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This week at Hume Lake and Vacation Bible School at the end of this month may be the two most important evangelism and discipleship weeks of the entire year for our church!

Up at Hume Lake, there are 108 high school students and 83 middle school students from Calvary having an incredible week. The theme verse this year is Psalm 51:10:

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."

Please join us in praying that God would transform hearts, deepen faith, and draw students to himself in the last few days of camp!

Our Hume campers return to Orange County this Saturday, just in time for VBS volunteer training on Sunday, July 19! More than 500 kids in first through sixth grade have already registered for VBS coming up July 27-31, and we expect hundreds more before the week begins.

Would you consider being part of what God is going to do?

There are several ways you can help:

• Pray for every child, family, volunteer, and leader.
  
  
• Serve at VBS. We still have volunteer openings, but the deadline to sign up is this Friday, July 17. (VBS training and lunch is Sunday, July 19, 12:30-2:00 pm. Make-up training option via Zoom on Monday, July 20 at 7:00 pm.) Sign up to Serve
  
  
• Invite the children in your neighborhood, your extended family, or among your friends. VBS is completely FREE, and families can register their kids online at CalvaryLife.org/VBS.
  
  
• Donate needed supplies by picking up a few items during your next grocery trip or ordering directly from our VBS Amazon Wishlist.

No matter your availability or ability, there is a place for you to be part of what God is doing through VBS.

Can one week at Hume Lake or one week of VBS really change a life?

Last week, I shared my own story of praying a prayer of surrender at Hume Lake 35 years ago. Today, let me tell you another story. William was six, maybe seven years old (see what I did there?) when a traveling evangelist came to Santa Ana to hold a series of gospel meetings. One Sunday evening, the evangelist preached at Calvary Church of Santa Ana in our original downtown location on the corner of Sixth and French Streets (near where Hidden House Coffee and the Ebell Club stand today).

As the message concluded, the evangelist invited anyone who wanted to trust in Jesus to come forward and kneel at the altar.

To the preacher's disappointment, only one person walked down the aisle that night.

It was little William.

Barely tall enough to see over the pews, he made his way to the front and placed his faith in Christ.

If the evangelist thought the evening had been a failure, he couldn't have been more wrong.

William "Bill" Rowley's decision to follow Jesus was genuine and lasting. For the next ninety-plus years, Bill faithfully walked with Christ. He influenced countless students as a public school teacher and faithfully served Calvary Church through ministries like Hiking Trips to Mammoth and Guest Helpers service projects. His life became a testimony to the power of God's grace and the ripple effect of one child's decision to follow Jesus.

Who knows what God might do through one child this summer?

The next Bill Rowley could be at Hume Lake this week.
The next Bill Rowley could walk through our doors at VBS.

So let's pray boldly, serve joyfully, invite intentionally, and give generously. God is still in the business of changing lives, one child or student at a time.

Matt Doan
Reach Pastor