The Woodlake, California, Apostolic Faith Church held its bi-annual Sunday school block party on Saturday, September 20, 2008. One of the attractions was a bungee run where contestants strapped to their waists a Velcro belt attached to a large rubber band. When the participant ran as fast as he or she could to the other end (or as far as they could), the rubber band would jerk them back. This activity was seemingly more fun to watch than to participate in.

Jerry Sweeney brought his horse and with the help of his son, Caleb, offered the opportunity for anyone to ride the horse and have a picture taken. In another popular event, an obstacle course was set up where participants were required to run to a suspended burlap cover which they had to crawl under, and then run through a series of tires, over a hay mountain, and ultimately throw a dart to pop a balloon, which stopped the timer. The four top times for boys and girls in two different age brackets received prizes. A bounce house also provided entertainment for all ages.

For those with artistic ability, there was a craft table that featured sand art, with a variety of different bottles, such as dogs, smiley faces, bears, dolphins, and little glass bottles with a cork. The ping pong ball toss was also a great hit, and many prizes were given out. One contest pitted friends against friends in a race to eat a doughnut hanging from a string—hands were not allowed! Each winner of the doughnut-eating contest took a guess at how many jellybeans were in a big jar, and the one who guessed the closest won an MP3 music video player.

A large cattle-watering trough provided a fishing pond stocked with over two hundred fish. Many eager participants tried their hand at fishing, and most were successful. Two special fish were tagged—the red tag was worth ten dollars and the white tag awarded the recipient a fishing pole and tackle box combo set. Both of these prize fish were caught by lucky anglers! A BB-gun contest took place in the back corner of the church lot—scores were tallied and two women marksmen won fifteen-dollar gift cards. A basketball hoop-shoot competition was impressive and one tie went for three rounds. The winners received basketballs.

Finally, what would a church event be without food? Hotdogs with cattleman’s sauce cooked on the barbeque grill, and served with chips and punch, were available for all! In addition to the attractions, there were piñatas to break open each hour, and door prizes displayed at the welcome table. Door prizes included two bikes for the top prizes, clothing store gift cards, lava lamps, and several other smaller prizes. All the guests were was asked to put their name in the pot, and the names were drawn in Sunday school the following day.

Around 185 visitors turned out for the block party, and over 100 of them showed up at Sunday school the next day! What a great opportunity this was to once again reach out to the community and with the Lord’s help, glean new prospects for Sunday school and church!