Dear Members of St. Matthew,
As one of our little members commented during Sunday’s opening night of VBS Athens: “This is the best day of my LIFE!” What a joyous way to end the evening; his remark put a smile on many faces.
One of our visiting children on Monday invited two of the non-believing Greek shop keepers to the closing Celebration that evening to learn more about Jesus and the One True God of Paul. By the end of VBS, I feel confident that all our shop keepers will give up their worship of the Greek false gods.
Monday evening Paul was explaining a story to Dionysius, a member of the Athens Council: he told about being in prison with Silas. Paul passed our handcuffs which we all wore as he spoke. After the handcuffs were removed, and we were individually told: God loves you and will take care of you. Dionysius had already left the room in a huff.
In Arena Games, citizens of Athens learned how to throw a discus, javelin and play other Greek games that children played during the time of Jesus. This was a great place to release lots of energy.
By Tuesday evening, the population of Athens grew to 78 which included one guest volunteer and 9 guest children; will it continue to grow? I appreciate all the members who were able to come and share in the five night event.
Our VBS Mission Project: Project Linus has raised $566.10 and VBS isn’t even over yet! The amount pays for the fabric used on the blankets that were knotted at the Linen Shop in downtown Athens and leave additional monies which will buy some Project Linus blankets. Thank you! Special thanks to the MORE board, the Klinkerman family, the Engler family, and the De La Garza family for donating delicious meals for us each evening. Thanks also to Calicotees for the screening of the blankets and to the DLG Ice Factory for the upcoming refreshing closure.
Also, if you know members of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, please tell them how much we appreciated the loan of their Athens set for our stage; it was truly a wonderful blessing and an answer to prayer.
Thank you all so much for your help and support of our VBS Athens Program!
It is a blessing to be a part of such a generous and supportive congregation!
To the glory of God,
Julia