The snacks have been eaten, the decorations have been stored, and the supplies have been away… almost. But the songs are still in our brain and the message of Jesus is still in our hearts. We spent four days from June 9 to June 12 focusing on how to Magnify God with Psalm 34:3 as our key verse, “Proclaim the Lord’s greatness with me; let us exalt his name together.”
During Vacation Bible School (VBS) we were able to teach 30 infants/toddlers, 112 preschoolers, and 429 elementary students about Jesus. That’s 571 kids who heard the stories of Jesus welcoming children to him, the woman at the well, Jesus and Nicodemus, and Jesus teaching about worry in the Sermon on the Mount.
We had over 300 volunteers assisting in everything from welcoming parents in the door to cleaning, decorations, registration, bible teaching, games, crafts, snacks, worship, and more! We are so thankful to our 2025 VBS Director Team and our Leadership Team who put in countless hours even months before to make sure everything ran smoothly. There are so many to thank but special shout-outs to Ann Hadde, Lana Fought, and Kristia Wachtman for leading this year’s charge!
This year we set up our missions rotation to highlight a different local mission partner each day so the kids could learn about places right here in Findlay and Hancock County in which they can show the love of Jesus. Monday was Women’s Resource Center and we collected diapers, Tuesday was CHOPIN Hall and we collected cereal and jelly, Wednesday was Habitat for Humanity and we collected contractor pencils, and Thursday was City Mission and we collected salt, pepper, and spices. Together we collected 6,547 items to be donated to these amazing partners! Throughout the week we also collected monetary donations that will be split evenly between our local partners. This year we met and exceeded our goal with $2145.69 which allowed the kids to see Pastor Josh and our Next Gen Director Justin Bower get pied in the face!
We are so thankful to our congregation for the support in prayer, time, and donations. VBS is only possible because we have a congregation that cares about the Next Generation and wants to continue to pass the light of Jesus on. Psalm 78: 4 states “We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.”
Thank you to everyone who participated in VBS in some way and if you would like to check out more of our children’s ministry, known as Kidway, visit this link: https://www.gatewayepc.org/children or contact our office and ask for a Kidway staff.
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