Multiple booths filled with carnival games and prizes helped to make this an exciting and fun event for children and their families.

3,000 attend the Fall Festival, setting a new record

Our Fall Festival, this past Saturday – on Halloween – was a big success, because of the way that so many of you prayed, helped, and gave to make the day meaningful for about 3,000 children (including their parents).  This is a record attendance, made all the more remarkable, because no one was exactly sure, despite the best intentions and predictions of our local weather forecasters, if or when the rain would stop.  After a hard rain on Friday night and into Saturday morning, and mist for much of the morning on Saturday, no one was sure what kind of crowds would get out in the weather to attend the festival.  However, when the rain stopped right as the festival began, the crowds began to come, setting our record attendance.  It was an incredible day.

The day started early with Bible study leaders picking up vans and buses, headed out to knock on doors in multiple locations across the community. Many other drivers, volunteers from the community, also started early, helping to drive many of these vehicles, so that the Bible study leaders could focus on their children.

The children loaded up on these vans, and unloaded in central Arlington where another set of volunteers had been setting up all morning, waiting on the kids to come. In addition to these Mission Arlington^® children, this event was open to the public as well. Families from across the community made their way to the festival to enjoy the event.  Every part of it was free.

The old “bouncy house slide” was a huge hit at Mission Arlington’s Fall Festival.

You can see from the pictures included here how much fun the children and their families had.  Free food, giant obstacle courses, a hay ride, giant bouncy houses, a huge gym full of carnival games (with prizes), and a bag of candy on the way out – formed the fun for the day.  In and through all of it, children were provided with a safe place to have great fun, and families had a place where they could bless their children without any charge to them.Our heart and our hope in this was that our community would see the Lord through all the fun and the love that shaped the carnival into what it was.

We want you to know how grateful we are for your investment in us, and in our ministry. We know that we could not have had a successful festival like this without so many people praying for the event and for us.  So many people gave of their time – to drive busses, to manage the carnivals, serve the food, and to make a difference with the kids.  By coming together like this, we were able to make a difference in the life of children and their families.  As thankful as we are, we hope that each of you were truly blessed as you served.

We are grateful to God for the privilege we have of serving Him in this community each and every day.

To God be the glory!