Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thank you!! Thank you!!
To all who have a direct and indirect hand in making the VBS 2008 a great success, our outmost thanks to you all for the wonderful journey of working together hand in hand in serving the Lord. VBS 2008 is not over yet.. the journey continues.. the children who have graced our VBS who have yet to know Him, those who have accepted Him need to be nurtured and to the parents that we are trying to reach out to.. the journey continues... so let us not rest our laurel and continue to encourage them, reaching out to them and to hold their hands in their journey to find the Lord.
The responsibility for the follow-up of the unchurched children and their families does not fall squarely on the shoulders of the Sunday School or EE or Ladies Fellowship or BB... it's all ours and let's take up this burden to continue to serve together in the furtherment of Christ's Kingdom. For our brothers and sisters who have served for the very first time in VBS, I am truly encouraged by your step of faith and commitment. Please do continue to serve Him in whichever capacity that you can and don't stop!.. serving is like running a marathon.. once you start it gets easier.. once you get over the wall.. it's a cruise.. but once you stop.. it gets harder to put that running shoes back on again.
When we first started, the committee sat down to calculate how many volunteers that we would need and we were taken aback when the number 180 hit the whiteboard.. some suggested there is a mistake.. but when we re looked at the number..nope..THAT's what we need! Can we? Could we get so many to give up so much time and effort for 2 sessions? We took the leap of faith and guess what.. you are the answer to the prayers! Throughout and throughout every ministry that I have served in I am constantly being reminded of how faithful our God is if we are serving Him in accordance to His will.
It has truly being a great, wonderful, tiring, nail-biting, barrierful and fulfilling journey. We thank you all for your partnership and hope that there will be more in the future!
Remember the VBS main lesson is not only for the kids but for us all too..
Know the Truth - Do we stop meditating on God's Word once we have accepted Him? If we say He is our priority, do we strive to get to know him more through our reading of His Word and in our prayers? Remember our God is a relational God in that we have a personal relationship with Him and relationship is a two way traffic, just ask your spouse what will happen if you don't speak to her/him....
Speak the Truth - Do we share the Gospel with all that we come in contact with? Are we afraid to share the best news in the whole world? If you manage to find the escape route out of a burning house and get away with your life, wouldn't you want to yell at the top of your lungs to those loved ones who are still trapped in there?
Live the Truth - Do our lives truly reflect what we believe in? Do we live the lives that He ask of us? Do we carry our cross after Him? If we are spiritual brothers and sisters, are we living like it? If a non-Christian is to do an audit of our lives and the way we live them in comparison to how we are asked to live by the Lord, what would the person find? What would the result be? Are we really Work In Progress in our hearts or only in our imagination? So when the kids come to VBS 2009, what would they see?
On behalf of the VBS 2008 Committee, I would like to thank every single one of the people who have taken the sacrifice to serve together and also to our prayer warriors who have kept us all in their prayers and petition. I hope as we taught the kids, we too are being taught by the Lord. Remember our actions show what we believe! And please forgive us for our wrong actions and words as we too, I hope, are truly WIPs.
Thank you all very very much, have a good rest and God bless you all!
Mahalo,
Lee Henn
The responsibility for the follow-up of the unchurched children and their families does not fall squarely on the shoulders of the Sunday School or EE or Ladies Fellowship or BB... it's all ours and let's take up this burden to continue to serve together in the furtherment of Christ's Kingdom. For our brothers and sisters who have served for the very first time in VBS, I am truly encouraged by your step of faith and commitment. Please do continue to serve Him in whichever capacity that you can and don't stop!.. serving is like running a marathon.. once you start it gets easier.. once you get over the wall.. it's a cruise.. but once you stop.. it gets harder to put that running shoes back on again.
When we first started, the committee sat down to calculate how many volunteers that we would need and we were taken aback when the number 180 hit the whiteboard.. some suggested there is a mistake.. but when we re looked at the number..nope..THAT's what we need! Can we? Could we get so many to give up so much time and effort for 2 sessions? We took the leap of faith and guess what.. you are the answer to the prayers! Throughout and throughout every ministry that I have served in I am constantly being reminded of how faithful our God is if we are serving Him in accordance to His will.
It has truly being a great, wonderful, tiring, nail-biting, barrierful and fulfilling journey. We thank you all for your partnership and hope that there will be more in the future!
Remember the VBS main lesson is not only for the kids but for us all too..
Know the Truth - Do we stop meditating on God's Word once we have accepted Him? If we say He is our priority, do we strive to get to know him more through our reading of His Word and in our prayers? Remember our God is a relational God in that we have a personal relationship with Him and relationship is a two way traffic, just ask your spouse what will happen if you don't speak to her/him....
Speak the Truth - Do we share the Gospel with all that we come in contact with? Are we afraid to share the best news in the whole world? If you manage to find the escape route out of a burning house and get away with your life, wouldn't you want to yell at the top of your lungs to those loved ones who are still trapped in there?
Live the Truth - Do our lives truly reflect what we believe in? Do we live the lives that He ask of us? Do we carry our cross after Him? If we are spiritual brothers and sisters, are we living like it? If a non-Christian is to do an audit of our lives and the way we live them in comparison to how we are asked to live by the Lord, what would the person find? What would the result be? Are we really Work In Progress in our hearts or only in our imagination? So when the kids come to VBS 2009, what would they see?
On behalf of the VBS 2008 Committee, I would like to thank every single one of the people who have taken the sacrifice to serve together and also to our prayer warriors who have kept us all in their prayers and petition. I hope as we taught the kids, we too are being taught by the Lord. Remember our actions show what we believe! And please forgive us for our wrong actions and words as we too, I hope, are truly WIPs.
Thank you all very very much, have a good rest and God bless you all!
Mahalo,
Lee Henn
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Yo Vols!
To all the Teachers and Volunteers,
SuperThanks for all your stupendous effort in serving God and making sure that VBS08 is a paddle-away success. Dr Lian, our guest speaker who dropped by to share at Missions yesterday, commented that it is amazing that we can mobilize so many people to help out.. and if you think about it.. 180 volunteers .. and for some smaller churches.. it's the whole church!! Amazing!
It is a great privilege for us in the committee to be able to serve with you all ... and oh fun too!! I know that we still have hiccups along the way but we are learning.. so would you please share with us all on your experiences, things that went well, things that kaputted, how we can improve next year's VBS, what you would like to see for the next VBS (2 weeks?? :o)), and more importantly your sharing about your contact, teaching and relationship with the kids. What have we learned about and from God in this serving?
Do drop us your comments and we would love to hear from you all!
Mahalo from our hearts,
VBS2008 Committees
Kids...Your Say!
Hey VBS Kids! How have you been enjoying the last 4 days? Had fun? What did you learn? Anything to share? We're pretty sad that we coming to the end of VBS08 but are very happy to get to know all of you!! So do drop us a comment and let us know what's your experience so far and how you would like to see the future VBS become!!
Mahalo!
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Outrigger Island: Day 4!
We are mid way through the VBS Outrigger Island week-long event. Day Four was just as exciting as our past three days! Today was actually Photo Day! All children, teachers and helpers were clad in our official white VBS T-shirt, each showing keen enthusiasm about having their pictures taken. A variety of poses were shot and these pictures are available here. Hint: keep scrolling and look harder! 
After the morning routine of singing the VBS songs, the children ran back to class, eager to learn about Jeremiah 36. The scripture tells us about the warning God gave to King Jehoiakim (via a scroll) about the destruction that were to come upon them if they did not repent of their sins. But instead of heeding God’s warning, King Jehoiakim burnt the scroll and wanted to arrest Jeremiah and his secretary Baruch. However, God shielded them from harm and Jeremiah managed to duplicate the scroll. In the end, disaster fell upon King Jehoiakim and his descendants as punishment. Through this story, the children learnt that they should always obey God and read the Bible because it is God’s Word and all of us should abide by His Commandments. At Craft Cabana, the children made a scroll where colourful Hawaiian-like flower shapes were glued onto its surface, along with the memory verse for the day.
A long string through the scroll with its ends tied together enabled it to be carried around as a tissue holder as well. Very convenient!
At Aloharium today, the children were served Beach Ball Treats which were in fact, charsiew buns; Sandy Beach Snacks for popcorn and for drinks, the Tropical Trail Mix.
Happy birthday Asha!
The children were extremely helpful in cleaning out any extra food that might be left, especially the charsiew buns. =D At Missions Lookout, the preteens learnt from Dr. Lian, a doctor who frequents
This Saturday is the VBS Family Day Concert, so don’t forget to return the RSVP slips tomorrow. We look forward to having you over this Saturday!
Next up, a plethora of pictures!
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