This year at VBS, students “traveled to Rome,” where they learned about Paul and the underground church. Through engaging skits and dramatic reenactments, students saw Bible stories brought to life while deepening their understanding of the early church and the persecution of Christians. Students were excited to visit Paul in prison each day, as well as visiting Christians hidden in a cave. Students saw and heard Roman soldiers who were looking for Christians. They witnessed one of the soldiers, Paul’s prison guard, have a change of heart and become a Christian! They learned that nothing can separate us from God’s love!
Aside from learning these Bible stories, students participated in arts and crafts, recreation, music, and had snacks that went along with the Bible stories. Students collected tokens with the week’s Bible verses, had photos taken in Roman togas and accessories, and received Bibles and/or Christian books to take home with them at the end of the week. On Friday students performed the songs they had learned for their families. They finished the day with bounce houses and hot dog lunches with their families.
The ministry for the week was a collection of money and food for local blessing boxes with a friendly competition between girls and boys. Each food item was counted as $1. A total of $250 was raised!
Each day we had 56-78 kids and around 30 helpers that we were able to share lessons and the love of Jesus with! We would like to thank everyone who had a role in helping with VBS. We are blessed with a congregation and community full of helping hearts and hands. If you have never helped with VBS you might not realize what it takes to make it so successful or how many people it takes. We had people donate supplies and funds. We had helpers planning, making, and serving snacks, cooking hot dogs, and packing lunches. We had helpers teaching the song lyrics and motions. We had helpers out in the heat planning, directing, and referreeing games.
We had helpers planning, preparing supplies, and walking students through arts and crafts. We had helpers in the marketplace helping students “make purchases” to make small crafts or do activities, while also sharing and reinforcing the lessons learned in the Bible stories. We had helpers registering students online and in person, making nametags, creating and showing slideshows. We had volunteers who set up and decorated and volunteers who took everything back down. We had helpers who acted out the Bible stories to make them come to life for the students.
We had people who took care of boo-boo’s and kiddos who missed their mommies. And while all of that seems like a lot, I have probably missed some things. Despite there being so many hands on things that need done, perhaps the biggest help of all is your prayers. Even with the best laid plans, things go wrong but it always works out. We had a great turnout! The kids all had a great time and learned a lot! So, in whatever way you helped, you are appreciated!
It takes a village and we could not do this without all of you! Thank you!
