Page 22 - The Channel Spring 2021 _FINAL_

3 Cs of CBM...................

How we accomplish our mission

Classes

By Steve Shertzer
CBM of S. Alabama, Camp Victory

2020 brought a lot of changes to “ministry as usual” as well as “life as usual.” Summer
camps, weekend groups - everything had to be reworked and tweaked over and over to
try to make it fit within the “new normal” of CDC recommendations/guidelines, state
mandates, etc. To us, the biggest change and the thing that we feel will make the longest-
lasting difference moving forward is the loss of face-to-face meeting with our Released
Time students in their school settings. I would like to take a little time to address this
topic.

First, it is our opinion that going to the schools is one of the most important parts of
reaching these children. Many of our students will never set foot on our camp property.
Our yearly records prove that most students who attend Released Time never end up
attending our summer camp program. I don’t have any way to know just how many of the
children we minister to in RT attend church regularly, but I would be surprised if it is over
50%. We would have kids tell us all the time that they don’t have a Bible in their home, so
it is very likely that RT class is the only time they are exposed to the truth of the gospel.

We love that we can have a relationship with these children from kindergarten through 5th or 6th grade, one where we can teach them God’s
plan and also live that plan out before them. We really feel the loss of this time we normally spend with them, especially knowing that we may
never see many of them again - since they will move on to a higher grade in school and out of our program. How many of you can remember
a teacher who made a difference in your life? How did they leave an impression on you - even from those first years in school? Usually it is
something they did that showed you they cared for you as a person. It was more than just a job to them, right? Well, that is how we feel about
every student in our RT classes - they are special and we miss seeing them.

Producing videos of the Bible Classes this year and making them available (via DVD and online link) to the students has been enjoyable. We
pray that they are being watched and that God is using them in families as they watch together. But we really don’t know without that direct
contact. So far we’ve had very few folks let us know they received and watched them, and that can be discouraging. However, we continue
sending them out, trusting God’s promise that “So shall My Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but
it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11.
Correspondence

Mailbox Bible Lessons
By Barb Shearer (CBM of S. Alabama, Camp Victory) and Liane Lindauer
(CBM of E. Tennessee, Camp Ta-Pa-Win-Go)

What a privilege it is to grade Mailbox Club Bible lessons. If you’re not
familiar with the program, allow me to explain. It is correspondence lessons
that students do through the mail (‘snail mail’). They read a lesson, and then
answer questions about it. They mail in the answer sheet; it is graded and
recorded. Then they are mailed more lessons. Each course has an average of
twelve lessons. Upon completion, the student gets a certificate. At our camp
they also get a coupon that is good for $60 off their summer camp price! I
actually did these lessons as a child; now I am blessed to grade them. We

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