In the last blog post we told you about the planned VBS (Vocation Bible School). Now the first VBS at RVCC (River Valley Christian Church) will start at the beginning of July. This is the permanent church of Johann during his internship, where he will also preach his first sermon on the 14th of July.
Information about the VBS process
Advertising is an important part of the VBS. After several meetings and discussions, we decided to advertise both digitally and physically. We advertised on Facebook and distributed flyers in local stores. Another big part was "cleaning door handles". We separated our team into four groups and went in pairs to residential areas that we had searched online.
The goal was not to evangelize, but to distribute as many flyers as possible. Nevertheless, personal conversation was an important part of our work. That's why we rang every doorbell. If no one was home, we put the flyer between the front door and the door frame. Generally speaking, people were always friendly. But there were also times when the door was closed right in front of us without a word being said.
Our planned VBS included music, games, crafts, sketches and short stories from the Bible. There is always a connection between God and the theme that allows the children to discover God in a creative way. The overarching theme was God's creation.
VBS-RVCC
For RVCC we distributed about 600 flyers plus the local businesses in Stillwater (MN). The first day we had five kids show up for VBS. The second day, which was super hot, no one showed up. And on the third day there were four kids.
During the VBS, some of us went to the city to evangelize. Here we simply approached the various people in the city center and sought out conversation. We didn't have a practiced strategy. Here, too, we experienced a wide variety of reactions. We often got into conversation with people who were already believers.
Short recap meetings were held every day after the VBS and testimonies were shared.
VBS-ROLW
In the second week of July, we went to the ROLW (Rivers of living waters) church. This church was founded 8 months ago and is one of the younger ones. We distributed over 400 flyers in the region around the park where the VBS took place. Especially during the door to door campaign, some good conversations had developed. We had at least four families who agreed to come by. But then unfortunately they didn't show up for the actual start of the VBS.
The evangelism team that Johann was on went to the nearest mall to evangelize during the VBS. This area is totally different from evangelizing in a city. In the mall, people tend to be hectic and don't have or want to take the time for a conversation.
After this VBS was over, we all sat together to look at the whole project again. We prayed and thought about how to proceed. In the end, we decided to make a few small changes, particularly in the area of advertising. But these were not to be the last changes. More on this in the next blog.
On our days off (Friday and Saturday), we tried to spend a lot of time as a family. We explored beautiful hiking trails in the region and then often ended up on the beach at one of the many lakes. When the temperatures were warm, we were sometimes surprised by the rain or spent the whole rainy day indoors. Twice the storm sirens were even sounded at night and the threat of tornadoes was announced. Thank goodness it didn't come to that in our region.
Johann is actively involved on Sundays. Especially through the weekly calls for donations, he always gets the opportunity to share short inputs with the church. But also in the meetings where he accompanied Pastor Jon, Johann always had the opportunity to share his testimonies. This led to Pastor Jon trusting Johann to give the sermon for the Sunday service on July 14.
John's Sermon: A Life Of Intimacy With God
Why do so many Christians fail to experience an intimate relationship with God? What hinders a true and healthy relationship with God?
These are questions that Johann has also faced in the past. During the 40-minute sermon, he shared a fraction of his insight and experiences that had brought him into a truly deep and intimate relationship with God.
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