Let's go on a trip galactic

Well, let's see- a few highlights from the end of last week:
We learned that Samaritans and Jews got along about like Hawkeye and Cyclone fans.
My 3rd-5th graders debated whether or not heaven could get sucked into a black hole. (The verdict? Nope. Phew.)
And, possibly my favorite, on one day I was explaining how there are billions of stars in the sky and God knows every one of their names. I also said that in the Bible, we're told that God knows how many hairs there are on our heads. One student contemplated this, then raised his hand and asked "So, does God know the names of all the hairs on our heads?" Quite the thought.

This week, we are in Kellerton. It's too long of a trip to drive every day, and so Peg and I are lucky enough to be staying with a fantastic host family out in the country. Kellerton, I'm told, has about 300 people, 2 bars, and 2 churches. There's also a cafe that's open for lunchtime. We've gone on some other field trips to itty-bitty neighboring towns and seen the original Hy-Vee building and the hometown of Peggy Whitson, the astronaut.
We weren't sure how many kids to expect here- initially, they'd thought maybe ten. But Monday morning came, and the kids kept coming- we wound up with 17! They're a fun bunch with lots of energy. Thankfully, we also have a lot of wonderful helpers at the church, including several who've worked in schools. It's hard to believe we only have two days left here!

Week 1: Webster, IA

"You orbit my world in an endless revolution. You're my gravity, my strength and my solution." Day 2 of VBS, and I already know this song is going to be stuck in my head all summer! That's ok, though- it's a good one. I didn't mention this last time, but the theme for this VBS is Galactic Blast- hence the astronaut gorilla puppet and the word "orbit" showing up in song lyrics. The curriculum works in plenty of fun facts about space. Today we talked about how the moon goes through different phases, but even when we can't see all of it, it's always there- just like God is always there even when we can't see Him clearly.

Well, this week Peg is spending some well-deserved fun time with her grandkids, so I'm on my own, and I get to drive the van! I am blessed to have three wonderful ladies from the church as well as five youth helpers, and things are going very smoothly. Today we had 17 kids from Webster or neighboring towns. To give you a frame of reference, wikipedia tells me that the population of Webster is 110.

We are all ready for it to stop raining so much so we can go to the park next door to eat lunch and play. Yesterday, we played limbo with a broomstick (they could have done that all day!) and today, we sang some of the favorite Sunday school songs of Webster UMC. I learned a few new ones, but I also enjoyed hearing a girl request Jesus Loves Me-"that one song...with the Bible tells me so..." and watching one sincere kindergartener sing his heart out. Sometimes we try too hard- it's hard to beat a simple Jesus Loves Me.

Mobile United Methodist Missionaries- Take 3

This is the third summer I've worked as an intern/assistant/Peg's sidekick helping out with the Vacation Bible Schools she takes to an assortment of rural Iowa towns. I decided it was time to create a blog to share all the fun stories we accumulate and share the message of what it is that we do. So far this summer, we've been working hard preparing everything for VBS. You don't think about how much prep work goes into something like this until you're sitting there cutting 70 planets out of posterboard and punching holes into pie tins destined to be tambourines (many thanks to Peg's husband Larry, who helped with the pie tins. They're hard to punch!) Packed up into the van right now are: models of all of the crafts with neatly labeled boxes containing supplies for each day, a box of Bibles, worksheets/fun pages for classtime, games, a fantastic looking puppet stand, a green astronaut gorilla named Galileo (who's pictured here helping me make copies), an easel, beautiful hand-made song sheets (the company has switched from making song sheets to PowerPoint slides now, which would be wonderful if we had a projector and someplace to project in all the small churches we go to), and many other things. Throw in the kitchen sink, and we're ready to go!