VBS - Monday evening

VBS kicked off on Monday evening with around 30 children. We heard a variety of reasons why children weren't coming as we went around for pick up ("I forgot," to "It's too hot!"). By last night (Tuesday), we were closer to our usual Kids Club number of 60 children, though.

 

It is a blessing to have a leader as energetic as Ro. He does a great job of welcoming the kids to the "Kingdom."

 



 

Everyone gathers in the auditorium for songs before dismissing to stations.

(Perhaps our music is too loud?)

 

When it's 112 degrees outside, the last thing you want to do is put on a flannel robe to the tell the Bible story. That's what you do when you're pretending to be King David, though!

 

Children learned about Psalm 23 and took a brief rest in the "green pastures."

Caleb taught the Bible memory verse and manned the Royal Theatre.

 

Aleisha (in the blue mask) led the Crafts station. I suppose you can guess what they made. Knights everywhere!

 

Now...these are leaders that deserve some gold stars! Christian and Jeremy are courageously braving the heat each evening, leading our Games station.

It's beginning to look a lot like...VBS!

Aim Right's Vacation Bible School at our downtown campus is right around the corner. It begins Monday evening, June 27, and ends Friday, July 1.  Last night, volunteers started decorating the basement, where the partition separates our Crafts and Snacks areas.  A local church donated their gently used Kingdom Rock curriculum to us to use this year, and that has inspired the "royal" decorations.

 

 

Below, Paty and Aleisha are finishing some of the decorations.  Let me just say...our intern Aleisha is one amazing gal!  She has stapled, sweated, glued, painted, taped, texted, purchased, sorted, organized, and practiced her heart out this past month.  She is coordinating decorations, volunteers, crafts, and songs for us--and probably some other things I haven't mentioned, too. 

 

THANKS, ALEISHA!!

 

I came across this great suggestion of how to pray for VBS using the acronym P-R-A-Y.  We'd certainly welcome prayer as we prepare for and host VBS next week. 

 

P - People  

R - Routines/Schedules/Rotations   

A - Activities

Y - Yielded Hearts and Lives

 

Finally...just for fun:  Nation's Hospitals Prepare for Influx of Shell-Shocked VBS Volunteers

Cycling for a Great Cause

600 miles in 6 days! 

 

We are grateful for this small group of cyclists who recently rode from Holmes County, Ohio, to the East Coast and raised around $10,000 to support Aim Right's Teen Camp.

 

If you want to see some of the memories they made along the way, check out this Facebook page:  Aim Right Bike Trip.



 

Youth Haven - Weeks #2-3

Our second group of campers that attended Youth Haven seemed to really have a great time. All were first-timers, and I heard a few of them say, "I wish we could just stay here and not have to go home." It was neat to hear them saying their Bible memory verses on the trip home. Then, there was their enthusiastic singing.  Oh, the singing! Apparently, they learned this song. The lyrics they sang the most were, "I can't stop singing. Whoa, whoa. I can't stop singing. You have saved my life." 

This morning, Aleisha and I dropped off our third group of campers. Pick up went quickly, and traffic also moved along nicely down I-10. We got to the Picacho exit about 30 minutes early, so I decided we would take a bit of a "scenic" drive to kill some time. I headed north (I think), where there was a lovely variety of desert, crops I didn't recognize, desert, corn, desert, desert, and more desert. I had told the children the drive was just a bonus.

It was about 10 minutes into our "scenic" drive that one of the children had the courage to finally ask, "What is a bonus?" They were probably thinking they could've stayed in Phoenix and seen more interesting terrain.

Registration is quite a process at Youth Haven. We drop off the permission forms, then campers undergo bag checks and lice checks. Next, the children meet with a staff member to verify information and turn in any medications they brought. Then, they take a swimming test.

Please pray for our group this week. Some of our girls were quite apprehensive in going through the registration process, and I could tell that their minds were whirling with the newness and unfamiliarity of it all. When all of our group had finally reached the swimming test phase, I decided it might be best if I slipped away quietly. I was halfway across the yard when one of our campers started to follow me, looking scared. We went back to the swimming area where I asked one of our older, veteran campers to take our new girls under her wing, then managed to say a good-bye and leave.

I trust that God has a purpose for each one of our campers being at Youth Haven this week and also know that the staff is compassionate and caring. I can't wait to hear the stories, verses, and songs when we pick the children up on Friday!



Youth Haven - Week #1

When we pick up campers from Youth Haven, I always love seeing their certificates. The one below is for learning Bible verses; sometimes the staff chooses a character trait of the camper and prints that on a certificate. Our campers also came out bearing gifts they won as prizes for good behavior: basketballs and other items. All of them also had colorful Easter baskets; from what I could tell, those were for carrying miscellaneous items, since they didn't appear to contain treats. The Easter baskets came in handy on the trip home, as one camper began to complain of motion sickness. A fellow camper graciously emptied his Easter basket, and it was ready to be used if needed.  Thankfully, we ended the trip with a clean basket and no messes!

 

 

Considering that this is a generation that thinks the selfie is one of the coolest things ever invented....it sure was difficult to get them to take a picture.  Case in point #1:

 



 

Case in point #2:

 

Case in point #3:

 

 

Finally!  That's more like it!

 

Today, a new group of campers from Aim Right arrived at Youth Haven and will be there for the week.

Good-bye, AJ & Jewel

There's just something about Ohio.  If you analyzed the home states of all of our past interns, volunteers, and staff, it would probably rank #1. It's the state where AJ and Jewel Miller came from when they moved to Phoenix five years ago, and it's where they recently moved again. While so many here are very sad to see them go, there's a great kingdom opportunity (and an Aim Right connection) they are pursuing. You can read more about the opportunity and their OhioàPhoenixàOhio journey here.

While AJ and Jewel's focus during the past few years here was building relationships in the Sunnyslope community and eventually opening and directing Aim Right North, they helped in other ways, too. You'd find them at the downtown campus assisting with the auction, Vacation Bible School, yard sales, Mobile Pantry, and more. Jewel was our go-to for creative projects, and AJ tackled hauling, moving, and carpentry.

Some memories...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several weeks ago, Aim Right hosted a farewell event for the Millers. It included a time of prayer for them.

 

 

 

 

 

Enric and Tory Mast will be directing Aim Right North now. They have been involved with Aim Right North since its beginning and worked closely with AJ and Jewel. We are glad they are stepping in to continue the work. Please pray for them as they take on this responsibility!