The goal to raise $5,000 for this year’s Vacation Bible School service project seemed lofty, especially with the impact Hurricane Harvey had on the city. But small things make a big difference in the kingdom of God. In total, the campers raised $8,093.11, which bought 404 special beds with netting for children in Africa that will help ward off mosquitoes and the diseases they carry.

Raising this money was not all about children emptying out the excess change they have in their piggy banks at home, though. Through supporting a meaningful cause at the largest children’s event of the year, campers learned how to use their tiny hands and big imaginations to be Christ to people they’ll never meet. A camper who learned how to make slime at VBS made more at home and sold it at their very own slime stand. One child even sacrificed her weekly ice cream money allowance and donated it instead.

When the extreme, wondrous faith of a child meets their intense compassion, it creates generosity that sticks. There was another child so moved by VBS mission projects in the past, that she saved up a portion of her weekly tithe all year to donate to the cause she’d been anticipating since last summer.

Donating to organizations like Bednet Buddies and seeing the impact they have is teaching these children some very big truths. The kingdom of God is here and now, and God doesn’t wait for us to grow up to play a role in it. We are invited to a life of self-sacrifice and compassion no matter how big or small we are, because small things make a big difference in the kingdom of God.