May 20, 2002
TOGETHER:
As summer nears, remember children
___As a pastor, this was always one of my favorite times of the year. We were getting ready for children's camp and youth camp, preparing for Vacation Bible School, and enlisting and training adults to teach and care for the children of our church and the community.
___Vacation Bible School was one of my earliest memories growing up in church. I wanted to carry the American flag, but my father--the pastor--wanted to be sure other boys got to carry the flags first. He taught me from an early age that church was about reaching out to others, not about my own personal desires or ambitions. That was not an easy lesson to learn. In fact, it's the kind of lessonyou have to keep relearning all your life.
CHARLES WADE
Executive Director
BGCT Executive Board
___After coming to Arlington, it was my privilege to attend our children's and youth camps for 24 years. I was children's camp pastor each of those years. Neither the children nor I will ever forget the year I played Goliath in my morning monologue sermon. When I pitched face forward on the floor with a resounding thump, the place was absolutely still with shock!
___Hundreds of young people and children came to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior during those camps and at the Vacation Bible Schools our church offered. They rededicated their lives to Christ and responded to the call of God in their lives. I think I miss those times more than any other as I have taken the responsibility of working with all our churches and people in Texas.
___All Texas Baptists need to pray for the managers and staff members of 30 associational and regional camps as they finish getting ready for this time of year. Pray also for the men and women and college students who will serve as counselors for church camps.
___They will be extra busy and especially tired, but they will experience remarkable and blessed joy in their ministry to children and young people this summer. Last year, 324,157 attended our Texas Baptist camps, and 7,719 made professions of faith in Christ, with another 8,699 making other significant spiritual decisions.
___Pray for those who will be leading in VBS in almost every Texas Baptist church. Pray especially that every church will see this as a great opportunity to reach out to unsaved boys and girls and their families. Last year, more than 205,000 children attended VBS in Texas Baptist churches, and about 8,000 came to faith in Christ. And churches discovered more than 21,500 prospects, enrolling 2,739 of them in Sunday School.
___Why do churches offer Vacation Bible School and support camps? Partly, it's because many adult Baptists remember what these events meant to them, and they want those experiences for their children. Partly, because we know that our children and young people need concentrated Bible study and time with others to pray and listen for God to speak to them. Partly, it's because there are leaders in churches who won't let the rest of us forget what is important. But most of all, I hope, it is because we want to be Jesus kind of churches, and you can't be if you don't really make room in your lives for the children. Jesus said, "Let them come unto me." No church wants to be guilty of standing in their way.
___We are loved--especially the children.
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