Farewell to our friends at Jubilee Church

God Is With Me And Protects Me

Yes! We were able to clear the land behind the church.  Check out the before and after.  Today we used the chipper to make mulch from the trees we removed.

BEFORE

AFTER

This afternoon our group discussed the impact that his mission trip has had on us.
We realize that this was just the beginning of building missional muscle!  We are excited about the opportunity to lead a VBS.  We discussed how we might do that back at home for our community.
God has shown us things about our serves, we have have seen him answer our prayers and we are happy to have been able to serve him in St. Louis!


 It's Friday evening, time for our final VBS with our new friends at Jubilee Community Church.
It was an absolute blast.  Each night more and more kids came.  Tonight was our biggest crowd ever.  There were 53 kids!!!! We gave our last piggyback rides and hugs and said goodbye to our new friends.  Tomorrow it's home to Tampa Bay.  We can't wait to see our families and sleep in our own beds.  

God Loves Me!

Yesterday morning we worked outside, chopping down trees and dragging them into piles.  A few of the students started working in the garden, a triangle of grass that the church was asked to take care of by the county.  It still needs work, but the teens and the church are willing to do the job.  Behind the church, the work was almost complete, and we just finished cutting down the last of the trees.  They’ve been helping a lot, so afterward we took a much needed hour nap, feeling refreshed and ready for VBS and the energetic kids that were to come.

We started out with worship (which the kids loved) and then Edson and Marlon shared their testimonies with the kids. The bible story was actually a series of stories connecting with Jesus: Adam and Eve, Jesus’ Birth, His Miracles, His Death and Resurrection.  The story was acted out by a few of the teens from Oakwood and the kids really seemed to enjoy it.  Suzette, Nathaniel, Nathan, Isaac, Abbie, Mark, and Caleb, illustrated the skit. I’d like to give credit to all of them; they did such a good job.

I’m Mary, if you were wondering, and I’m just writing this one blog, and I was working in the 6-8 year old class, where we had a total of 16 kids on the first day!  Yesterday we grew to a total of 53 kids, which means the kids are inviting their friends too!  After sharing the story of Jesus we went to our assigned groups and made door hangers in the shape of a cross.  We most unfortunately ran out of time for the game after we ate the snack. After all that we went back to the sanctuary to worship.

The kids really seemed to enjoy worship and they were really good with all the hand motions.  A lot of kids really got into it and some even went on stage and did the motions with the helpers. They really loved dancing and singing. I also need to give a shout out to Suzette, one of our singers, who got laryngitis after the first day. She was still determined to lead the kids with the hand motions even though she couldn’t sing.

 The kids are really energetic, during and after VBS. They won’t let go of you, so you’re constantly being smothered in hugs and piggy back rides until their family comes to get them.  Some of us even got kisses by a cute little boy Aaron, who had leg and hip problems. He was in casts and he unfortunately wasn’t able to participate last year, however this year he was very energetic and had lots of fun.  After they left we went into the sanctuary and went over the whole VBS, discussing what we did well and what we could do better the next time.

  When we were done with that we went to Ted Drewes, again, it was amazing, again. We’ve probably been there three days this week, but it wasn’t nearly as crowded the first time we went there. Ted Drewes makes the best custard I’m sure any of us has ever tasted. We were rather hyper for half an hour and we blasted music in the car.  When we got back to Jubilee we started to calm down and got to bed. 

  

God is the One true God!

Our day began with a delicious meal of French Toast, scrambled eggs and bacon.  Yes, our Kitchen Coordinator, Ms. Kim is a Kitchen Rock Star!

We spent time with God in a personal time of devotions.  We shared with one another the actions we will take to view those we serve as Christ sees them. Our prayer for today was that we’d have the heart of God for his work.

Our morning work project was to continue clearing the field behind the church.

It was very hot but we stayed hydrated and took cooling breaks.  It’s exciting to see this lot coming together.  We were able to meet some of the young people from the community who asked if they could help because they hate having this overgrown lot in their backyard. Praise God that we are able to serve in such a tangible way.

After lunch, it time was time to put the finishing touches on VBS Prep.

We rehearsed our skits, practiced leading worship, had a training session on delivering the lessons to the kids and rounded up our supplies needed for crafts.  We are so excited and nervous but we are prayerful that God will use us to share Christ with this community.

VBS was to begin at 6:00pm but the first kids came at 5:00pm!  We had a chance to spend time playing and getting to know them. Eventually 23 kids braved the extreme heat to come this evening.

We sang, danced, and taught the kids that God is the One True God!

As we said our goodbyes we encouraged the kids to come back tomorrow!

Pray that they will and that they will bring more friends!

For a special treat and to beat the heat our amazing adult leaders treated Oakwood & Jubilee Youth to frozen custard.  We had a great time of fun and fellowship together!

Monday Night Block Party

Team Tampa Takes on the STL!

Monday morning brought our first opportunity to serve God extravagantly by beginning to clean a vacant property behind Jubilee Church.  Even though the church doesn't own the property their desire is to bless their community by maintaining the land.  Perhaps God will bless them with ownership which is their hearts desire.

This evening we will host a Block Party to launch the VBS for the week.  Please pray that the families will bring their kids. 

Check back tomorrow.  We will let you know how it goes!

God Loves Me!

Yesterday morning we worked outside, chopping down trees and dragging them into piles.  A few of the students started working in the garden, a triangle of grass that the church was asked to take care of by the county.  It still needs work, but the teens and the church are willing to do the job.  Behind the church, the work was almost complete, and we just finished cutting down the last of the trees.  They’ve been helping a lot, so afterward we took a much needed hour nap, feeling refreshed and ready for VBS and the energetic kids that were to come.

We started out with worship (which the kids loved) and then Edson and Marlon shared their testimonies with the kids. The bible story was actually a series of stories connecting with Jesus: Adam and Eve, Jesus’ Birth, His Miracles, His Death and Resurrection.  The story was acted out by a few of the teens from Oakwood and the kids really seemed to enjoy it.  Suzette, Nathaniel, Nathan, Isaac, Abbie, Mark, and Caleb, illustrated the skit. I’d like to give credit to all of them; they did such a good job.

I’m Mary, if you were wondering, and I’m just writing this one blog, and I was working in the 6-8 year old class, where we had a total of 16 kids on the first day!  Yesterday we grew to a total of 53 kids, which means the kids are inviting their friends too!  After sharing the story of Jesus we went to our assigned groups and made door hangers in the shape of a cross.  We most unfortunately ran out of time for the game after we ate the snack. After all that we went back to the sanctuary to worship.

The kids really seemed to enjoy worship and they were really good with all the hand motions.  A lot of kids really got into it and some even went on stage and did the motions with the helpers. They really loved dancing and singing. I also need to give a shout out to Suzette, one of our singers, who got laryngitis after the first day. She was still determined to lead the kids with the hand motions even though she couldn’t sing.

 The kids are really energetic, during and after VBS. They won’t let go of you, so you’re constantly being smothered in hugs and piggy back rides until their family comes to get them.  Some of us even got kisses by a cute little boy Aaron, who had leg and hip problems. He was in casts and he unfortunately wasn’t able to participate last year, however this year he was very energetic and had lots of fun.  After they left we went into the sanctuary and went over the whole VBS, discussing what we did well and what we could do better the next time.

  When we were done with that we went to Ted Drewes, again, it was amazing, again. We’ve probably been there three days this week, but it wasn’t nearly as crowded the first time we went there. Ted Drewes makes the best custard I’m sure any of us has ever tasted. We were rather hyper for half an hour and we blasted music in the car.  When we got back to Jubilee we started to calm down and got to bed. 

Welcome!

BUMP St. Louis 2011 welcomes Oakwood Community Church youth from Tampa, FL as they serve with Jubilee Community Church in St. Louis, MO, Saturday, July 16th - Sunday, July 24th!

Check back regularly for daily updates on what God is doing through BUMP in St. Louis!