By Hannah S.This week has been one of overwhelming gratitude. I have been humbled and amazed once again at the power of a body serving together. I was privileged to host a Back Yard Bible Club at our home this week. I have had a few people say “thank you” to me for this service, but let me assure you the blessing was mine. I wanted to share with you a few of the blessings of this week.
First, our family was blessed as we began to promote this event. We went from house to house and knocked on doors, introducing ourselves and telling them about the BYBC. In a society where people often don’t know their neighbors, this event gave us a great “excuse” to broaden our knowledge of our neighborhood. We had neighbors without children loaning us a shade tent and staking our sign at the end of the road. As the week progressed, others would ask me how the “Bible study” was going. These have all been great opportunities to identify with Christ and to begin many new relationships.
The second blessing was the joy of getting to know the children. I can’t describe how thrilling it was to see kids running down the street, eager to come. As the week went on, they continued to come earlier and earlier. I had three different moms express to me that they were amazed that their children were so excited about attending. Our attendance was remarkably consistent and moms were changing previous plans so that their children could attend. What a great reminder to me of how the love of Christ draws people to Him! We did not have a flashy program or over-the-top games, but we had students loving these kids and sharing the love of Christ with them.
Third, as I mentioned earlier, seeing BCLR work together to reach Little Rock for Christ was one of the greatest blessings. I can’t describe the joy of ministering together with the youth that came to my house. Somehow that distinction of youth and adult was lost as we were brothers and sisters in Christ working to share the gospel together. No longer was the distinction in age important as we joined arms with the same mission. The sweetness of seeing two young men sitting on my step sharing Christ with my neighbor brings tears to my eyes.
Thank you, church body, for functioning so well. For all of you who labored behind the scenes packing lunches, buying snacks, printing flyers, providing meals, housing students, etc., you have my utmost appreciation. Many of you did not get to see first hand the incredible impact of this week, but you were faithful to labor behind the scenes – thank you!
To Diane and the amazing office ladies, you have pulled off an incredible feat of administration. Thank you for using your gifts so well.
To the youth, thank you for investing in the lives of others. Thank you for boldly standing for Christ and for giving your all to serve Him. Thank you for having the faith to believe that the Word of God changes lives and then living out that faith. You are a joy to be around! May God reward your efforts.
To George and Jennifer, thank you for your vision and your labor to adequately train our youth.
But most of all thank you to the Lord! He is gracious to allow us to be some small part of His kingdom work. May we as a body continue to bring glory to Him as we serve Him together. To God be the glory!
