A few years ago the members of Lakeside Church made a strategic decision: We will not let the next generation of young people be untouched by the gospel. So we raised some money and built a building. Our students decided to call it The Block.
Yesterday at 7:00 a.m. I rode my bicycle onto the church property. The parking lot of the Block was packed with cars. Three buses sat idling in the driveway. In the basement 123 high school students--and many of their parents--gathered to hear final instructions, such as "How to Flush the Toilet in a House Boat." By 7:30 they were on the buses and off to a week of House Boat Camp.
Last night the Block was full again. This time hundreds of adults and teens gathered to prepare for Blitz. Blitz is Lakeside's Summer Day Camp for kids. Next Monday 1000 children will descend on Lakeside. Four-hundred-fifty volunteers will coach, lead, serve and love those kids while presenting a living, breathing, water-fighting picture of the gospel. It was amazing to see this many people saying, "I will give up a week to serve kids so they can learn to love Jesus."
Meanwhile, up at Shasta Lake, 40 more adults are serving those high school students on a bunch of house boats and ski boats. And the gospel will be proclaimed and lived out again.
Don't despair for the next generation. There are hundreds of people investing in their lives and their faith. If you are one of these investors, Thank You! I'm so proud of what you are giving and how you are giving it. Glory to God.
Praise God from whom ALL BLESSINGS flow!
Posted by: peggy murray | June 15, 2010 at 07:00 AM