VBS Update

It's already Wednesday and Vacation Bible School is going great! The kids are all having a great time singing, playing, and doing crafts! All of the voulenteers are very worn out, but we're excited that our church is able to provide this oppritunity for the children of Richmond Hill! Tomorrow and Friday will be our last two days! On Sunday morning, we will have a presentation of pictures and singing during the 11 o'clock service at RHUMC! Be sure not to miss it!

Thank yall so much for the continued prayers and support that we have recieved over the course of the week!

From the Hilltop,
Hunter Odom
hunter2444@coastalnow.net
Romans 8:28

Vacation Bible School 2008

Today was the big day that RHUMC has been leading up to for a few months. At 9AM this morning, the doors of the Sanctuary at RHUMC were opened to our community for our Annual Vacation Bible School! This year's theme is BEACH PARTY, SURFIN' THROUGH GOD'S WORLD. For the past month, we have all been working to register kids, make decorations, and plan activities. All of our hard work truly paid off this morning when we had an attendance of 187 children!

Thanks to a very dedicated leadership team consisting of Dawn Pape, Laura McKay, and Cindy Hardy; our first day of Vacation Bible School went off without a hitch! The Communication and Cooperation between all of our volunteers was truly amazing! All of us banned together this morning to provide a life changing experience for these kids! When asked why we do all this work for VBS, we always remember that this is our church's biggest outreach program of the year! For some of these kids, this is the only "church" that they ever get.

Please keep our Leadership Team and Staff in your prayers for the remainder of the week! Pray especially for these kids and their parents; that their lives will be changed by the encounters that they have had with the Spirit of Jesus this week!

I'll try to give yall an update as the week progresses! Thanks for the prayers!

From the Hilltop,
Hunter Odom
hunter2444@coastalnow.net
Romans 8:28

Sharing the Good News

Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." -Matthew 28:16-20-

As Jesus speaks these words to his disciples on the mountain in Galilee, he commands us to "go and make disciples of all nations". Matthew 26 tells us that it is our job to go into the world and spread the good news that Jesus Saves! As easy as it may sound, sharing the good news is not always easy. In today's "separation of church ans state environment", it is hard to tell others about Christ. Even inviting a friend to church can sometimes seem hard.

Jesus program of missions was 3-fold:
1) Go: This is the hardest part. The hardest part of stepping out in faith is actually getting up and acting. When we see the opportunity to share our faith with a friend, we usually screw it up by refusing to act. Most of the time, we just shrug it off, or make an excuse. If we actually get up and go, everything else seems to fall in place. It may sound intimidating, but this doesn't have to be that hard. It can be as simple as inviting the person to church, praying for them, or telling them about how God has changed your life.
2)Baptize Them: This part is pretty straight forward. A baptism is an outward sign that a person is in love with the Lord. Baptizing them will remind them that they belong to God and that he loves them.
3)Teaching them to obey everything Christ has commanded: This can be brought about by a support system. After they are baptized, they will continue to deal with temptation. A support system is a great tool to helping them avoid falling into sin.

God commands us to make deciples. It's really not that hard once we get up and get started. Once you pass the first step, there's not that much to it! Every time you share Jesus, you run the chance of changing a person's life forever! Once they find Jesus, they will never be the same! The best part is knowing that this person's life was transformed because you shared Jesus with them. That motivation will make you want to share the Gospel with more people! You have the power to change lives! To unleash it, all you have to do is Go.

From the Hilltop,
Hunter Odom
hunter2444@coastalnow.net
Romans 8:28

Exceptional

While at Lake Junaluska, we had the pleasure of attending The Annual Music and Liturgical Arts Week Talent Show. To be perfectly honest, it wasn’t all exactly talent, some of it was actually quite embarrassing. However, there were a few really great acts. In one of the acts, two girls got up on stage and danced to a song called “Exceptional” by Jojo. I’ve never really heard of her or heard any of her music but this song just really stuck out to me. Last night, right before I went to bed, I got on the computer and listened to it again. This song really made me think about a lot of my friends that struggle with acceptance at home, at school, and even at church. I just thought I’d share it, who knows, it may speak to you the way it spoke to me.



From the Hilltop,
Hunter Odom
hunter2444@coastalnow.net
Romans 8:28