748

Do you remember Vacation Bible School? I do – the memories are hazy, but I remember making odd crafts, and singing “I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N” at the church my family went to and a few churches attended by my friends.

The church we attend now has it’s version of Vacation Bible School, called Adventure Week. You could think of it as Vacation Bible School on steroids. It’s for kids from 4 years old through 5th grade. Due to the population of the church, Adventure Week (AW) repeats 4 times. This year the idea is that all children who usually attend a particular service on the weekend, will attend one particular week. This will enable them to do AW with people they will most likely see throughout the school year. Of course families can choose which week is best for them, if they can’t attend during “their” week.

• Week 1 – for kids who attend the Saturday 5:00 service
• Week 2 – for kids who attend the Saturday 6:30 service
• Week 3 – for kids who attend the Sunday 9:30 service
• Week 4 – for kids who attend the Sunday 11:00 service

We usually attend the 5:00 service, so this is our week. Woody is attending, I’m volunteering, and Tigger is in volunteer childcare. Now obviously I am biased, after all it is “my” church (we’ve been attending since August 2001.) But, WOW!! Do they ever know how to reach kids!!! The entire preschool building and Creative Communications Center (area for K-5) have been decked out to look like a theme park. We now have an aquarium, a zoo, a ball park, an aeronautical space unit, and a city center area – all surrounding a 2-story castle with waterfall in the rotunda. I believe the term used would be “eye candy” – and boy is it! I get excited just thinking about it! And that’s just the “cosmetics” of AW…

The heart and soul of AW is the teaching and the show (theatrical production.) Each of the five nights will be different, and memorable. At the end of every night, all parents receive a handout that explains what their child learned while in attendance. This is what the handout from last night says:

Welcome to Courage Kingdom! Night 1

Main Point: I will have courage to do what God says!
Bible Verse: “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 NLT
Bible Story: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the fiery furnace, found in the book of Daniel.

Today marked the beginning of Adventure Week 2007! In the Bible Study room, your child met Ehud the chef, Deuce the ringmaster, and Tre the clown. They are close friends who work together in the Berry Blast Park within Courage Kingdom. Tonight Deuce and Tre decided to ride the rides while the park was closed. Ehud hesitated because it was against what God says. Ehud told your children the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. How they were thrown in the fiery furnace because they would only worship God and not the golden statue. God protected them and they did not burn up. Then King Nebuchadnezzar saw the fire had not touched even one hair on their head! So the King told everyone they should praise the god of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego! Your children encouraged Ehud to have the courage to do what God says and not to break the park rules.

In the theatrical production of Clash for Courage Kingdom, your child met Wally Watson and Billy Peterson who are in line to take over Courage Kingdom when Mr. Courage retires. Billy stated he is clearly the right choice for the job: listing out all of the ideas he had over the years to improve the park. Wally began to object, reminding Billy that those were actually his ideas. Later that night they discovered all the statues in the park come alive at night, and Queen Xandra wants to take over the park so children can no longer come. It is up to Wally to help save Courage Kingdom! He foils the Queen’s Plan A, but the Queen is already working on Plan B!

Remind your children to have courage to do what God says.
We will see you tomorrow!

In addition to the lesson and the show, the kids also have a snack and play some games.

Last night, 748 kids attended. Even though our church is considered a “mega” church – that number staggers me. 748 – I’m sure many are members that attend regularly, but I know there were many visitors, too. How exciting that this could be a child’s first contact and possibly first memory of church! 748 – and that’s just the first night of Week 1. I can’t even imagine how many children will attend by the end of Week 4!

Please pray for the continued success of Adventure Week. Pray for the volunteers and staff – that their strength and endurance would be renewed each night. Pray for the children – that their hearts would be open to accept Christ and to learn biblical teaching – all 748 of them.