Hubby and I attended Fellowship Church for many years. Yesterday, I received the news that Vanessa Whitwell, a staff member and worship leader, passed away very unexpectedly from a brain hemorrhage. Please pray for her family. 
Apr 082008
Jul 292007
The last day of Adventure Week was wonderful. The church had food booths, craft booth, bounce houses, games, and several shows before the finale of The Clash for Courage Kingdom. There were several bible story shows, a Boz the bear show, a BMX bike show, an animal show by the Fort Worth Zoo, and an illusionist. Hubby really enjoyed the BMX show. I think my heart stopped several times watching those boys doing stunts. Hubby, Woody, Tigger and I enjoyed the evening as a family walking around and visiting most of the booths. I think this was a terrific ending to a great week.
The happy ending…Wally was able to get back into the park and talk to Mr. Courage. He apologized for lying, and Mr. Courage forgave him. Billy was finally able to see that Queen Xandra was not going to be nice, and he decided to do the right thing. Billy, Wally, and Justin were able to save the sidekicks and avert Professor Von Fang’s bomb explosion. The park was saved and Mr. Courage saw that it was due to Wally’s courage. Mr. Courage decided that Wally should be the one to inherit the park. Wally decided that Billy should help… and they all lived happily ever after.
For those of you wondering why a church would end a vacation bible school like this – we (the volunteers) were told that a lot of the children who attend Adventure Week do not normally go to church. Having a Family Fun Night allowed families that do not usually attend church an opportunity to check out the church and the facilities without any pressure. It seemed to have worked because services this weekend were heavily attended !
Jul 272007
I found out the number last night – 185. 185 children came to accept Christ as their Savior on Wednesday night. Growing His Kingdom!!
As promised, I have some pictures for you.
Now for the flyer:
Courage Kingdom Night 4Main Point: I will have courage to tell the truth!
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: Stephen tells the truth, found in the book of Acts.Tonight in the Bible Study room, your child learned that it is important to tell the truth no matter what. Tre and Deuce wanted to tell Boss the truth, that Ehud had nothing to do with their escapades, but they knew they would get in trouble if they did! Deuce remembered that Ehud always said, “When in doubt – get your Bible out.” So they went to the book of Acts and told the story of Stephen. Stephen was a Christ follower but there were some religious leaders that didn’t like him. The Bible says God gave wisdom to Stephen and his words were so strong the men couldn’t argue against him. So the men told lies about Stephen to stir up the crowd. But when the people all came against Stephen with these lies, the Bible says he had the courage to tell the truth even though he knew he would be killed. After finishing the story, Deuce and Tre decided to go to the Boss and tell her the truth. The Boss forgave them and told them that working at the park does not mean being perfect, but it does mean having courage to do what is right – including helping others, forgiving others, and telling the truth!
In the Clash for Courage Kingdom, Wally Watson started off the night lying to Mr. Courage about everything that had been happening in the park, because he thought Mr. Courage wouldn’t believe him. Wally then decided to lie to Billy so they could trap Queen Xandra. The sidekicks helped Wally lie, only because they thought it would help save Courage Kingdom. The group sunk further and further into lies until they created quite a mess! Coach found out about all the lies and told Wally he needed to have courage to tell the truth no matter what! Coach reminded Wally that Stephen told the truth even though he would be killed. The children cheered Wally on as he told Mr. Courage the truth. Unfortunately, Mr. Courage did not believe Wally and put him on a leave of absence. Queen Xandra is thrilled, as she continues to work on Plan D…the destruction of Courage Kingdom! Will she succeed?
Remind your children to have courage to tell the truth. We will see you tomorrow!
Tonight, the plan is a little different. Instead of the usual schedule, it is Family Fun Night. Parents will come with their children and spend the evening on the church campus playing games, doing crafts, eating, seeing some exhibits, witnessing the baptism of the children who accepted Christ this week, and then finishing the night with the Clash for Courage Kingdom Show.
I’ll let you know how the show ends!
Jul 262007
Each Wednesday during Adventure Week, there are two important things of note. The first is that it is “Bring A Friend” night. Each child who attended Tuesday night is asked to bring a friend to Adventure week with them. Last night, we had 134 friends attend, so the total for the night was 882. The other important thing about the night is that it is also Salvation Night. The children are taught that Jesus died for our sins, and they are given the opportunity to accept Christ as their Savior. How exciting that 882 children had the opportunity to hear the message of salvation! Usually, a count is given of the number of children who came to Christ, so I will try to find that out and post tomorrow.
Here are some pictures of our newly decorated church! The pictures are linked so if you click on them, you can see them enlarged.
And, here’s what the flyer said from last night:
Courage Kingdom! Night 3Main Point: I will have courage to forgive others!
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: Jesus died for our sins, found in the book of Matthew. God forgave me, I should forgive others.Tonight in the Bible Study room, your child learned about forgiveness. Tre and Deuce lied to the Boss about breaking into the park. They said that everything was Ehud’s idea. The Boss believed them and demoted Ehud. Ehud was upset with Tre and Deuce, but she remembered that the Bible says we should forgive others because Jesus forgave us. She got out her Bible and told the children the story of Jesus. How Jesus came to earth, lived a sinless life, and then died to take the punishment for our sins. We do not deserve to be forgiven, but God forgave us anyway. Ehud decided to forgive Tre and Deuce because Jesus forgave her.
In the Clash for Courage Kingdom, Wally Watson started off the night with a plan to save Courage Kingdom, but needed the sidekicks’ help. Unfortunately, the sidekicks accidentally messed up his plan. So Wally became angry that they could not pull off one simple plan! Wally then decided he was better off coming up with a plan to stop the Queen without them. The sidekicks were hurt by Wally’s tirade, but they still wanted to save Courage Kingdom, so they went off to try and stop the Queen. Since they are only sidekicks, they did not have much success. They needed a hero! Meanwhile, Wally was sulking all to himself when Coach found him and asked Wally to forgive the sidekicks for messing up his plan. Wally asked why he should do that?! Coach told the story of Jesus, how he died so God could forgive us of our sins. Since God forgave us, we should forgive others. Your children cheered Wally on as he forgave the sidekicks, and then later asked them to forgive him as well. But the Queen and her minions are still planning to destroy Courage Kingdom…so the adventure continues.
Remind your children to have courage to forgive others. We will see you tomorrow!
Tomorrow I’ll post some pictures from the show.
Jul 252007
Well, we had a great time last night at Adventure Week. Woody attended last year, but he is getting so much more out of it now that he’s a year older. I can hardly wait for next year when Tigger will be old enough to attend.
For those of you wanting to know what happened, here is what the flyer said:
Courage Kingdom Night 2Main Point: I will have courage to help others!
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: Esther helps save her people, found in the book of EstherTonight in the Bible Study room, Tre and Deuce got in trouble for breaking into the park and riding all the rides. Ehud wanted to help plead their case to the Boss, but was worried she would get in trouble too. So Ehud got out her Bible and told the children the story of Esther. How Esther went to her husband, the King, and told him about Haman planning to kill all the Jews. Esther could have been killed, but despite being afraid, whe had the courage to help others. God protected her and her people. Your children encouraged Ehud to help her friends and go talk to the Boss on their behalf.
In the Clash for Courage Kingdom, Queen Xandra and her minions planned to poison all the food with gag root and blame it on Wally Watson so he would be fired! At the last minute, Wally had th chance to save courage Kingdom but hesitated because he was afraid of climbing to the top of the giant food processor, Coach gave him a pep talk, reminding him of the story of Esther and how she helped her people. Coach encouraged Wally to pray to God for courage. Wally prayed as the children cheered him on to help others! Wally helped save Courage Kingdom again…but the Queen has started on Plan C!
Remind your children to have courage to help others.
We will see you tomorrow!
I will try to remember to take my camera tonight. I’ll take some photos of the interior decorating that was done for AW and post them tomorrow.