Bartlett’s Living Lord Church teaches compassion during VBS week
Living Lord Lutheran Church in Bartlett hosted a successful vacation Bible school for the church and community June 16-20.
At “Compassion Camp VBS: Changing the World With Lovingkindness,” 36 children (prekindergarten to sixth grade), and 27 youth and adult volunteer leaders took part daily in Bible stories, music, yoga, crafts, and other activities.
Living Lord’s interim pastor, the Rev. Mark Sundberg, provided daily spiritual encouragement, and the VBS team and kids were excited to also receive a visit from the church’s new pastor, the Rev. Kristian Johnson, whose ministry at the church began shortly after VBS week.
In addition to participating in fun, Bible-centered lessons and activities focused on understanding and caring for self and others, the children participated directly in local and global mission work.
The local outreach activity involved collecting food, diapers, and baby wipes for the Hanover Township Food Pantry. The children’s families and the VBS leaders donated items, and later in the week, the kids and supervising adult leaders visited nearby neighbors to collect their donations.
All told, the children collected five boxes of food (70 pounds) from the neighborhood and six boxes of food, three large boxes of diapers, and diaper wipes from their own donations (weighing in at 75 pounds), for a total of 145 pounds.
For the global-mission component, the VBS kids and volunteer adult and youth leaders were encouraged to bring in small donations throughout the week: pennies on Monday, nickels on Tuesday, dimes on Wednesday, quarters on Thursday, and dollar bills on Friday.
Together, they collected $228.16 for Lutheran Disaster Response, which assists people all over the world who have been affected by disasters.
“There are opportunities all around us to spread compassion and lovingkindness,” said Steve Ricci, VBS director. “We need to be aware of when God is calling us and counting on us to extend ourselves to others.”
Another highlight of the week was an ice cream social, held Wednesday evening. Open to all VBS families and the Living Lord Church congregation, the event was designed as an intergenerational time of fellowship, with ice cream and games.
Engaging a large number of volunteer leaders was key to the week’s success. “We are very blessed as a congregation to have so many people with varied skill sets come together to create this unique and impactful faith-encouraging experience for the children. And of course, it is a fulfilling time for the volunteers, who get to witness the excitement in the kids as they learn about Jesus,” said Mary Ellen Ricci, VBS co-director.
Living Lord Lutheran Church, 1044 Congress Dr., offers two worship services each Sunday. In addition to youth and family ministries, the church has music ministries for children, youth, and adults, with varying styles and opportunities. The church does outreach and service activities both within the congregation and in the local community. It also sends mission teams to assist people affected by disasters in different regions of the country, in addition to supporting global missions to help people in need. Learn more about Living Lord Lutheran Church at livinglordlutheran.org. Living Lord Church is a congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and welcomes all to participate in its community of faith.