Brothers and sisters,
This week’s Illuminator article is pretty straightforward — thank you! Starting on the last Saturday of June, we hosted our annual Super Saturday Adventures. For three Saturdays this summer, we reached out to kids within our community and within our church to tell them one very important message: God loves them very much. I said this on Sunday, but programs like this do not happen unless a lot of people dedicate a lot of time and effort to them. So, thank you!
As for what the kids learned, we used stories that had animals in them to help teach the children about all the various ways that God reaches out to people and loves them. On the first Saturday, they learned about Creation and how all the different animals show how much God loves us. They also learned how we can show our love for God and for the world by taking care of Creation.
On the second Saturday, they learned about Jonah and the Whale. They heard a story where someone didn’t do what God asked them to, but also a story where God still loves that person. It was a lesson for them that God is with us during tough times and will see us through those tough times. With that, they went over and met our newest family in Hope House and learned a little bit about our ministry to refugees.
And last Saturday, they learned about the birth of Jesus and how he was God in the flesh. They learned that God loves us so much, God decided to become a person and walk around with us, and how all the animals came to witness Jesus’ birth. For their final mission project, they decorated some of the Christmas boxes we will be sending to Scarlette Jasper and Olive Brand Ministries this fall and they learned about caring for other people in other places.
Each time these children came to our church, they were taught about God’s love, shown God’s love through the volunteers who came, and were given a chance to participate in our ministries here at Hope Valley. It was a wonderful opportunity made possible, again, by all of you. No matter what you did — being here the days of, planning, praying, prepping, or donating money — know that your contribution helped do the work of God’s kingdom here in Durham. Thank you!
Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben