Souls Saved - Makes Everything Worthwhile

Last week was a stressful week. Trying to pray and prepare for each day's lesson for Vacation Bible School, in addition to work, my husband's business, my sick sister, my 11 year old nephew, a car in need of repair, and trying to spend some time with my husband who just returned from Kosova after a two-week mission trip, was almost most than I could handle.

But now the count is in, and I rejoice. Some 30 kids prayed this week to receive Jesus as their savior. Several parents got saved in the closing ceremonies. We had an average of over 400 each day, and got to teach little ones and older ones as well about the saving grace of God. We had fun, music, games, crafts, refreshments, lesson time, and for the older kids, a time of hearing the Gospel in the auditorium. I personally had the privilege of counseling numerous children about salvation, questions about baptism, the rapture, and even some off-the-wall questions (you never know for sure what's going through these kids' minds!).

But I did get to lead 5 boys and girls to the Lord, and that made everything worth it. There's nothing else quite like seeing that lightbulb go off in a child's mind and hearing the sweet prayer of repentance and asking of forgiveness and salvation that comes out of a child's mouth. And we counselors are trained not to push or prod, and if there's any doubt that the child does not fully understand, we coax them to keep thinking about it and come back to us when it finally clicks with them. But when they're ready, they're ready.

I remember several years ago having a rather rambunctious young man in my class who was giving me trouble daily. I was constantly having to correct him, make him quiet down and stop being so rowdy. He was all about having a good time, chowing down on refreshments, and running wild. On about the third day, he stopped long enough to actually listen to the Gospel presentation he heard in the auditorium time and he raised his hand to be counseled. I ended up with him, and looked him in the eye and asked him why he had raised his hand.

He said, "I need to get saved."

I suspected he was just curious about what went on when kids raised their hands and went off with the counselors, so I said, "that's great, Johnny, but our class is about to go to the gym and we're playing some really great games today. We can talk about this again tomorrow if you'd like.

He grinned and jumped up to leave, but then stopped. He turned around and looked at me with tears in his eyes. I asked, "What's wrong?".

He said,"I don't want to play games."

I said, "Well then, you can go get your ice cream and refreshments."

Again, he cried. He said, "I don't want to play games, and I don't want refreshments. I want to get saved."

I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this kid was ready. After we prayed, and discussed the decision he had just made, I told him that he was now my brother in Christ. With a big grin, he gave me a big hug, and went off to see if he could catch the end of the games time. For the rest of the week, he was a well behaved kid. And everytime he saw me, I'd say "Hi, brother" just to see that big grin come out on his face again.

I love it when the kingdom grows.