LLU Church Brings Youngsters Together in Worship and Service

Hundreds of children came to Loma Linda University (LLU) Church to learn about God, after hours. Over 500 children aged three through 12 participated in the church’s Vacation Bible Study event, a week-long event that jumpstarted Monday, June 17 and was capped off with a family night on Friday, June 21, shared LLU family pastor and event coordinator Shawna Campbell, who has been planning the Bible study event for the last three of her total eight years of service at the church. Close to 230 high school and adult volunteers helped provide entertainment and run various rotations, shared Campbell, all designed to create a fun worship experience for the kids. “Our main goal is to be closer to God,” she said. “We want kids to really see Him as someone of support that they can rely on, and we want to paint a good picture of God.” From 6 to 8:30 each evening, kids enjoyed Christian music entertainment from performers like Yancy Not Nancy and the church’s own Happy Daddy Band, and delved further into various Bible studies with a nightly Bible study rotation. Children also participated in community outreach projects, decorating flip-flop shoes for local children in need, dovetailing with the church’s campaign to collect shoes for San Bernardino’s needy. With some shoes still coming in, a final count was not available. But at press time, the church had collected 820 pairs of shoes, along with the 550 flip-flop shoes decorated by the children at the camp. Soup bags for the church’s “Meals on Wheels” ministry were also packaged by the children, all in the effort to highlight the importance of community outreach to the kids, according to Campbell. “Our thoughts are, if they found it fun they might continue to work with a certain ministry. So every night the kids were working on some kind of community project.” A prayer rotation allowed kids to write their own prayers on leaves, which were then made into a large prayer tree. Prayer boxes were also on site and children learned various forms of prayer to highlight the church’s message that “You can talk to God anytime, anywhere,” said Campbell. Having held the event for over 10 years, Campbell estimated, the Bible study event “is a great, fun way for children to learn about God in an exciting, casual way,” she said. “They can see how much fun it is to worship God, mingle with friends, have fellowship and to learn and play.” Loma Linda University Church is located at 11125 Campus Street in Loma Linda. General church services are held Saturday mornings at 9 a.m. and again at 11:45 a.m.