Summer SHAKEN
I feel it appropriate to give a summer ministry update. We have traveled this summer over 15,000 miles with an approximate event attendance of 4800 people, and we have seen the Lord working on worldviews of the young and old alike. Not only have we been called on to do VBS and camps, as usual, but have also done D3 (Dinosaurs, Design and Destiny) events. It is rare that we do D3 events in the summer, as they are typically our “bread and butter” the rest of the calendar year. Through all of it, our mission has been accomplished in overwhelming fashion.
VBS has been our main focus this summer with a total of 7. It was very impactful to see three of these churches adopt a whole-church approach. Over the past few years we have challenged churches to do VBS for the family. With this approach, we teach the lesson to the students at the beginning. Then the students are dismissed to crafts, games, snacks or other activities while their parents and other adults have their lesson with the same topic studied more in depth. Our desire is that student and parent worldviews are impacted in the same evening, providing great opportunity for discussion on the way home. This has been received well by the churches who chose the “whole church” VBS. There have been numerous times this summer that parents or other attending adults have expressed thanks for teaching them as well. Regretfully, each night at the churches there were still some parents that would drop off their child and not stay, but return at the end of the night, as usual. This seems such a missed opportunity to drive home the Word of the Lord in those families. We are not going to pull back from this endeavor, and our desire is to make this a “normal” VBS strategy when we are invited to teach. We praise the Lord for those families SHAKEN for His Kingdom this summer.
The couple of D3 events seemed very out of place at first, since most summers are so focused on camp and VBS, but the Lord used these to reach new churches with our mission and message. Establishing the importance of Genesis in worldview development and the Biblical history is priority in these events, and experiencing the excitement of new congregations as their worldviews are impacted is such a praiseworthy thing. We know that the Lord will use these moments of challenge, conviction, and learning for His Glory.
Some of our fossils were also seen by more than 7000 over the course of several days during a VBS that Answers in Genesis put on at a church in the heart of Dallas. They approached us way too late to make the opportunity work, yet our summer schedule actually freed up for one week. The Lord worked it out for His purpose and the fossils were used as part of the whole event, blessing many with the opportunity to see dinosaurs for the first time in a church and through Biblical glasses.
From young to old, we have seen worldviews and lives impacted for eternity. Some people have been SHAKEN with a new understanding of the importance of Scripture in their lives. Others have been saved as a response to the Gospel that is clearly seen through the lens of Genesis. We lift our praises to the Lord Almighty for the open doors, hearts and minds this ministry has the opportunity to impact. Thank you for all the support, it is affecting eternal destinies! Blessings.
