Joyful in God – experiened Him in VBS

September 2024
Loran Tang, recruiter and training coordinator of Children Ministry 

Joyful in God – experiened Him in VBS

Our lovely summer is gone. However, God’s work through our summer programs go a long way in some people’s lives. I have invited Kaydence Poon to share her experience with us:

I am Kaydence Poon. I moved to Vancouver from Hong Kong in the summer of 2022. I want to share how I encountered God during my volunteer experience at VBS this summer.

This early June, I received an invitation from Aunt Cheryl, asking me if I could be a volunteer at VBS. Initially, I was not willing to go because I did not have much interest in interacting and connecting with kids. Moreover, it required me to make a time commitment, which was also one of my considerable concerns, as I doubted whether I could really devote myself to it. Feeling lost, I decided to pray, hoping to seek advice and wisdom from God. Then something miraculous and unexpected happened. After chatting with God, all my feelings of worry and uncertainty were gone, but I left with a sense of stillness. At this moment, I knew God’s intention: He was calling me.

Throughout the camp, my main takeaway was the realization of how to be joyful in God. As a Christian, I always heard people saying that “You will have endless joy if you are with God.” However, whenever I was told about this, my mind would emerge with multiple question marks. How could I be wholly joyful in God? In my opinion, the things that could make me feel delighted were hanging out with friends, getting good grades in academics, and having my favorite dessert. I did not understand this concept until the last session in VBS. During worship time, all of us, including the kids and leaders, were asked to form a big circle with hands held together and sing simultaneously. Every detail, from the pleasant tone produced by multiple instruments, to the euphonious singing voice was engraved vividly clearly on my mind. Nevertheless, the thing that impressed me the most was the smile hanging on every single child's face. When seeing them get into the spirit of praising God, I could truly feel the presence of God in the center and the joy in their hearts, which really deeply touched my heart. After that, a child came to me and gave me a lapel button, saying someone had lost it. On the lapel button, a bible verse was printed on it: “You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.” At that moment, I figured out that the reason why God had called me to be involved in this camp was because He wanted me to encounter his great power and realized how I could be joyful in His presence. I was extremely grateful that I got the opportunity to serve God’s kingdom in Burnaby Alliance Church.