VERSAILLES BAPTIST CHURCH’S youth ministry has been involved in all kinds of community service activities over the summer. Here they are giving not just a free car wash, but paying the drivers a dollar bill with information about the church and its activities. (File photo by Scott White)
One of the main goals of any church is to have a thriving youth program. This allows the church to reach out to the community, support its people through mission work and even evangelize by growing the church’s membership rolls.
Having enough youth to enact this outreach can be a daunting task, though, as younger generations are less likely to attend church regularly, let alone participate in the extracurricular activities a youth group often requires.
However, one Woodford County church has not only achieved this, but goes above and beyond with everything its youth does for community outreach.
Versailles Baptist Church’s vibrant youth program is the perfect example of this in Woodford County. Kendra Lopez, the minister to children and families, has created a remarkable summer program.
At Versailles Baptist, the Children’s Ministry holds Wednesday night service events called “Wee Serve/Wee Play,” during which the youth who attend volunteer at a thrift store in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, make necessity bags to give to homeless people and make sandwiches for the hungry in Lexington.
The church recently held Vacation Bible School (June 21-25), where the kids raised over $1,400 for the Woodford County Food Pantry.
The Student Ministry at Versailles Baptist also has its hands in mission via “Missional Mondays,” which are devoted to things like helping out at nursing homes, car washes, yard work and volunteering at LoveBig in Lawrenceburg, a nonprofit that funds a feeding program in Haiti.
The youth are also planning two mission trips this summer to Ecuador and Canada.
Lopez says “Versailles Baptist is a ‘serving church’,” and there can be little doubt Versailles Baptist is training up a generation of service-oriented youth.