Partner in Mission

by Steve Olmstead
Kipling Baptist, Warren

dvbs pic 33Another successful DVBS is in the record books at Kipling Baptist (KBC) and Camp Norland. A long time ago some people at KBC decided a daily vacation Bible school (DVBS) would be the big mission of the church and every summer since it has been. It is probably the annual event that connects us to our community the best. Camp Norland on Deer Lake remains available to us and is a prime location for our mission.

DVBS 2015 image 10

This year it took 15 volunteers from the church and community; another team of young adults from Coldwater Canada and forty children to make it work. The donation of a bus from Alouette Bus Lines and a ministry grant from CBOQ went far to help off-set the costs of running our DVBS. With some of the grant money we were able to hire a young woman for a few weeks leading up to the DVBS. She did face-painting and advertised our event at the local fair during Father’s Day weekend. She also prepared scripts, built props, cleaned, decorated and then worked as a lifeguard for our DVBS. Without the CBOQ grant we couldn’t have benefited from her labours.

So what did DVBS look like?

image3It looked like kids splashing in a lake, it looked like kids listening and participating in dramatized Bible stories, it looked like kids catching their first fish, or petting rabbits and a lamb for the first time. It looked like kids proudly wearing headbands they helped dye, or carefully assembling their own jewelry and toys.

dvbs pic 31It looked like friends laughing together. What else did DVBS look like for us? It looked like seniors working tirelessly, cutting out wooden shapes, cutting and welding steel, creating recipes, shopping for just the right kind of supplies. It looked like someone driving the bus every morning and every afternoon. It looked like people supervising the children, bandaging the scratches and listening to their voices for five days. It looked like young people helping the children and the adults. It looked like young people willingly cleaning up after everyone else—without a single complaint.

Day Camp 2015 group picSometimes a CBOQ grant pays for equipment, sometimes it pays for promotion, or for rent. Most importantly to us our CBOQ grant brought us all together in a common mission this past July.

Our hearts are truly filled with gratitude for our CBOQ partnership in mission.


We are excited to hear about what God is doing through you in your communities! If your church has a story to share that will encourage, edify or share some great ideas with our family of churches, email Jacqueline Solomon

 

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