Connecting Faith and Life
Meet Ana Melendez. Ana teaches VBS in lots of ways . . . as a national and state leader/trainer for our Spanish materials, and by teaching VBS on mission trips and in her own church in the Chicago area. We asked Ana to share some of her favorite stories. Read on . . .
“While in Guatemala, our team went to this town called Guazacapán. Here we worked and spread the gospel with more than 350 kids. It was honestly really amazing to see over 350 kids singing along to songs from The Big Apple Adventure in Spanish and how they even followed the choreography and steps. On that specific day, between the women and kids, 30 of them made the amazing decision to accept Christ as their personal Savior, and many more lives were impacted at this event.
“Our VBS back at home was held June 13-17. In my adult VBS class on Wednesday, the day of evangelism, this young man came to my class and he was a totally new face and person to the church. He was putting a great deal of attention to the class and seemed very intrigued. When I asked who wanted to accept Jesus to come into their lives and hearts, this new face immediately responded to the call of the Lord, and he, on the day of evangelism, became a son of God. I asked the class to come to the front and welcome this new believer to the family of God. It was amazing to see the ladies from the church take this total stranger and give him hugs, advice, and words of encouragement on what it really means to become a Christian. Praise the LORD for the miraculous ways he works in people’s lives.
“It was also so nice to see Camila, a 5-year old-girl who came to VBS with her older sister and brother. Camila came early every single day, and she waited at the door of the church for her teacher. She didn’t want to miss any of the Bible studies of the week. For Camila, music was fun, games were fun, snack she enjoyed them, but in Bible Study, I am really sure that the Lord touched Camila’s life in a wonderful way.”
Thanks, Ana, for letting us tell your story. Connecting faith and life . . . what’s your favorite Big Apple story?
Our Multi-housing ministry held VBS with a lady excepting Christ as her Savior in the adult class and a 10 year old girl who we later baptized in a “new horse trough” at our VBS Block Party…One of our 12 year old boys accepted Christ, but we want to follow him a little closer and allow him to go through some more information before he is baptized. Praise the Lord for a great VBS and songs especially this year. Already looking forward to next year!