Harvest took a trip to a church in the heart of Mattoon, IL to sing for the close of a year long kids group that meets each Wednesday evening through the school year. It was a great night and here are some things about the ministry I thought were worth sharing with you.
– The church isn’t a huge church, but they had 50 kids about 25 leaders in attendance.
– The leadership was friendly and supportive of each other and the pastor – I heard one volunteer say about the leader, “he’s got so many creative ideas!”
– Someone put together a simple, well done slide show of pictures (from their birth – 5th grade year) of each of the 5th graders that will be graduating to the youth ministry next fall.
– A luau was the theme for the event and the meal was grilled chicken, Hawaiian rice, fruit, sweet rolls, and pink lemonade and the kids loved it!
– The meal was served family style – the food was brought to each table of about seven kids and a leader.
– In appreciation for the adult volunteers who worked in the ministry all year, the church was taking them out to dinner. Each adult was given an invitation for two weeks out, child care would be available and the restaurant was decided on for this special event.
– At the end of the event, the kids that were “bussed” to the church waited in the sanctuary to be organized and bussed back home. The pastor, children’s leader and other volunteer helped get two van loads of kids back to their homes safely and orderly.
Harvest enjoyed leading the worship for the evening (Tim, Jackson and Aaron) and the kids were energetic and fun. They had learned most of the Harvest kids songs during the ministry year and it was fun to join with them in worship. It was also interesting to me personally that the newly hired children and youth director, was part of an event where Harvest led music back in the late 90’s!
In summary, I am always amazed at the level of intense leadership, desire, and service happens through individuals and congregations in so many little corners of the world for the sake of the kingdom! Today, I specifically praise the Lord for this congregation and pray for fruit as they selflessly minister to the children in their community.