Impact the community, change a nation

 At the end of this past academic year, we took a step of faith and held a Closing Program for our community-based Bible Club for the first time in 2 years. We had not gathered the children together to meet since March 2020, opting instead to go to their homes and share the Bible lessons in their yards or in the street, which resulted in much more children attending compared to when we met at the Green House in Grove Park. 

Posing with their prizes for saying their memory verses

However, as the children had already been interacting with each other for the past few months in school and covid cases were on the decline, we decided it was time for us to meet in person, and the children were ecstatic! They sang songs, played games and were given tips by the speaker about how not to let their emotions control their behaviour. After the 1-hour long program, the children declared that it was too short, and begged that we do another one. This prompted our decision to run a Vacation Bible School for them in August before they had to go back to school.

Engaging with the children at Closing Program

From a planning perspective, deciding the first week in July to have a VBS the third week in August, especially when you already committed to running 3 weeks of camp, a thanksgiving and another week of VBS in between, is madness, but if it is one thing I have learnt from my time with Is There Not A Cause (ITNAC) it is that, once you have the right networks, prior knowledge and experience, having a huge lead time in planning and executing a successful event is not a necessity. 

One friend sourced the roll of newsprint, another
prepared the weekly and daily themes and memory verses

I had a one week window between when my church's VBS ended and our community VBS started and during that week, we went through the teaching material that had been prepared by another church for a VBS in 2020, decided on the number of classes, sourced teachers and assistants, printed banners and flyers, photocopied worksheets, rented tents, tables and chairs, purchased craft supplies and ingredients for refreshments, and put our prayer support team into action. I give God all the honor and glory that every single one of our prayer points were answered!

Setting up the prizes table - these two were
an invaluable source of support throughout the week

Those who needed to hear the good news of the gospel came out

Due to limitations of space, staff, time and transport, we decided not to extend the invitation to VBS to the entire Dow Village community as we usually do, but to limit it to those who had been attending Bible Club. We gave the Bible Club children the flyers we printed, and encouraged them to distribute to their friends. On the first day, we had 46 children! These included our regular and irregular Bible Club children, children who we only see when we have VBS, children from outside the community who were spending holidays by their family members, and a couple newcomers from the community.

We were barely able to fit under the tent

Hearts were receptive to God’s Word and spiritual decisions were made

God brought out a group of young men between the ages of 12-14 who were very rowdy and disruptive but desperately in need of guidance. The teachers for that age group worked patiently with them, and on the third day, six of them prayed to surrender their lives to Jesus! The gospel was shared clearly for the entire week, so we are trusting God that the seeds of His Word which were planted would grow roots in the hearts of the hearers, and that God would bring the increase and the lives of the children who attended would bear much fruit in years to come. Please pray that they would be willing to live for Christ rather than adapting the lifestyle of those in their immediate environment.

 

Grateful for the godly men who served as teachers
for this age group

Teachers were granted wisdom and discernment as they presented the truths

Due to the limitations in space, class sizes were huge, with the largest being 18 children on one day (6 and under!). God gave grace and strength to the teachers to be able to communicate the basic truths of the gospel over the week, culminating in the final lesson which encouraged them to grow in their relationship with God and to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit. One teenager had the responsibility of teaching a class for the first time (she had been an assistant in the past) and although she struggled a bit on the first day, with guidance she was able to improve in subsequent lessons. One day when a teacher was feeling overwhelmed, I was able to take over her class so everything ran smoothly.

So proud of these young people for stepping up!

The weather was favourable during the time of VBS 

Since more than half of our VBS attendees came walking, it was crucial that we had favourable weather before and after VBS. Even though the rain fell in surrounding areas from Monday to Thursday, we didn't have any rain in Dow Village during the time of VBS. On Friday the weather was overcast but we continued to trust. The Closing Program started with close to 80 persons in attendance (we saw the largest contingent of parents ever!) and after all the classes performed their items, a thunderstorm came down. Our guest speaker kept the children engaged with puppets and songs throughout his presentation, so they were not perturbed by the lightning and thunder around them. While I was closing in prayer, I thanked God for letting the rain cease so that parents and children could go home, and it did! It was so incredible to see how the wind and the rain continue to obey God's commands, even today.

Grateful that the sunny weather allowed this class
to comfortably meet in the front porch

Health and safety of all who attended

Two of our teachers experienced challenges with their health during this week, but in both cases, they improved significantly by the next day - we thank God that He is still in the healing business! After VBS on Wednesday there was an altercation between two boys which escalated to one throwing a stone at the other one's head but thankfully no one was hurt and the teachers were able to intervene. On Friday while heading to the beach with some of our teenaged teachers, my friend had to swerve to the other side of the road to avoid being hit by a crazy driver; thankfully no vehicles were coming from the opposite direction and they were not hurt.

Practising their song for Closing Program
while doing their craft

All expenses were covered

As we drew close to the start of VBS, a couple of our regular financial supporters reached out to make contributions to help with expenses. While the majority of our budget was covered through their giving, there were still some costs outstanding when we started. However during the week, we were contacted by Scripture Union, who wanted to partner with groups that were ministering to children in communities, and their contribution was sufficient to cover the excess. Jehovah Jireh provided once again!

We had to buy paint for craft for the first time in years

Vacation Bible School provides an excellent opportunity to present God's truth to children in a community. There are children who attend VBS who would never come to a regular Sunday School or other evangelistic outreach, so it is worth all the effort, time, energy and resources to execute it. Many of the children who attend do not receive moral and spiritual guidance at home, so it is a wonderful opportunity for us to teach principles that can turn their lives around. If we can encourage the children to make right choices while they are young, it has the potential of changing their future. We count it a privilege to do our part in investing in their spiritual lives, and are grateful to all who gave to make our "Green House" VBS a reality.

Practising their dance for Closing Program