They marched in and announced they were going to close her metal shop.
The guards said they had heard she was one of those Christ-followers. Was this true?
She said yes. She refused to deny her faith!
Because of that, the guards closed her shop.
We were sad to see her shop closed, but we were proud of her for standing up for Jesus.
Tonight we paid one last visit to Paul and Brutus, his guard. Because Brutus is now a Christ-follower, he will now be shoveling manure. Although he's not looking forward to that demotion, he doesn't mind because he's so glad to know about God's love.
The Christians inside told us that was because the Roman soldiers had discovered the Christ-followers' meeting place. In order to keep meeting, they had to be more secretive. In fact, they said they would no longer be able to meet in that cave.
These Christ-followers knew the risks they faced for sharing God's love, but they also knew those risks were worth it. Aren't we blessed to worship openly without fear of arrest?
Once again our world changers made their contributions to help the orphans in Varna, Bulgaria.
Money that's been donated this week will be used to buy talking photo albums for deaf and/or mute orphans in Bulgaria.
After four days of donating, our world changers gave $696.08! That's enough to buy more than 24 talking photo albums for the Bulgarian children! What a blessing the albums will be for those kids as they communicate with others. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Each night of VBS began with family time. Then these small groups traveled through the Marketplace, participated in the games and visited Paul and the underground church together. But it was family time at the end of the evening that really tied all of the activities together. In the small groups, our family leaders would review that night's lesson and Bible point.
We're so thankful for all our wonderful family leaders! It is our prayer that all of our children grew closer to God this week because of the relationships they developed within their Roman "families"!
Last night the name of the game was firefighting. Our apprentices relayed water to a "burning building" in those games.
From the Olympics to chariots to firefighting, these apprenticeship games have provided a full week of fun!
Everyone enjoyed getting to go outside to see the donkeys.
Another popular Marketplace shop was the food station!
In this shop kids were able to learn about a variety of fresh foods, from cheeses to olives to figs.
Not only did the kids learn about the food, they also got to taste it! All of the Marketplace's sensory experiences helped make our time in Rome much more memorable.
