The difference one week can make

Many churches seek to impact their community over the July/August holiday by hosting a week of Vacation Bible School. It is free of charge for those who attend, and takes many hours of planning the lessons, preparing the materials, recruiting the teachers, inviting the children, preparing the craft, providing the refreshments - it is a lot of work. But is it worth it? The answer is a resounding YES!!!

Over 80 children attended VBS at our church this year

Our church's VBS was scheduled for the week immediately following ISCF camp. When I attended a meeting for VBS teachers in July and I shared with them what my schedule would be like due to camp, someone asked if I would have time to prepare for VBS and I answered as honestly as I could - no. One of the challenges was that we were not using a conventional theme where there was a bible story for each day. We were taking the children on a journey to Philippi - spending one week studying the book of Philippians. As if this was not challenging enough, I volunteered to teach the babies - those 4 years old and under! The advantage was that I would only have to teach one basic truth everyday, but it would still take time to decide how to present this truth in a way that they could grasp, and what to do with them for the remainder of the 2 hours I had them for!

Jael on a life-size map tracing Paul's journey to Philippi

Although the truths to be taught were simple, I still had to spend a lot of time studying the book of Philippians to get the full picture and also figure out what was the main idea for each of the chapters. I really relied heavily on the Holy Spirit's leading as to which bible stories could be used to communicate the truths for each lesson, and for ideas on activities that would be able to reinforce those truths. In our class we had video clips, drama, games, singing, dancing and coloring pages. I was literally preparing each lesson "today for tomorrow" and it is only by God's grace that I was able to complete them in time.

Sabali illustrating Paul in chains

Many of the children who attended VBS came from the community right around the church. There are some who come every year, and we don't see them again until the following year's VBS. We therefore use every opportunity we get to present the gospel message to them and invite a response, because we don't know when next we would see them. One of the young men who, at the beginning of the week, was not being very co-operative, has started attending our Sunday morning services and Friday evening youth group meetings and for this we give God all the glory. We were also encouraged by the huge turnout of parents and relatives to the Closing Program on the Sunday evening to see what their children had learnt.

6 and under class practising their song for Closing Program

Two weeks after our church's VBS, we had a VBS for the children from Dow Village who attend our Bible Club. Once again, we went out into the community to invite children. God provided sufficient manpower so that each class was able to have 2 teachers and 1 assistant; they came from as far east as Toco to as far south as Cap-de-ville. In addition to preparing for their class lessons, they also had to prepare dramatic presentations which representated real life applications of the spiritual truths that were being taught at each lesson, and this was one highlight that the students looked forward to every day.

Paying close attention to the dramatic presentation

Many of the teachers and assistants were meeting each other for the first time, as there were 6 different churches represented by the teachers and assistants. However as the week progressed, so did the bonds between those who served. We prayed for those who had to deal with family crises during the week, we shared meals together, watched movies and even had a beach lime. This was a classic example of the unity of believers where persons who were previously strangers can become so connected because of the bond we have in Christ.

Sunset stroll along the beach

The theme for this week's VBS was "The countdown is on". The children were challenged to give their lives to Christ while they still had time on earth. We give God praise for the 2 children who did this on the first day of VBS, especially since one of them lived outside of Dow Village and had to return home the next day. We also challenged them about what they placed the confidence in, since the material possessions that the world runs after does not last forever. This lesson was very applicable as it was presented on Tuesday, the day of the big earthquake. We were able to draw applications to the children the next day, in light of all the property which had been damaged. The lesson for the last day focused on the value of not procrastinating - a lesson which some of us had to apply to our own lives first before we presented it to the children.

The teens class was the biggest, with numbers as high as
16 on one of the days

It was very encouraging to see how the numbers of students increased during the course of the week. Every day we had new students, even on the last day, and by the end of the week, we had to cater for 90 persons for the Closing Program. Some of the children came early to help set up the chairs outside, and they also helped to pack them up afterwards. Children who were not willing to take instructions at the beginning of the week and being disruptive were much more compliant by the end of the week. Those who refused to participate in the Closing Program item were very much involved when the time actually came.

One teenager wasn't interested in making a basket with rolled
newspapers so she used her creativity to make this instead

Over the course of the week, students opened up to their teachers and shared with them the struggles they were experiencing in living the Christian life, and about their commitment to Christ. One student spent 15 minutes learning a particularly long memory verse and was so excited when he finally got it right. Teenagers who have not attended Bible Club in years came out to VBS. These are just some of the reasons why we continue to invest the time and energy needed to pull off VBS every year. We may not be able to see all the effects immediately, but we are convinced that God who began the good work in these children during this week will be faithful to complete it.

Showing off their prizes that they
bought with their Bible Bucks