Week 1: Johnson Ferry Baptist, Bridge Christian, Crestwood Church, Concord Baptist, South Community Church, & Loudon Co. Association

Johnson

If you ask us who we are, We are Johnson, and we know it! What an amazing week to kick off Bible Club Johnson! All the way from Georgia, we had a group from Johnson Ferry come to town and bring all the fun and hype to Bible Club. Every team member made it his or her mission to be the hands and feet of Jesus for these kids, and they did a great job. The kids at club got to hear and see many classic Bible stories, including the Prodigal Son. Crafts station was a huge hit, too, with several crafts the kids got to wear. There were salvation bracelets and cool decorated visor hats all across club! Song station brought so much hype with classic Bible club songs and various others, including YMCA. And there were some very interesting games of soccer going on at games. And the kids weren’t the only ones hearing about Jesus. On several occasions, the team stopped, prayed, and shared the gospel with community members. One moment that really sticks out from this week was Tuesday; we had an older boy who had never been to club before and was very shy and timid. But by the end of the week, he couldn’t wait to come to club and experience not only fun and excitement but also the love of Christ. You couldn’t have asked for a better start to Bible Club 2024. Thank you so much, Johnson Ferry, for an amazing week!

- Kameron

Rosamond

This first week at Rosamond was great! Thank you, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, for a great start to the summer! Our week high was 27 kids! We also had 12 kids on Monday, which may seem like a low number of kids, but there were many kids for the first day of Bible Club! Everyone got to be one-on-one with the kids and learned about Jesus! The kids had a fun time in all the stations this week. The kids stayed engaged in the Bible story and loved all the crafts. The kids learned about Jesus and could tell me what they had learned in Bible Story that day. Johnson Ferry did an amazing job of ensuring that people of all ages could understand the Bible's story. All of the kids loved the craft station this week! They made salvation bracelets, foam sun visors, and some really cool cross necklaces. Games were a great station for all of the Bible Club kids. They enjoyed playing games like Limbo, Sharks, and Minnows. The older girls loved playing jump rope! Overall, it was a great week, and all the Rosamond kids had fun at Bible Club. I would like to thank Johnson Ferry again for coming to Street Reach and making this such an amazing week to start the summer! Can't wait for the rest of the summer!

- Jae, Dory, and John 

Whittier

Week 1 of bible club here at Street Reach Memphis kicked off with South Community Church from Tulsa, Oklahoma. We couldn’t have asked for a more love-filled week at Whittier. Our high for the week was 57 kids, and a total of 86 different kids stepped onto Bible Club Whittier within 5 days! The Lord worked in more ways than we could possibly imagine. Throughout the week, the kids learned many bible stories, such as splitting the Red Sea and The Resurrection story. Over at games, the older boys competed in relay races, and the littles played duck, duck, goose. South Community had the opportunity to go to the laundromat in the afternoon and invited a family to Bible Club. Two boys were dropped off at Bible Club, Whittier, the next day. They had so much fun that they didn’t want to go home when their mom arrived. On Friday, that same mom sang Lord, I lift your name on high for all 57 kids at bible club dismissal. Through this, everyone couldn’t help but witness the Lord’s abundance of grace and mercy. What I thought was so sweet this week was watching team members on SCC slowly connect with kids and fall in love with them. I can’t thank SCC enough for the love they poured into the kids at Whittier. 

“The rich and the poor meet together; The Lord is the maker of them all.”  Proverbs 22:2

- Jo & Wes

Leahy’s

Serving alongside Crestwood Baptist Church this week at Leahy’s was a blessing! We kicked off summer 2024 with a bang! Our highest number for the week was twenty kids at bible club! Every child left club with hearts full of love and minds full of the gospel!! Every station was full of smiles, laughs, and tons of energy! In Bible Story, they learned about kindness, trusting in Jesus, and how to love one another. They let the kids use their Bibles to find the bible verses! Throughout the week, the kids had different bible verses to remember. Such as John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that who so ever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” It warmed our hearts getting to hear our kids say bible verses at club every day! Crafts was a huge hit this week, and the kids asked for extra time to complete their amazing crafts! They made hearts of their hands, decorated a flowerpot and planted flowers, made crosses out of tissue paper, tie dye hearts out of coffee filters, and friendship bracelets. Songs were making noise throughout club all week long! They sang songs about being wonderfully made and God’s amazing power. Also, they had intense games of hot potato with all age groups! The games station was full of smiles, sweat, and sun! Duck, duck, goose, sharks and minnows, parachute games, and soccer were the huge hits of the week! Thank you again to the wonderful people who came and loved our kids this week!

- Mackenzie & Judy

National

It was so exciting to get Bible Club started this summer! The kids were ready to come back out to learn about Jesus and have LOADS of fun! Shoutout to everyone from Concord Baptist Church for making the trip all the way from Alabama to dedicate another week to National and our families. We had 57 different kids come throughout the week, and we cannot wait for even more to come as the weeks continue. The kids danced from Songs all the way to Games, singing new songs and oldies, such as “Priceless Treasure.” Undoubtedly, the kids were told how loved, special, and known they were by God. And then, at Games, the kids played some of their favorites, like Duck Duck Goose, Categories, soccer, Jump the Creek (long jump for the older boys!), and tag, to name a few. The crafts and Bible story stations went hand-in-hand as the kids created lions for Daniel and the Lion’s Den, Joseph’s coat, crosses, and so much more! The kids were very proud and excited about their creations, and it was really encouraging hearing the kids talk about how they are children of God and can always rely on Him. We are so proud of our kids and their continual growth. Seeing them get so excited to see each other and have so much contentment and peace at Bible Club is special! The summer is just starting, and we cannot wait to see what more the Lord will do! We do not want to take a single day for granted. “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm‬ ‭118:23-24‬ ‭ESV 

- Kelsey & Olivia 

Jackson

We had such a wonderful first week at Bible Club Jackson. We had a high of twenty-three kids, and they all had so much fun! The Johnson Ferry team did so well kicking off the summer for Street Reach with some fun parachute games for the littles and soccer games for the older boys. Through the cross necklaces, caps, and salvation bracelet crafts Ferry provided for the kids, they had fun making them and learned more about Jesus Christ. At songs, we danced our hearts out from playing Little Sally Walker, freeze dance, and conga lines. At bible stories, the kids learned about Nicodemus and what it means to be born again, the prodigal son, how much our Father loves us, and many more. It was so sweet to see the team get so close with the kids as the week went on. All the hugs, piggyback rides, and silly dances made the kids feel so loved and even touched my heart. We are sad to see Johnson Ferry leave the first week but are so blessed they were the ones to start this summer off so well for us. Through your prayers, we are excited to see numbers grow at Jackson and to be able to spread the Word to not only the kids but everyone in the community.     

- Ben & Brooklyn

Kendrick

Week 1 at Kendrick was a fun, successful experience with South Community Church. Their loving, Christ-like attitudes were so evident throughout this entire week. They were very prepared to minister to these kids and were so intentional with building long-lasting relationships. Personally, I enjoyed that South Community had hand-written letters for the children, which helped build those relationships with the community. Also, the inclusion of relay races, double dutch, and a different take on “Duck, Duck, Goose,” which was called “Monkey Monkey Tiger,” where you make monkey noises and tiger noises, these Bible Club ideas were a phenomenal way to keep the kids engaged and was so much fun. Another great thing was the well-planned bible stories that were presented and taught with detail that went along with the craft for the day (this really engaged the children). Not to mention the amazing crafts, including salvation bracelets, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abindigo coloring sheets, and Moses coloring sheets. It has been an honor to serve alongside South Community, and I would love to see them again next year. Please keep Street Reach ministries and all of the volunteers in your prayers, as summer is just now kicking off. We are so excited for the upcoming weeks and can not wait for what God has in store for Street Reach, the volunteering Church, and most importantly, the Bible Club kids. 

Isaiah 58:12

“Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.”

- Lucas

Pope

What an amazing start to our summer at Pope! This week, Loudon County brought the fun at Bible Club with Bible stories, crafts, music, and games. With a high of twenty-seven kiddos, we saw so many returning faces and many new ones! We started the week with a rainy day, but that did not stop us from having all the fun! We danced and sang in the rain until it was time to dismiss routes! At Bible story throughout the week, we learned about kindness through a puppet show, the importance of prayer, the importance of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection (where we shouted “Hosanna!” as loud as we possibly could!), and so much more!! At crafts, the week's highlight was making toss-and-catch game sets, hand-held fans, and potting plants! I cannot wait to see how the kids' flowers grow throughout the summer!! Music brought all of the fun with songs such as “The Fruit of the Spirit,” “King of the Jungle,” “Church Clap,” “I Thank God” and so many more! They even did karaoke and freeze dance, which was a huge hit, especially with the older boys! Games brought laughter that could be heard all across club! They did parachute games, obstacle courses, soccer, and so much more! Gracie and I could not have asked for a better team full of love, intentionality, and passion to kick off the summer with!! We cannot wait for what week 2 has to offer!

- Emma & Gracie

Treadwell

What an amazing week at Treadwell this week! We saw God moving every single day! Thank you so much to Johnson Ferry Baptist Church for coming all the way from Georgia to love and serve this community. The team came in with the attitude and heart to meet the kids where they were and give them a fun and safe environment to play and learn about Jesus. We had a high of 34 this week, thanks to God’s sovereignty. This group of middle schoolers was excited each and every day to see these kids and missed them when they weren’t there. One of my favorite things to witness this week was all the kids singing about how God is their superhero at songs. Even the kids who didn’t love dancing and singing joined in on this song, and it was just a beautiful moment to hear the team and kids singing praises to the Lord.  The kids had an amazing time making visors, cross necklaces, and salvation bracelets. This team taught the kids about salvation, being a good friend, and that God never gives up on us. They related these stories in ways the kids could understand, and I think they gained much insight. I cannot wait to see how much they grow throughout the summer. Until next time, TREADWELL, don’t forget that we love you, God loves you, and there is nothing you can do to change that! 

- Jess