Despairing child reminded of God’s love through VBS

Vacation Bible School is a place for children to discover new friends, become involved in church, and learn valuable, lifelong lessons about God. But for one young girl, it provided a reminder that the love and strength of Jesus can bring peace to a broken heart.

Thanks to the outreach of Daniel Darling, a Master of Divinity student at The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the youngster heard the message of God’s comfort and consolation, and re-committed her life to Christ during a VBS class this summer at North Oaks Baptist Church in Spring, Texas.

During an opening session, North Oaks’ senior pastor, Caleb Fleming, a Southwestern Seminary graduate, presented the Gospel to the full group of children who attended, and he invited them to talk to their crew leaders if they wanted to hear more about the Gospel. Darling, Fleming, and youth pastor Jesse Hammonds, an online M.Div. student at Southwestern Seminary, then headed to the church fellowship hall to speak one-on-one with children who wanted to learn how to accept Christ and be saved.

“Overall, we had 14 kids accept Christ as their Savior, and I got to share the Gospel with three kids who accepted Christ as their Savior,” says Darling.

“There was another kid who had gone through some tough life situations at the beginning of the year,” he recalls. “She did not know if she could still trust in God has her Savior. I was able to reassure her of God’s love for her, even when she doubted God.”

The girl had many questions for Darling. She explained to him that she was a member of another church and believed in the power of God’s Word, but that this year had been very challenging for her.

“She told me that she had been having very bad thoughts about God, that maybe God was not a loving God, maybe He was not powerful,” Darling says. “She began to cry as she explained her feelings toward God.”

Then she shared with Darling that her uncle had committed suicide.

“She was very close with her uncle and did not understand why he killed himself,” Darling says. “I agreed with her that death is hard, especially suicide. I began to share the Gospel with her, because any hope for comfort is found there.”

Darling spent the remaining time with her focusing on God’s love for her. “I explained that there are times that we might question God because of things that happen in our lives, but when we are questioning God, we need to go back to the Bible,” he says. “God loved us by giving His Son.”

“Her tears and sadness turned to a smile and happiness, and she came back on Sunday for our service,” Darling says. “God had used His Word in her life to bring the comfort that she longed for, and the reassurance that God is a good God.”