Summer ‘09: Week 2
What a great week so far at the Baptist Mission Centers. Monday started with Baptist Community Center children headed off to the joint RVBA WMU/Lakeside Baptist children’s morning camp at Ward Haven. Meanwhile, Baptist Friendship House youth enjoyed a long but great day at Kings Dominion along with a group from Virginia Heights Baptist.
The children’s camp has been great. Separated by age groups, the children have enjoyed worship, Bible stories, puppets, crafts, recreation, and lunch. Overall about 60 kids have attended the camp each day.
Today the youth from Friendship House got out of bed early to go hiking at the Cascades. After stopping for a quick breakfast, we climbed the two miles up to the waterfall in a little over an hour. After about 25 minutes, the students were ready to get out of the freezing water and begin feeling their extremities.
Our devotion centered around Romans 5:1-5:
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we* have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have obtained access* to this grace in which we stand; and we* boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3And not only that, but we* also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
After utilizing the “suffering” of climbing up the hill along with the waterfall as a metaphor for God’s grace and love, we were back on our way down the mountain.
Next week the centers will be closed, but a couple things will still be happening. Some of the Community Center children will begin their swim assessments while others will go to a week-long camp. Prayers for us as we prep the ministries and buildings for the remainder of the summer would be appreciated.
