October 20, 2022

A few weeks ago, our Children’s Message was delivered by someone new. Vanessa Wells has been serving as an assistant in our Children’s Ministry for about two months, but this was the first occasion that Vanessa appeared before the congregation as a whole. She filled the role magnificently.

“Speaking in front of the congregation was so much fun, but also I was really nervous,” says Vanessa. It’s great that she had this experience, because very soon Vanessa will be directing Galilee’s youngest members in their first public speaking roles—at our annual Christmas pageant.

Vanessa and her family at Soldier Field

Vanessa is from Fairfax County, where she studies Early Childhood Education at George Mason University. She is actually a neighbor of our former associate pastor, Geitra Mickleson. “We see each other walking our dogs all the time!” says Vanessa.

“I grew up in church and attended both Floris UMC and Restoration Church,” explains Vanessa when asked about her interest in Sunday School. “I love working in Children’s Ministry because we have a lot of fun and I am learning lessons for future use as a teacher.”

Vanessa first came to Galilee as a volunteer at VBS under Bri Jones and Pam Bentley. Then, of course, Covid hit. After the pandemic, she called up Pastor Jason and asked if there were any roles at our church where she could work with kids and use her training in education, as well as her background of participating in ministry. Fortunately, there was! Vanessa has been helping lead Children’s Church since September under our Children’s Ministry Coordinator, Suzie Leftwich.

Now Vanessa has embraced a new role: leading the pageant portion of our Christmas Eve Family Service (5pm).

Rehearsals for “Be Born In Us Today” begin in November