HE did it again.
Last night we had our second Big Wednesday of the Summer and God blessed our efforts. At our first Big Wednesday we had 182 attend our service. Last night we had 251 in attendance, 60+ visitors and 27 young people accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.
GOD IS SO GOOD!
To go along with how God has told us to reach teenagers here in the Central Valley we strived to once again KEEP IT SIMPLE.
Here is what we did.
Developed our plan.
We have a giant backyard here at VFA so we decided to invite teenagers to our place and have a Backyard BBQ. We served up some Burgers and Hotdogs. Played Lawn Games like Relay Race, Volleyball, and Watermelon Eating Contest. Our House Band played on an outdoor stage and we gave away two Long Boards.
Now, this all happened after the service of course. To kick off the night we took some time to worship Jesus, then I preached the final week of GOD IS LOVE. (If you have not signed up to get my message notes and you would like them, just send me your email and I’ll shoot them to you.)
Built anticipation.
This was our second BIG Wednesday so as soon as we announced it, the anticipation level was already pretty high because of the last one we did. In order to move the momentum meter to the next level, we sent out hand written post cards to every student in our data-base inviting them to come out. The weekend before the BBQ, we had our interns out in the lobbies with their BIG Wednesday shirts on talking with families and inviting teenagers to the service. We put a BBQ station (grill, umbrella, table, and an intern wearing a cooking apron) in the middle of our Church Courtyard so people would walk up and we could talk to them about what we were doing.
Equipped our people.
To equip our people we did the usual things like give them bands and invite cards to pass out to their friends, but the biggest thing we did for this service was equip our students spiritually. Each day our interns and team members spent 15 to 30 minutes in prayer. Praying over the students, their friends and speaking faith over the invitation process and responses our students would get once they asked a friend to come with them.
Last night was another strong step to where God is calling us to go. I am honored and humbled work alongside so many incredible teenagers and adult volunteers that want nothing more than to see HIS name lifted up.
I am so proud of our teenagers here at VFA. So many of them have not only accepted Jesus as their Savior, they want their friends to experience His love and grace as well. Last night they brought their friends, worshipped Jesus openly and walked up to the altar with the friends they brought with them as their friend accepted the Grace of God.
HE is doing something big here in the Central Valley and I can’t believe I get to be a part of it.
