And the construction begins!

A few weeks ago our church approved renovation plans for our Children's Ministry space. The intent of the Children's Ministry Renovation is to create a space that is inviting, welcoming, age appropriate for all our children (birth - 4th grade), and a place where all of our children's programs can be in.

The Children's Ministry Renovation is to be completed in several phases. Phase 1 of the renovation is to create a themed space in the hallways that is exciting, welcoming, and teaches our children about God. Our Children's Ministry space will have two themes: Kids Quest Creation Zone and Kids Quest Downtown. In Kids Quest Creation Zone our younger children will see trees, flowers, clouds, butterflies, ladybugs, land animals, and sea creatures - - all the things that God created! Here kids will learn that God created the world & God created me; God loves the world and God loves me!

In Kids Quest Downtown our older children will see that they are a part of a community. Christ calls us to not only follow him, but to also be a part of our faith community so we can share Christ's love to the world around us! Kids Quest Downtown will show the kids that they are a part of God's community and play a special role in that community.

Phase 1 of the renovation began today! It was exciting seeing the construction team prep the walls to be ready for mural painting that will happen in the weeks to come. Below are a few pictures of the construction happening!

We're on the road again!

We've said goodbye to our new friends & we're on the road headed home. We'll call all the parents when we're 30 minutes away from the church.






-Ms. Lauren

How is God Empowering you?

Our campers our doing their morning devotions. They are learning that God empowers us all to do something for the Kingdom of God. What is God empowering you to do?








-LW

Learning how to take what we've learned home

We are in our last worship service at camp together. Pray for our campers as they think about how they can apply what they've learned here at camp while they are at home.




Our camp pastor, James, empowering us to encounter Christ, embrace community, & extend grace while we're at home.

- Ms. Lauren

PASSPORTkids 2012 Day 3 Slide Show

Day 3 - Extending Grace

Yesterday on Day 3 of camp we talked about how we are suppose to extend grace to our community and to the world. The kids learned grace is the unconditional love that God has for us. We don't have to do anything to earn God's love...it's already there, even when we don't deserve it.

Our Bible story for the day was the story of the Good Samaritan. We saw how the Good Samaritan extended grace to the hurt man. The Samaritan gave up his time, supplies, money, and safety to be able to help them man. But because the Samaritan did that, the hurt man was able to have an encounter with Christ be experiencing grace through the Samaritan. We should do the same.

Day 3 of camp was another fun filled day with lots of activities. After Bible Study & recreation this morning, our campers participated in their missions rotation and their campers choice activities. I think the highlight of Day 3 was the Variety Show. We have 2 acts in the Variety Show. First off Sydney Bell did an awesome performance with her poy flags. Then we had several girls come together to sing a song. They called themselves the Cowgirl Cuties!

Below are the videos from the Variety Show performances. I'm working on uploading the slideshow of pictures from Day 3, and will post it soon. It is almost time for the campers to wake up for their last day of camp. We have had a great week at camp and we are looking forward to hugging out parents when we get home!

- Ms. Lauren

Worship Processional

One thing I love about PASSPORTkids! Camp is the intentionality in which they plan worship. They are intentional about including kids in every aspect possible of leading worship. From prayers, to scripture reading, to skits, to leading music. Kids learn that worship is for them, no matter their age. When the campers go home they tend to have a new understanding of worship in their own churches, and they realize that the services they attend at home might be a little different than at PASSPORTkids!, but worship is still for them.

At camp, we begin each worship with a call to worship song and a processional. The processional begins with someone lighting a candle that's on the altar to symbolize that we are inviting Christ's presence to be with us. Watch the video below to hear our call to worship song and see the worship processional.

Now it's time for breakfast. I just heard that they're serving bacon this morning (which is my favorite food!) Gotta run & get in the breakfast line!

- Ms. Lauren

Missions Night Market - Day 2

Last night I was too tired to write more about the day when I posted the slideshow from day two. So now that I've gotten a full night's sleep, I will fill you in on what we learned  yesterday.

On day one we talked about how Life Together means encountering Christ & how others can encounter Christ through us when we're living the way Christ did. Today we have talked about embracing community. We are all apart of our church community and we all have unique roles that we fill within our church community. Some of us make people laugh, some of us are caregivers giving hugs to everyone in our church, some of us like to help lead us in worship by singing or participating in the children's choir, and many of us are involved in the several mission projects at our church.

The scripture we looked at today was Acts 2:45 and Acts 6:1-7 as the first church was choosing leaders to care for their community. We all are an important part of our church community. Sometimes, especially as we get older, it's easy for other things - busy things, fun things - to get in the way of church and seem more important. But being a part of a community where we can grow together, make mistakes together, forgive together, embracing one another - that's what Jesus died and rose for us to do and what he calls us to do. When we Embrace Community, it allows others to Encounter Christ in us. That's what life together is all about.

Last night after worship, we participated in a Missions Night Market. This week we are talking about the country of Malawi and how they need access to clean water and sanitation. During the night market the kids got to experience what a Malawian village might look like. They got to experience food from Malawi, games, school, they learned how important clean water was for the people, and how people made a living. Below are pictures from the Missions Night Market that I didn't have a chance to include in yesterday's slide show.

The kids are now slowly waking up for Day 3 of camp. Continue to pray for us as we continue to grow and learn and experience Life Together!

- Ms. Lauren

PASSPORT 2012 Day Two Video

Day 2 Happenings

Day two of camp is in full swing! We have had a blast today meeting new friends and finding friends that we met last year.

One highlight of today is that Mr. Randy, our youth minister, came to camp! You should have seen it when all the kids saw him, it was like a celebrity had just come to camp.

Today in Bible study we have been talking about embracing community and how we fit in to our church community and other communities we're apart of.

Today several of our girls tried out for the variety show and will be preforming tomorrow night! Don't worry, I'll take lots of pics and video for all the parents. :) Tonight we're going to a Malawian Missions Night Market where we'll learn lots of things about the culture  there. The kids are really excited about this night of camp.

We're about to head to our worship service, but I wanted to post a few photos from today so far. I'll post the slide show later tonight after the kids are in bed.

- Ms. Lauren

Camp Day One Wrap Up

Camp has gotten off to a wonderful start! After arriving to camp, putting our suitcases in our cabins, we quickly went to the pool for a swim. The kids loved diving in the cool water and going down the awesome water slide. Once we had a chance to cool down in the pool, it was time to go to our Opening Celebration. At the Opening Celebration we met the camp staff, played some silly games, and found out who our Bible Study Groups would be for the rest of the week.

During our first Bible Study session, we learned about the story from Luke 24:13-35. In this passage two of Jesus' disciples were heading to Emmaus three days after Jesus had died on the cross. As that were walking a man came up to them and began talking to them. Later that evening when the disciples and the stranger were sitting down for dinner the disciples realized that the man that had been walking with them was none other than Jesus. All day they had encountered Jesus and didn't even realize it.

Tonight at our first worship service our camp pastor, James, continued to talk about this story. He told us that Christ is all around us and there are many opportunities for us to encounter Christ, we just have to pay attention. He challenged us to think of ways we can encounter Christ while we're at camp and ways we can be like Christ so someone else can encounter Christ.

It's been a fun and exciting day. We are all not tucked into bed and falling asleep. (I actually hear someone snoring as I type this. I can't believe they fell asleep so quickly.) Below is a slide show of pictures from today. We hope you enjoy!

- Ms. Lauren

We made it safely to camp!

We safely made it to camp & the kids immediately ran to the gaga courts to play gaga ball. The returning kids are quickly teaching the new kids how to play. We are excited to get our first day of camp going!

- Ms. Lauren

We are off to camp!

We have loaded up 20 campers & 3 adults, and we are currently headed to PASSPORTkids Camp in Crossville, TN. (I am writing this from my comfy bus seat. Don't you just love technology?!)

Over the next 4 days we will be learning how God wants us to spend "Life Together" in community with others. The kids will participate in Bible studies, recreation games, canoeing, swimming, cooking, and worship. Pray for us as we travel, and pray that the kids (and adults) encounter Christ this week as we learn & have fun together.

I'll be posting pictures & updates regularly. Check back with us soon to keep up on all the fun we're having!



-Ms. Lauren

Update from India Trip

Here's the article about India that was published in our church's monthly newsletter. 

                I'm not sure how I can summarize everything I experienced on my trip to India in one newsletter article, but I'm going to try. I had the privilege to go to India with our first mission team. Our task was to teach at a Missions Conference on the topic of leadership. The Missions Conference was hosted by India Baptist Theological Seminary, and the conference attendees were both seminary students and local pastors and ministers.

                The conference was a wonderful success. We had over 100 people attend, and all of our mission team members did a wonderful job teaching. My favorite part of the conference, and the part of the trip that touched me the most, was meeting the students and ministers. It was amazing to hear story after story about how each individual had overcome challenges so that they could attend school and minister to their communities back home. Their determination to share Christ's love all over India made me realize how much we take for granted here in America. These women and men have faced adversities I can't even imagine just to follow their heart and do what God has led them to do.

                While we were in India, we were able to visit children at the Precious Village, an orphanage where children all over India have come to live. We also were able to take a river boat tour where lots of families lived along side. While we visited the children and the local families, we were able to share the gifts that you all had collected. We gave out candy, crayons, stickers, toys, toothbrushes, and handmade knitted washcloths just to name a few. Each time we gave someone an item that you donated, we made sure to let them know they were getting this because Christ loves them. It made our hearts leap with joy to see these children and families so excited and so thankful for what they had been given.

                As I write this article, our second mission team has safely landed back in Atlanta. They too had a successful week of medical clinics and were able to help hundreds of people who do not have easy access to medical care.

                Thank you to our whole church family for donating supplies, encouraging us as we prepared for this journey, and for praying for us while we were away. We know that not only hearts were changed in India, but our hearts were changed for the better as well.

1793 to 2012...A Look Back to Take a Journey Forward

Our Pastor, Bill, myself, and several members of our church will be traveling next week to India on a mission trip. We have created a blog where we will be posting updates from the trip at http://mariettafbcindia.blogspot.com/. Below is a recent post I made as I begin preparing for the trip.

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 A week from now, I will be in the midst of traveling to India. (Okay, I almost flipped out when I re-read that sentence. I need to start packing asap!) I’ve started reflecting on the journey myself and several other church members will be taking. What new things will we see when we arrive in India? What new things will we taste? What will we experience?

These questions are similar questions anyone has asked when they began preparing to go to a place that is foreign to them. These same questions are probably the ones that William Carey and his family thought at they prepared to be the first Baptist Missionaries that traveled to India.

Two hundred and nineteen years ago William Carey, his wife, and four kids set sail for a new land. They weren’t going to try to settle a new territory like the British did to America. The Careys were setting out on a different type of journey. The Careys had one main goal while going to India: They wanted to share Christ’s love to a place that had never heard of Jesus.

I can’t help but to think about the differences in my journey to India and the Careys’ journey there. While I’ll be taking a little over a day and a half to travel to my final destination, in 1793 it took the Careys five months on a boat to get to India. A result of vaccines and other preventative medicines, I am pretty confident that I will be able to go the entire length of my trip without getting sick. That wasn’t the case for the Careys. William Carey’s 5 year old son, Peter, got sick with sever fevers and died soon after they arrived. Peter’s death from sickness wasn’t the only one. Several other people who joined the Careys on their mission in India also died from diseases.

While I’ll be taking ten days out of my life to travel to India to teach at the India Baptist Theological Seminary, the Careys changed their whole lives when they moved to India. They devoted themselves to showing the people of India that God loves them and has a place for them in God’s Kingdom. When the Careys went to India there were no Christians in the country. Now today, because of the work of William Carey and so many others, I am now able to travel to a Baptist Seminary in India and help train seminary students and pastors to continue spread Christ’s love to their people.

I am excited for the journey that I will embark on next week. My prayer is that as I have a passion for the people of India just like William Carey did, and that God will use me and open my heart to every person I meet along my journey.

Now on to packing….

Written by Rev. Lauren Waggoner. Rev. Waggoner is the Minister to Children at First Baptist Church of Marietta, GA.