Hinton Baptist Church VBS Report...

Sorry it has taken so long to get these posted. We had a bit of a delay in getting the pictures uploaded, but I will try to make up for it and bring you up to date....

Vacation Bible School went very well. We had quite an adventure getting things set up, but with much trial and error, we ended up with a very nice blue tent and convincing winter decor. The kids thought it was the greatest thing ever! We had three families that came every day and two families that visited throughout the week. Several of them were unchurched or looking for a new church. It was neat to see the Lord at work--slowly opening doors for outreach. Ben led the games and I did singing and helped with class rotations. We had children ranging in age from 3 to 11, so we had to get a bit creative!!! On the last day we rented a snow cone machine and bounce house. That went over really well with all of the children. Apparently the snow cones are a bit of a novelty around here...but they fit right in with our "polar" theme.

The Davis kids "chillin' out" in the igloo!

One of our youngest attendees

enjoying snack time!

Craft for Day 1:

Making frames for our stepping stones

(Ben and Bro. Davis had pre-drilled these

with an electric drill)

Craft for Day 2:

Filling frames and adding beads

(More from Day 2)

Craft for Day 3:

Painting the finished product!

More from Day 3...

The park staff took the tables we had been using.

Since we were in a ball field, this was our "plan B" for craft time.

Kellie leading the singing

Pastor Davis taught the Bible Lesson every day

and blew the whistle for class rotations

Ben helping with the memory verse

Game time with part of the "junior class"

(Marshall Davis and Eliana Parton)

Ready and waiting for game time!

This is Kellie and Paul Harness

(he's the children's Sunday School Teacher)

with the older class

Kellie monitoring the Bounce House

for our game time on the last day

"On Guard!!!"

Ben and I made balloon "creations" on the last day

Grape and Orange Snow Cones!

What color is your tongue?????

It was encouraging to watch the Lord bring people, and another reminder that, "...unless the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it..." We have seen time and again that it makes no difference how much you do to prepare, unless the Lord blesses and works, your efforts will always be in vain. I have seen in such a new and vivid way how vital it is to rely on the Lord to move. The blessing comes when we see Him at work, and watch Him do what only He can!

Please Pray for VBS!!!!

For the past few days we have been working very hard to prepare for the Hinton Baptist Vacation Bible School. VBS began on Wednesday and will go through Friday. Our theme is Polar Extremes--All of me, all out for God. The lessons are about men in the Bible who were extreme in their trust, obedience, and love for God. Ben and I have been helping to get the games, craft, and songs together. Ben will be leading the games, I am helping with the singing, and I think we will all be needed for our exciting craft!!! We are making concrete stepping stones with the kids' hand prints on them. Each day they will complete a different phase: day one they build the frame, day two they pour the concrete into the frames and make handprints (fun!), and day three they decorate!!! I think it will be a blast!

Ben had to pre-assemble every frame to make sure that the pieces fit.

He got off easy; the kids have to use regular screwdrivers!

Very late on the night before, we realized we were going to have to do something more to set the "chill" for polar extremes......a little hard to do when the temps have been going as high as 80! (which is a scorcher around here!!!) We were limited because we are setting up under a tent and we can't leave any of our supplies there. Nonetheless, we finally came up with some cute props that helped to get the point across.

We ran to the world-wide-web

and found some quick-n-easy snowflake patterns

Here's Ben cutting out the "igloo" with his pocketknife.

He gets to use all of the fun tools!

After long hours, Kellie comes up with a pretty convincing igloo.

(It looks even more convincing with cotton "snow" around it!)

We've managed to fill up the days and hours with everything from handing out flyers, to baking cookies, to experimenting with crafts, to making song visuals...and the list goes on!

Thank you so much for keeping up with us, your prayers mean the world to us!!! God is at work here, despite the difficulties! We are praying that He will do what only HE can!

Pray that the Lord will bring children out and that we can reach their families! We had 13 children for our first day. There is much around here to compete with VBS, but we are hoping since most of the school activities and sports events are ending, children will be looking for something to do.

Happy Canada Day!

Canada Day brought many fun (and chilly) memories for all of us this year! We started the day with the local Canada Day Parade that marched right through the middle of town. (Notice in the pictures the long sleeves and jackets--it was only about 45 degrees (F) on the first of July!!!) It was a bit different from parades back home, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The kids were showered with candy and big waves from the people passing by. After the parade, we made maple leaf sugar cookies and got everything ready for the church-wide picnic that evening. We had a good group come for the cookout and even a few visitors. We ate, played, sang, and had a special time of prayer. It was a fun day, and quite a cultural experience!

Canadian Mounted Police

Making sugar cookies after the parade

(notice the jackets!)

Fellowship...and good food!!!

...the heart of any good Baptist get together

Our hymn-singing and Canada Day Service after the picnic

This is Kellie and a young girl named Alyssa.

She has recently started visiting the church

as a result of door-knocking on Thursdays.

Making New Friends :)

Last weekend we had the wonderful opportunity of getting to spend time with several of the young people from Victory Baptist Church in Edmonton, Alberta. (this is the Davis' sending church in Canada) They came out to Hinton on Friday night and stayed through Saturday night. We spent all day Saturday hiking and exploring at Jasper Park. It was so refreshing to meet other young people with an intense desire to serve the Lord. They are all very actively involved in their home church and several of them are looking to go into the ministry. We gleaned a lot from them about reaching out to Canadians with the Gospel, and spent much time talking about ways we wanted to see the Lord work in our own hearts. It was a very encouraging weekend! They really welcomed us with open arms and made us feel like old friends.

Mountains on the way up to see the glacier

Ben and the "snow creature."

There were giant clumps of snow like this one all over!

The guys climbed the really big ones.

This is Simeon Harness playing "king of the iceberg!"

This ice wall was probably a good 30 to 40 feet high.

We had to hike across snow and ice, that was about 4 inches deep,

to get to the mouth of the cave.

Sitting in the mouth of the ice cave under Angel Glacier!

The ice and snow was melting so fast above us it sounded like rain.

Large rocks fell right in front of us as the snow melted out from under them.

I don't know if we were supposed to be off the trail, but it was really neat!!!

Angel Glacier

This is just the top half of the mountain.

I couldn't get the whole thing in one shot or capture the "huge-ness" of it all.

It was one of the highest things I have ever seen!!!

We followed a trail by this stream to get back to the parking lot.

When we got to the bottom we all refilled our water bottles

with ice cold glacier water from the stream.

Athabasca Falls

The canyon at the base of the falls

The mouth of the river at the end of Athabasca Falls.

Fruit from Bible Clubs

So sorry it has been a while since we have updated! Things have been a bit crazy lately, and I just haven't had the chance to catch up. Here is the last report from the Bible Clubs and exciting news about follow-up!

The Davis children with our friends who visited

Church and Sunday School today

These are pictures from the last day of Bible Clubs. We ended up with several new children on the last day. It was so neat to watch the Lord work. We were excited to have two of the families visit at Hinton Baptist Church this Sunday--Please pray for them!!! They have been very open and are asking a lot of questions. They said they wanted their children to grow up believing in something and think it would be good for them to be in church.

Pray that they will continue to come to church and that the Lord will soften their hearts to the Gospel!

Kellie teaching the Big Word "Eternal"

Some of our visitors

Group shots are so much fun!

We had children ranging in age from 2 to 10!!!

(that required some creative teaching for sure :) )

Ben using a rope to give an illustration on sin...

...and completely capturing everyone's attention!

Thank you for your prayers!

Please don't stop! Pray that the Lord will open doors with the families He allowed us to reach during Bible Clubs!