In 2022, an offering was taken up during the VBS program at First Baptist Church of Hendersonville, Tennessee. The total raised was $43,000. Craig Webb, executive director/treasurer of the Hawaii Pacific Baptist Convention, recently shared in a promotional video how the entire offering was sent to Hawaii, which has had an especially difficult year with the tragic wildfires that hit Maui in August.
Because of the gift, dozens of churches in Hawaii received $1,000 grants for their VBS programs this year.
“How amazing,” noted Webb, “that one church that happens to be a larger church than any of our churches in Hawaii chose to make this special gift and impact so many churches.”
In addition to the grants in Hawaii, churches in the Pacific and Asia also received financial help for their VBS programs, Webb noted.
A mountaintop church shares the gospel with kids
One of those churches is Palisades Baptist Church in Pearl City, Hawaii. Pastor Jeremy Kaneshiro, a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, shared his appreciation for the gift. “When you’re the sole pastor serving in a church up on a mountain.” he says, “and there’s nobody here, often times it feels like you’re all alone, and it encourages me to know that we are partnered together for the sake of God’s glory.”
Kaneshiro added, “There is not a strong Christian presence here. Any help that we could get from other brother and sisters in the Lord to endeavor in the ministry here is well received from us.”
Daniel Magdaloyo, VBS director, noted, “I just love seeing kids getting an opportunity to hear about Jesus.” This was especially important since, he explained, “Some of these kids, I found out, they’ve never heard anything about the Bible.”
Pastor Kaneshiro said, “It is a strong encouragement for us to know that this gift is going out and it’s going to churches that need it. Thank you very much. We’re definitely trying to be faithful in all things to use the money for God’s glory.”
You can view the video at https://vimeo.com/874070699.
