“I believe, Mr. Joe, I believe!”

Here's another encouraging article I was able to write recently. This church in the Atlanta area is doing major outreach with The Lamb and The Stranger!!

“I believe, Mr. Joe, I believe!”
Backyard Bible Clubs reach children and their families

Joe had been teaching The Lamb at Backyard Bible Clubs at the same neighborhood in Georgia every summer for the past four years. Many kids came year after year to hear “Mr. Joe” teach, but this was the first year Tommy showed up.

Ten-year-old Tommy was a challenge from the start. He was full of energy, constantly interrupted, and asked irrelevant questions.

“Hold your questions until later, Tommy,” Joe would say. If Tommy got too disruptive for the class of 30 children, Joe would send him to the back to sit with the host. He wasn’t sure whether Tommy really understood the teaching or not.

The same thing went on every night. The fifth night — the night of the important wrap up — Tommy sat at the back again.

After teaching on Jesus’ death and resurrection, Joe challenged the children: “Do you believe? Do you believe what the Bible tells us? Do you believe that Jesus is your Lamb? Do you believe?”

Joe wasn’t expecting a verbal answer, so it surprised him when an excited, young voice called out from the back.

“I BELIEVE! I BELIEVE, Mr. Joe, I BELIEVE!”

Tommy’s voice rang out loud and clear. He had understood the message — and he wasn’t afraid to make it known!

But Tommy wasn’t the only one who got the Bible’s message this summer. More than 100 teachers and volunteers reached out to 600 children of all ages when the Atlanta-area church put on Backyard Bible Clubs at homes in 25 different neighborhoods. Using a carefully developed curriculum refined over five years, the teachers paired The Lamb with creative props and activities to get the message across.

Most of the children who came were unchurched.

“We had always done a Vacation Bible School at our church, but I’ve always wondered why we bring our own kids and teach them what they hear every week,” says Joe, who has served in children’s ministry for 22 years. “Why not go to the neighborhoods and share The Lamb with kids who aren’t part of our church?”

And not only were children reached with the Gospel, but their families as well. This summer, moms and dads “hung out” to hear the teaching. One Hindu dad videotaped the Bible lessons. Two Buddhist grandparents came and asked questions. They each received the book The Stranger on the Road to Emmaus.

“The world is here,” the children’s ministry director, Denise, says of the diverse metropolitan Atlanta area. “We don’t have to get on an airplane to go. It’s already here.”

Andrea, who hosted a club, reports: “One 7-year-old girl comes from a family where the mom is not a believer. She would share the Bible story with the entire family at dinner every night. She even asked her mom if she had ever heard any of the stories before. I am so excited that God is using the Bible club to bring His Word to this family.”

The church encourages the hosts to follow up with the children and their families. In the months that follow, some invite their neighbors to church. Others start Bible studies in their homes. Many continue to answers questions from the children and their families about the Bible and about God.

Bible teacher Joe baptized a girl three years after she attended a club where he taught The Lamb. “She was one of the kids from the neighborhood who did not have a church home,” he says. “After the backyard club, her family started coming to church. We were teaching the fourth- and fifth-graders The Stranger when she accepted Christ and asked me to baptize her. Having been involved in her life, it was special for me to witness her understanding the Gospel.”

He continues: “I am a huge fan of our backyard Bible clubs, and I believe what makes them most successful is The Lamb materials that we are using. Kids want the truth taught. They really want to know who God is. The Lamb is so well put together to teach in a short week like this. You never know who you’re going to touch with it. It may be the 3- to 4-year-olds; it may be the 17-year-old who helps out; or it may be the dad who comes and asks questions.”

Carrie, another volunteer, sums it up this way: “Backyard Bible Clubs is the most outstanding evangelical tool I think I have ever seen!”