As some of you may have heard, the land of Egypt is coming to HBF! During this year’s Vision Conference, the Kingdom Kids hallway and classrooms will transformed into the land of Egypt to tell the story of Joseph’s journey from the prison to palace as seen in Gen. 37-47. While the adults are taking in the teaching and preaching of God’s Word as a whole congregation in the sanctuary, the team from Maple City Baptist in Monmouth, Ill., will be taking on the role of the Egyptians to live out the story of Joseph to our kids. Here are a few things to know about what will be going on with your kids while you are soaking in God’s Word through the week.
What is this for?
The reason that we have a team come in from another church to do all of our children’s classes for this week is so that all of HBF can come together as a whole to hear God’s vision for us as a church for the upcoming year. On a normal Sunday, there are nearly 25 different people working in the children’s ministry between the two services, so in reality we are never truly all together on Sunday to hear the Word at the same time. The Vision Conference is a special time for our church family to come together and hear from God together so that we can all be of one mind and one accord moving into the year.
Who is working with my kids?
The team that is coming from Maple City Baptist is an awesome team of willing servants wanting to invest in your kids. All of the team members that are coming are vetted in the same type of way that we vet our normal children’s workers, so there is no need to worry about the unknown. For as long as I can remember, Maple City has been sending a team down every year to serve our church and there has never been a problem. Todd Franks, the youth pastor at MCBC, is leading the trip this year and he and the team are as excited as we are for the conference.
What is the structure for the kids?
There will be three age groups for the conference: Nursery age for the littlest of our little ones, Toddler age for those who would normally be in our Sonbeams class, and Little Lambs-Mighty Warriors will be taking part in the Egypt festivities throughout the week. MCBC will basically be putting on a Vacation Bible School- style of teaching for the Little Lambs-Mighty Warriors. These kids will be broken into four tribes, or family groups, named Giza, Rosetta, Zoan, and Amarna for the week to learn the story of Joseph. The team from MCBC will dress like Egyptians and will put on drama style skits for the kids to make the story really come to life! Your kids are sure to have a great time and be wanting to come back each session for more fun!
How long does this last?
The team from MCBC will be here for the entirety of the Vision Conference, Sunday-Wednesday. They will take the kids for all sessions including Sunday morning service, Sunday evening service, and Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evening services. They will also have childcare for those who attend the day sessions on Monday and Tuesday. For your child to get the most out of the teaching as well as the most fun try to bring them for as many of the sessions that you can so that all of the teaching makes sense.
Is this for everyone, or just members?
The teaching that goes on in the Kingdom Kids during the Vision Conference is for anyone who would regularly attend Kingdom Kids classes (Newborn-5th Grade). This is for EVERYONE, not just members or regular attendees! Have your kids invite their friends and neighbors, and even invite their parents to come and see what is happening at HBF! The team from MCBC is prepared for as many kids as we can give them so bring them in to join in on the fun of learning about Joseph!
Why is the hallway decorated, and why is everyone dressed so funny?
Like I mentioned before we want to make this as real and exciting for the kids as we can. We have spent many hours transforming the Kingdom Kids into the land of Egypt so take a stroll down the hallway sometime this week to see just what it is that your kids are so excited about. The team from MCBC takes this trip seriously in many ways: First, they want to minister to you the parents; they want you to be able to go and hear from God uninterrupted while not having to worry about what is going on with your kids. Second, they want to minister to your kids; they want your kids to have as much fun as they can throughout this week while also teaching them some awesome stories from God’s Word. As some of you may know, sometimes you have to become a kid at heart to truly minister to them completely. This is why you may see a random Egyptian soldier, or maybe even Pharaoh himself walking through the halls at HBF! This is all done to make the story come to life for your kids!
What can I do to help?
While most of the preparation is finished for this year’s conference don’t forget that you can always help next year. As some of you know, HBF returns the favor to MCBC in November by going and doing the same thing they are doing with our kids during their Vision Conference. If this is something that you would like to be a part of contact Randy Foster at rfoster@hbfcass.org and he can get you connected to this year’s Monmouth team leader. The last thing, and probably the most important thing that you can do to help is to find someone on the team form MCBC and tell them thank you! Shake their hand, give them a hug, whatever it is that you do to show thanks, make sure that you do it. They are here giving their time during a normal workweek ministering to our kids that they do not even know, the least we can do for them is tell them how much we appreciate them. Even if you don’t have kids in the Kingdom Kids make time to tell them thanks; because they are here we are together as a congregation this week and that is reason enough to appreciate what they are doing.
As always, thanks for allowing us the privilege of teaching the Word of God to your little ones! If you have any other questions or concerns about the Vision Conference or about the team coming from Monmouth to do the teaching please feel free to contact me, Jason McGuire, at jasonmcguire88@gmail.com or at 816-729-7896.