A VBS Team Comes to Share God’s Love in Person

2023

By Kelly Mehee Shin

Members of the 2023 Saddleback Church VBS team share a time of rest and fellowship after completing the two-day program in Athens.

FROM ONLINE PARTNERSHIP TO IN-PERSON SERVICE

In 2022, COVID-19 prevented a ministry team from the United States from traveling to Athens, so a Home Church team connected with Saddleback Church partnered with us to conduct an online VBS for refugee children.

The first VBS deeply encouraged the people who participated and strengthened the relationship between the Saddleback Church team and Koinonia Ministry. Randy and Nari helped recruit a twelve-member short-term mission team that was willing to travel from the Los Angeles area and serve the children and their families in person.

In June 2023, what had begun through a screen became a face-to-face partnership. The team arrived in Athens ready to share God’s love through their presence, service, and relationships.

TWO DAYS TOGETHER IN ATHENS

The VBS was held on June 24 and 25, 2023, at Koinonia Education Center, located at Solomou 62 in Athens. More than thirty refugee children and parents participated in the two-day program.

The previous year, the American team and the children had interacted from different countries through technology. This time, they could worship, learn, participate in activities, talk, laugh, and spend time together in the same room.

The team did more than present a program. They gave their time and attention to the children and their parents, creating personal connections that could not have been formed in the same way through a screen.

LOVE MADE VISIBLE

The theme of the VBS was “Love.” The children learned about God’s love, but they also experienced love through the people who had traveled such a great distance to meet and serve them.

Many of the children and parents were deeply moved when they understood that twelve people had come from the Los Angeles area because they cared about them. The team’s journey communicated something beyond words: these families were seen, valued, and worthy of love.

Bible teaching and activities helped explain the message, while the team’s presence made that message tangible. The love of Christ was shared not only through what was taught, but also through time, attention, encouragement, and relationships.

A STORY PRESERVED

After the VBS, one of the younger team members created a video that preserved the experience and reflected its central theme of love. The video became a meaningful reminder of the relationships formed during those two days.

“Love” — A video reflection created by a young member of the 2023 Saddleback Church VBS team after serving in Athens.

Photographs and videos can record the visible moments of a ministry event, but the deepest impact often remains in people’s memories—the welcome they received, the conversations they shared, and the realization that someone had crossed an ocean to spend time with them.

For the team, the VBS was also an opportunity to witness God at work among refugee children and families in Athens. What began as a short-term mission became a shared experience that strengthened the continuing partnership between Saddleback Church members and Koinonia Ministry.

REFLECTION

The 2023 VBS reminded us that love becomes most powerful when it is expressed through action. The team could have continued serving from a distance, but they chose to travel, enter the children’s world, and share life with them in person.

We learned again that ministry is more than delivering lessons or organizing activities. It is being present, listening, building trust, and allowing people to experience God’s love through genuine relationships.

The theme was “Love,” but love was more than a word displayed during the program. It was demonstrated through twelve people who traveled from Los Angeles, through local workers who prepared and served, and through children and parents who opened their hearts to new relationships. For two days in Athens, God’s love brought people from different countries and backgrounds together as one community.