In honor of those who go above and beyond to serve our nation and protect our beloved families, the World Mission Society Church of God in Maryland held the Military Family Appreciation Festival. The event took place at the Burba Park Recreation Area, located on the Fort George G. Meade military base, in Maryland. Many volunteers from the Church of God lent a hand to prepare for the event to give military members a special day to spend with their families.
About 200 people attended the festival. With home-cooked dishes and BBQ, the festival was not short of delicious food. Even several performances were lined up. The Band of Survivors, a rock band consisting of members of the Church of God in Maryland, played several songs. Other pieces included break dancing squads, solo singers, duets and interpretive dance. The crowd received the performances with standing ovations, cheers, and applause, which often led to encores so that even children could join in on the songs and dance along.
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- Little boy showing a bright smile as he gets his face painted.
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- Church members putting on a special dance performance for families.
The weather could not have been better, with clear blue skies and the sun shining brightly—just a beautiful summer day. Children had a blast bouncing around in a colorful bounce castle, getting their faces painted and having their favorite balloon animal made right before their very eyes. Adults enjoyed the different sports activities and the whole family could grab a refreshing snow cone from a vendor in attendance. Service members who rarely have time to spend with their families were pleased to see how much effort the Church of God volunteers made to create a fun atmosphere for their children.
When asked what fueled their efforts, the volunteers explained that they were eager to make a memorable day for parents and their children, and to acknowledge the sacrifices of military families, which many times go unnoticed. Guests were impressed by the unity and positivity of the members and wanted to know more about the Church.
Officials at Fort Meade requested that the Church of God make the Military Family Appreciation Festival a regular event so that they could invite more soldiers and their families on base to attend. There are currently more than 10,000 people living at Fort George G. Meade. The World Mission Society Church of God in Maryland will most certainly hold the event again, in order to honor the Fort Meade military members and their families for their sacrifices.
This was such a wonderful event where military families could relax and join good and performances and games on their living grounds! The Church of God members are known for their giving nature!
I was really moved by the participation of the church of God members who went out of their way in order to serve the members and families of the armed forces at Fort Meade. Truly they live up to the words humble yourselves and serve your brothers following the teachings of Christ
This was a beautiful example of caring for our community and service men and women. Always we hear about the service men and women but never anything about their families, only when there is A tragedy then the family is recognized, so I think this is a beautiful way to let the family also know they matter and are just as important as the service men and women because they put their hearts also on the line when their family member goes out to war. Great Job supporting the military families.
This looks like it was a fun event. I think it is very important to honor the military families. It’s not just the men and women who serve in the military that sacrifice for the protection of our country, their families also sacrifice so much.
It must be hard on the families of the soldiers that are away and for the soldiers to be far from their loved ones must not be easy either. This is a heartwarming thing that the Church of God did to cheer up the families and to acknowledge the sacrifices of the soldiers.
How fun! It looked like such a beautiful event! It’s also a very timely event considering how unnoticed military service workers’ efforts are. The World Mission Society Church of God is such a nice church! Very kind to do that.
The military plays a crucial role in our society that deserves recognition from all American citizens. It’s very uplifting to see a church host an appreciation event for military families because everyone in the family sacrifices spending time with each other in order to protect our country. I’m glad to read about a church that voluntarily served others who serve our country.
Great to see the Church of God giving back to our Military men, women and their families when they sacrifice so much for this country. Awesome to bring families together with love!
Hello members of the Church of God this is incredible, keep your ferver helping the society to always have hope for the invisible thing, we need that. What is so moving is that this people is always emailing and they are very happy, they seem to work together with no problem regardless of the age, background or race. Keep it up it’s a great motivation and inspiration for the world 👍
I would like to say thank you to the Church of God for serving our military who serve our country. Keep up the good work and keep sharing the love.
I’m in awe to see the many wonderful events that this church has put together, even more to see the youth volunteering their time to support the heroes of our great nation. No wonder why this church has earned the trust of the community by receiving local, national and international recognitions by many world leaders. Keep up the good work!
It was so much fun ! Everyone was happy and the performances were fantastic! Looking Forward to the next event
Wonderful to see our community serving those who served us first!
Most people tell service members, “thank you for your service.” Church of God has not only said, “thank you,” but has shown gratitude towards the men and women that serve our country.
Great job WMSCOG! Thank for being there for our service men and woman ! They serve us everyday protecting our families and children. It was an amazing event and all the service members were very moved ! Thank you again!
Everyone wants to be appreciated, but most do not receive it. This event allowed military families to relax and have fun while being appreciated for their service both locally and abroad.
I had the opportunity to attend the Military Family Event. I had a great time with my family and meeting some of the members. I hope they do an event like this again soon. Thanks you so much for your efforts.
Military soldiers work very hard for this country and leave their families behind for months at a time. Most importantly soldiers risk their life so it’s great to see the Church of God members recognize them for their service. I’m glad it was a successful event. Church of God members are truly grateful.
Our military families sacrifice so much in service to our country! It was truly an honor to be able to celebrate them through this event! I am so moved by the Church of God’s events to honor and recognize the service men and women of our country! So beautiful!
Great organization!! A friend of mine told me about this church. They are the best around. Keep up the good work for our military!
Thanks to Father and Mother for allowing us members of World Mission Society Church of God to have serving hearts, to give back to those who humble themselves for the protection of others. I pray that those at service and their families are eager to receive more of Mothers great love.
It is said that it’s harder for the one who stays then for the ones who leaves , I believe it’s especially true for the military family members who have to watch their loved ones go. Thank you WMS church of God for not forgetting not even a single person going through hardship and extending your love towards them.
Thank you to the Church of God for showing appreciation to all those who are in the military! Many just say it with their mouth but you all did a great job! Fun, entertaining and full of laughter!
Great way to support those who serve! Church of God shares the love and peace with a warm smile!
It’s amazing to see that the Church of God dedicated a day to honor those who sacrifice for our nation. Thank you Church of God for supporting our troops.
Wow, this was such a positive and meaningful event! You can see how happy everyone look and it’s touching because the men and women who serve our Country, have the chance to be relax and have a good time. Great job members of the Church of God!
What a beautiful exciting event!
Giving back to those who give their all is what WMSCOG is all about!
Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to our country!
We love you Military Soliders.
It’s so beautiful to see the community come together to commemorate our hometown warriors and their families. They sacrifice so much for the freedom of our country. It’s beautiful to see the community recognize not onlyour military members sacrifice but their families as well.
As a military veteran myself, this event meant so much. It was so touching to know that the members placed so much effort to prepare an event full of music, performances, and fun family activities honoring service members and their families. I’m very grateful for the members of Church of God and for the love they shared with my family and I.
The Church of God is very good at sharing God’s love with the community. Thank you so much for all your devotion, hard work and love!!
It’s great to see an organization that gives back to those who’s lives are dedicated to serving others keep up the great work!
It was great To See such ethusiam To serve those who serve for us and give many freedoms to us
Wow thats awesome to see world mission society church of God supporting those who serve our country!! Great job
Nice. It looks like the event was a lot of fun. Thank you for taking time to honor the families who sacrifice much for our country.
What an awesome event this was! It was really beautiful to see families who go through so much difficulties in order to serve our country, coming together for a day to just relax and have fun. I’m very glad to have been apart of it!
When reading about this in the newspaper I was very moved to see all the efforts of the members and how they worked together to cheer up the military families. They have a good attitude and are a good example to the future generations.