APC VBS Day #3

Our last day of VBS was wonderful! Prayers were answered as it DID NOT RAIN! The winds were really high and it was quite cold, but we still had a great turn out. The kids got into small groups and had discussions on what God has done for us and how He died for our sins- no matter how big or small. The kids were given a chance to make a decision to follow God and give their lives to Him. Desi got up and told the kids (and a few parents who were there) about our church and house church in general. He said that if they were not already going to church, that they were welcome to join us or we’d love to help them start a simple church in their own home.
All week we had a grandma named Becky who lives right across the street from the park that was coming and she even brought her friend Viola who is also elderly for the last day. Becky had been talking to Carrie about house church. Carrie asked Becky if she was interested in hosting a house church and she said she would really like to start something in her apartment and she started making a long list of family/friends she would want to come and she asked Carrie to help her. We are all so excited! At the beginning of the week we asked all of the youth and leaders to pray daily, asking Jesus (the Lord of the Harvest) for a person of peace (Luke 10:6) who would want to host a house church to reach their sphere of influence in Curtis Park. We shared that we can't make this happen but that God delights to answer the prayers of His people that are praying in His will, so you can imagine how exciting and faith building it was for all of us to see God answer our specific prayer for His name to be glorified in a greater way in the hood. Please keep Becky in prayer as she gets things ready. They are supposed to start things up once Carrie gets back from Thailand in 3 weeks (she just left.)
At the end of the day, we all met at the Duell’s for a big dinner and discussion of the week. The middle schoolers all had a chance to share what they liked, didn’t like or if they had new ideas. What a blessing to listen in on! Half way through I realized that Hope was in the middle of the room and had been patiently listening. She even raised her hand and shared a few things including, “I think we’re having church right now!” She amazes me! All in all, it was a fantastic week and we are praying about doing a number of weeks of VBS in a row in various inner city neighborhoods here in Denver next summer. We have enjoyed working with a church that is in our district and is only an hour away. Desi was asked by the college pastor (who was on the trip) to come up and speak on a Sunday morning to the college group on racial reconciliation (the talk he shared with the group Tuesday night). I also made a friend who is a homeschool mom of 4 ages 7 to 16. One more cool thing: today Bruce and Desi met with three members of Faith Evangelical Free Church (the church who sent their middle schoolers down this past week) to talk with them about house church. They are praying and seeking God’s direction to see what it would be like to plant house churches in the Fort Collins area. Pray for them and the leaders of this church that they would be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit. To really get house/simple church, I think you need a revelation from God because with what we’ve all been used to for so long it’s hard to think outside the box. When you boil down what church really is- “Where 2 or 3 are gathered in My name there I am in the midst of them.” –Jesus. We all know that the church is not the building- it’s the people and the rest of it is just semantics. (FYI- I am not dogging traditional church at all…God can and does use all sorts of avenues to reach the lost- Praise His Name). Well, I don’t know if that makes any sense to any of you, but I am just so excited to see God working in our neighborhood and moving hearts toward Him. Here are a few pics from our last day in Curtis Park.
~Rose