed by age-group to different stations: outdoor team relays, crafts, breakfast, and the escape room. After all of the groups have experienced all four stations, we gather back into the sanctuary for one more song and dismiss. We had an amazing three days and the escape room was a hit! The kids we so excited each day to try to solve the mystery! We continue to pray for these kids and their families... as seeds were planted, we hope to see the fruit of this labor one day! You can click the links below to see the video highlights of each day.
Two Christian movies were released this month in Mexico. The first was "Jesus Revolution." It came out on Netflix and dvd. We were able to show it at church in Spanish and many from the body came out to see the story of how Calvary Chapel began. Later in the movie theaters, "Sound of Freedom" was released, even in our little city's movie theater! We announced the day and time that anyone from the church could meet up so we could all go see it together. Afterward, Len had a short debrief in the lobby.
The Women's Night is still going strong. This month Eliza, the elder's wife, taught for the first time. She did a great job as she went through the life of Miriam. We had two new ladies come out. The ladies in the church really seem to enjoy this ministry and they are always bringing new people with them.
During these last few days of summer, the youth had a pool day. They spent some time in the Word and worship, playing games, eating hot dogs, and of course fun in the sun in the pool. Even though everyone here has their summer break ending and they are going back to school, for Noah and Caleb, theirs is just beginning as they just finished their final exams. Noah completed 10th grade and Caleb finished 6th. They are pursuing some of their new interests as Noah started his own Youtube channel and Caleb started to take Martial Arts class. Natalie recently just recovered from what we thought she had - dengue fever. It was a long week, but we are glad she is better now. Len started grilling some hamburgers on the weekend for the cafe and a friend is making shrimp tacos to now offer some dinner food items on the menu. We had a good first opening weekend!