This evening after our grand finale show to mark the end of VBS, we had some time to mingle with the parents of the kids. I got to talk with a guy who had recently moved here from Japan to do research at NYU. His two little children participated in the VBS. After chatting about work and family for a bit, we got to talking about spiritual things and he told me that he and his family are Buddhist but that his daughter says Jesus is her God. He didn’t seem to mind this but was actually very interested in Jesus himself. He said he had gone to a Catholic kindergarten as a child. He had some familiarity with the stories from the Bible and mentioned the story of Jesus’ birth. I suggested he might want to read the book of Luke to learn more about Jesus’ birth and life as well as his message. I then grabbed the associate pastor of Ascension Church and connected him with my Japanese friend. He had a good time talking with him and is planning to follow up.
It was so neat to get to see how God is using this VBS to reach people who have had very little – if any – exposure to the gospel.
Thanks again for all your prayers. We look forward to returning to Atlanta tomorrow and seeing you all soon!
– Ben
