Article

Dear Calvary Family,

We are just days away from our biggest outreach event of the year - Calvary’s Vacation Bible School!

This year’s “Highland Games” VBS features an original story of a high-stakes competition for Scotland's crown, where kids will discover what it means to trust in God through a series of truly epic movie adventures and daily rotations of inspiring Bible learning, interactive crafts, tasty treats, exciting games, global missions encounters, and so much more.

I won’t say it’s the “calm before the storm” because nothing is calm around here this week with many volunteers and staff working on setting up rooms, prepping for the different stations, doing administrative work on registrations, practicing the upfront moments, rehearsing music, and dropping off donations. Thank you to each of the 400+ volunteers who are signed up to help make VBS happen! It’s a massive effort and it’s such a joy to see the body of Christ joining together to minister to these hundreds of kids.

There are three ways everyone can help out:  inviting, giving, and praying.

INVITE: There’s still time to help spread the word and invite families to bring their kids! You can find out more and sign up for FREE at CalvaryLife.org/VBS.

GIVE: You can make financial donations to help us purchase items needed for snacks and other supplies that haven’t been donated yet. You can help keep VBS FREE for everyone and support this year’s Penny Project with the Shoemakers - providing camp scholarships for unchurched kids in Portugal - at CalvaryLife.org/Penny.

PRAY: Please be praying for all of our VBS team to be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and with boldness and love for these children and the good news of Jesus Christ! Please be praying for protection over our children as well. Pray for enthusiasm and endurance for those serving throughout an amazing, but long week of high-energy ministry.

We also want to say congratulations to Calvary’s own Marisa Foasberg, Shanti Ernest, and Jenn McAveney, who are newly commissioned Colson Fellows! The Colson Fellows Program is a rigorous nine-month course that takes students on a deep dive into the study of Christian Worldview and its practical applications; it has been described as a “master’s degree in cultural apologetics.” This year's course was led by Jim Bacin & Craig Bryson. We believe that this knowledge is vital for the Church in this cultural moment, to help us understand the times, so we can know how to live "on mission" with faith and courage. The Calvary Church Affiliate Cohort is on hiatus this year, but stay tuned for its return!

May the Lord bless you and keep you,
Eric Wakeling