In July of 2021, this vibrant church in beautiful northern Minnesota invited our team to be a part of their Vacation Bible School (VBS) program in Milaca, MN. The VBS theme was focused on trains and a member of the congregation made a railroad track on the floor throughout the entire church using duct tape. The leadership dressed like train conductors every day and reminded the students that if they raised enough money for our Ethiopia program through their offerings, they would have the opportunity to send various members of the VBS staff to a dunk tank on the last day of VBS. The children kept track of their offerings with train cars that got added as the offering grew. We noticed some birthday balloons on their offering board and those indicated the days when children made a decision to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The balloons signified the children's new "spiritual" birthday! The VBS offerings exceeded their goal and more than $2,000 came in for Adams Thermal Academies in Ethiopia. That meant that every member of the VBS staff had to get dunked in the dunk tank. When the offering total was announced, 100+ children screamed at the top of their lungs and blasted all the audio levels on my smartphone. On Sunday, we gave the Milaca church congregation the opportunity to sponsor some of our students as we joined them for a fellowship lunch after the service. What an exciting and creative way to engage children and church members to be a part of our ministry to the "poorest of the poor" in Ethiopia. Thank you to the staff and congregation and children of Milaca Alliance Church for the joy and the fun and the support!

The VBS Dunk Tank