VBS: Saturday Edition

New to me this year are a few sites who requested just a Saturday. Trying to pile five days of fun into one day seemed a daunting task, but Orient had done it before, so I just adapted their old schedule. They’re an organized bunch! This was an especially exciting site for me because I used to teach in town. Almost half of our participants were my former students!

This particular former student asked for a piece of paper so he could take notes on the Bible study. That's exactly what he used it for- taking notes. He made his third grade teacher very proud.

The volunteers were very confident in taking their stations. We even had a former P.E. teacher to do games, and the Bible story volunteers had as much fun with the costumes as the kids did. I got to be in my favorite role- float around, help as needed, and watch kids bond with the folks they’re going to continue to see right there in their own community.

They decided on a mission project to learn about and collect an offering for during their Sunday morning program. First we watched an intro video to see what PET is- basically a hand-operated bicycle/cart for those around the world who have limited mobility and no access to wheelchairs. Without this device, they have to literally crawl on the ground or be carried. The video told stories of many PET recipients who had stepped on land mines during the Vietnam War. One of my former third graders leaned over and told me: "That is exactly why there shouldn't be wars and all the countries should just be friends." Amen to that, wise boy. I’ll vote for you. I think the kids would have been sold on the idea just from watching the video, but even better, they got to try out a PET for themselves. We learned that a) you can fit two preschoolers in the cart (no worries, they had spotters! But really, that’s how some people are able to transport their little ones,)  b) driving takes a fair amount of upper body strength, and c) it’s harder to steer than it looks!

I wish we’d have had more kids to come share this fun day with us. There were thirteen, and almost all of them attended church there. We had talked about how knocking on doors was one of the best ways to let folks know they’re welcome, but it sounds like the volunteers ran out of time to get that done. Next year I hope they will! There are definitely kids afoot- the friend I stayed with and I went on a walk the night before just for exercise, and we ran into five kids along the way who hadn’t known there was Bible school happening the next day. When you’ve got something this good, you want to share!