A Thought from Interim Director of Missions / Moderator Barry

Easter events are now over.  The stone decorations have been taken down, and Easter decorations have been put away for another year.  Now the focus for many of our churches will be preparing for “Vacation Bible School,” or maybe a “Backyard Bible Club.”  The focus should be on reaching out to our children and youth.  When I hear about outreach to “children and youth” the first thing I hear is, “We don't have children or youth in our church so how do you expect us to reach out to them?”  Now, I am no expert, but I’ve never lived in a town that did not have children and youth.  

The problem is we know they’re there, we just don't know how to reach them.  Try having a Backyard Bible Club or Vacation Bible School!  Get some folks in your church, (wouldn’t take too many) and make some plans for a Backyard Bible Club.  Find a place in your town like a park.  Have Kool-Aid or soft drinks, snacks – whatever you would like to bring and plan to spend 15 minutes a day.  Tell a story from the Bible – and tell it in your own words.  Have some opened-ended questions, and discuss those with the kids.  Tell them that you’ll be back the next day with another story.  Ask them to come back and to bring a friend.  You may only have one child show up each day, but that’s OK and don’t give up.  Spend that time with the kids that come, tell them the story of Jesus and His love.  Have something in print that you can give them and tell them to show it to their parents.  Always send an invitation to the parents.  I believe if you did this for three to five days, or maybe a couple of weeks, that you will find that God will deliver.  It will take commitment, but it doesn’t take a lot of people.  Just a couple people who have a heart and desire to reach out to the kids in their community.  Take the time to plan something this summer!

Plan an outreach of some kind.  Consider partnering with another church.  In La Grange we partner with 2 other churches for Vacation Bible School each year.  Reach out to the local churches in your community.  Let’s come together to bring about Kingdom growth and spread the news of Jesus.

Barry Pfister, Interim Director of Missions / Moderator
Mt Salem-Wyaconda Southern Baptist Association
mswdom@marktwain.net
bppastor@yahoo.com
(O) 573-209-3064
(M) 660-734-2080
(H) 573-655-0172