harvesting

our annual Vacation Bible School is history, and it was another great one! So many people (as usual) came together to put on this unbelievable outreach effort, and it was awesome!

Big Kudos to Roger Smith for emceeing, and to Jenny and Bryan and Kerri for organizing and making it happen! OK, now I've made a mistake by mentioning names... you know who you are, God knows who you are (even if I don't) and we are so blessed by your hard work to make this interactive VBS come alive! Thank you thank you thank you!

I also want to thank Lynn and Joy for their efforts... those who know these two angels are probably wondering what I'm talking about since they are 1,800 miles away at their paradise in Volcan, Panama...

the reason I believe they both were instrumental in this year's VBS is because of the work they did in February...

Remember the tornado? Well, the Riverside body stepped up and acted like 'the church' by taking Jesus into this devastated community in the wake of the tornado... a few weeks ago, Gassville had a parade in which Riverside had a float... we handed out VBS flyers and people remembered the parade marchers as the same ones who spent the entire month of February and beyond helping them survive the worst catastrophe in their town's history...

and, in the middle of all of that... while many of us volunteered an hour or two here or there, and 'went back to work'... there was Lynn and Joy... making sure all the efforts were coordinated and signing up the volunteers and delivering coffee and lunch every day...

and the people remembered.

This year, the attendance at our Vacation Bible School was made up - in large part - of our Gassville friends who saw a church act like His Body during their time of need...

I observe none of this in any attempt to raise up Riverside as the standard. It is only when we lift HIM up that we truly see what He can do through our meager efforts....

Paul planted, Apollos watered, and God gave the increase.... praise God for His faithfulness to provide the harvest.

If it is our goal to become Jesus to our community and the world... well, we are making some baby steps toward that goal...

God Bless us all as we continue to serve in His name. God Bless our dear friends Lynn and Joy who helped us show Jesus to our community (in the wake of the February tornado) and to the world (in their little Volcan paradise in Panama)...

how cool is that?