Late update to Sunday morning

I am getting these posts out of order but I meant to briefly recap Sunday morning.

We have four routes designated with colors. We have Green, Blue, Red and Yellow.

 Today was Mother's Day which meant that there were quite a few kids unavailable for one reason or another to come. We still had a great run with the following being the attendance on the buses: Green route had 20, Blue had 7, Red had 14 and Yellow had 24.

The Sunday School teachers all did a great job.  Looking forward to next week already!

A disgusting game by Bro. Caleb Dillon

 

 

Bus Driver Push Night / Slideshow

Last night we had a fantastic service and before the choir sang we had a big push to recruit new drivers for the bus ministry.  We talked about the bus ministry and some of the really neat things that are happening right now.

One of the donated cookies

One of these things is that Sis. Rebecca Cowen was in a bakery earlier this week and saw some bags of cookies under the counter.  She asked what they were and when told that they were day old cookies she said she wanted to buy all that he had.  The man was taken aback and asked what she wanted them for.  She began to explain about the church and the bus and the man GAVE her 7 bags of cookies to give away on the bus.  In addition he told her to come back EVERY FRIDAY and he would let her have all of the day old cookies.  God is SO good.

Also, Sis. Denice Zamudio who is a Holy Ghost Rider and 15 years old has been teaching a young lady on the bus a bible study.  Brenda, the girl she is teaching, came last Sunday night and RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST!  Following another bible study she now wants to be baptized and any day now she is going to come and be baptized in Jesus name.  Who but God can tell what kind of an impact Denice has and will make by her dedication?

This is just one of many stories that could be told about our bus workers.  They ALL have shown an incredible burden and love for the bus kids.

 Following the push we then we played the following slideshow and we had a great response.  Following the service we had five people talk to us about wanting to drive.  THANK YOU JESUS!!!!

We are so excited.  Once these amazing people finish the training and testing they can help shoulder the burden of driving AND as soon as a new bus comes online they will be ready to step right in!

Thank you to everyone that made it such a success and to all the amazing people who stepped up to the call!  Words cannot express how thankful we are for what God is doing.

The soundtrack to the following song is beloved by the kids we pick up for church and they consistently ask us to play it for them so I thought it was appropriate to use.

Click on the slideshow below to start and double-click to play full screen...

New Jumper Purchase!

We just purchased a jumper / bounce house for our Sunday School.  It is a used but nice 15' x 15' (I think) jumper we found on Craigslist.  We are going to use it in part to occupy the time that the kids have to spend at the church during the double routes runs.  We will also be able to use it for Family Days and any other special occasions.

From the side

From the front

Inside

40 Bus Kids and Parents Have Received the Holy Ghost In 2014!

We have had some absolutely unbelievable things happen with the our bus ministry.  God had blessed it unbelievably and we are finally seeing some of the things that we had always hoped and prayed would happen.

In 1 Corinthians 3:6-9, Paul speaking, said, "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.  Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building."

We are finding this to be so true... one plants the seed, another waters the seed but only God can give the increase.

Every single Saturday our bus workers visit the kids of our city, trying to make sure the ones that have come before come back and trying constantly to get new ones to attend.  They are doing an amazing job and it is so exciting to see how much of a burden our Holy Ghost Riders are getting for the kids they pick up.  This is the seed being planted.

Over the past year or so our pastor has been in a deep season of prayer that has slowly been communicated to our church as a whole. Just about any time of the day or night that you come by the auditorium you will find someone there praying now.  The burden of the bus ministry has been transmitted to the church and much of the prayer that goes up is for the work that is going on with the bus ministry.  This is the seed being watered.

Since the first of the year we have been in an amazing revival with an amazing man of God, Bro. Cody Marks.  While we had a mom and a boy get the Holy Ghost and another whole family get baptized (see past posting for additional information) through the bus we still hadn't seen the outpouring of the Holy Ghost we so badly wanted.  In January, 2014, this all changed.

It started one Sunday night which a power move of God in one of our services. There were people around the front and we were all praying when suddenly we heard the excited and strident sound of Bro Marks screaming in the mic,  "She got it!  She got the Holy Ghost!  We just had one of the bus kids get the Holy Ghost!"

The first 4 filled with the Holy Ghost in 2014

The rush of bus workers to the spot was awesome but even more so was that before we could get there, another bus kid had received the Holy Ghost!  Jenae was the first, followed closely by Asia and then by Billy and then by little Crystal (not to be confused with big Crystal who received the Holy the next week).

4 bus kids getting the Holy Ghost in one night!  God was moving!

Jenae's brother Danny received the Holy Ghost the next night and it seems like nearly every service that goes by another one receives the Holy Ghost.

These kids are brought by the bus workers in their own vehicles on Sunday nights and that is when many of them are receiving it... it is so neat to see the impact that these young people are having.

Sunday School Holy Ghost Service

We also had some special Holy Ghost services with Bro. Marks with our Sunday School kids.  We had all of the classes come together with the exception of the youngest class and had some brief preliminaries and then Bro. Marks began to speak.  Just as he was beginning, a young girl in the audience that had only visited one time began to become obviously moved and as he began to speak she began crying.

When the stage was set, Bro. Marks called up everyone that wanted the Holy Ghost and had Mia (the girl referred to) come up to the front.  He said that there was about to be a move of the Holy Ghost and that it was going to begin with her.  He laid his hands on her and in seconds she began to speak in other tongues.  Shortly afterward, THIRTEEN KIDS HAD BEEN FILLED WITH THE HOLY GHOST!

Two weeks later we had another service in which NINE MORE KIDS RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST!

In total, to this point we have had 40 kids, parents and relatives from the bus that have received the Holy Ghost and several have been baptized.  We are SO excited and believe that this is ONLY the beginning.

Our bus workers are currently having a bi-weekly bible study for the kids that have received the Holy Ghost and are taking turns teaching it.  It is so neat to see how quickly they are maturing in the work of God.

Pray for us that it continues.  Just last week we switched our bus routes from running each bus one time each Sunday to running the two large buses TWICE each Sunday and effectively doubling the number of kids we can pick up.  This involves a lot more work and dedication from the bus workers and drivers but we believe that God is going to bless the work and continue to pour out his blessing.

Thank you Jesus!