Woolstock

I've had many conversations recently that have gone like this:
"Where are you going next week for Bible school, Allison?"
"Woolstock!"
"...Woodstock??"

I think Woolstock should capitalize on this confusion and have a wool festival, like knitting for hippies. It's a pity people don't ask me to community plan. In real life, WOOLstock, Iowa is home to 168 friendly people and is the birthplace of George Reeves, TV's Superman.

On a Sunday, roughly nine people worship at the United Methodist church. Given that figure, this site had probably the highest percentage of its congregation come out to help of anywhere I've been! They hadn't had VBS in a very long time and were very nervous that no kids were going to come. We were all thrilled with the seven that came. These were some wonderful kids, too- the sort that remind me why I love working with kids in the first place. They loved to make things, to be creative, to sing. We need these people in our churches. That is the beauty of VBS- as illustrated in the following conversation:

Me, trying to get them to say ways we can learn about God: Where are we right now?
Little boy: Home! Oh. Church.
Me: I like that answer, because church can feel like home.
Little boy, eyebrow raised: How can church feel like home?
Me: Well, the people are like your family. We're all children of God, so this is our church family.
Little boy, proudly: I live in Woolstock.
Me: How many people live in Woolstock?
Almost every hand went up. Lots of faces were surprised. 168 people, but that doesn't mean you know all of them. A common theme in the places I visit is the expectation that living in a small town means you know everybody, but they find the reality is that people move in and out so much there are many strangers. I love having people meet their neighbors at Bible school!

Fun kid moments:
We're eating lunch, and one little boy observes, "There are lots of Poppies and Grandmas here." True story- every one of these people was retired. "And moms," he added, "that's you."
"Actually, I'm not a mom," I said.
"Are you a kid?" he asks, puzzled.
"No, not a kid."
"What are you?"

Another boy told me about his plan to go into business by collecting worms to make sushi.

Like most kids, this bunch adored the puppet. During closing time, one boy really wanted Romper to talk to him, and he kept calling out, "I love you, Romper!"

Boomwhacker Life Lessons

In a host family first for me, Bonnie and I had our own apartment as guests of a member of the congregation who lives in a senior living facility. Quiet neighbors, breakfast buffet, free wi-fi, ice cream machine downstairs.... how old exactly do you have to be to move to a place like this? Asking for a friend...

Someone was an artist- we came to a decorated church, including a waterfall in the sanctuary!

Davenport Faith is a church that clearly wants to reach out to the families around them. They had knocked on doors to invite kids to Bible school. While they didn't get quite the turnout they were hoping for, we did average twelve kids a night- and not always the same kids, so we reached more than that. Plans were in the works for their Back to School night reaching out event with crafts and activities in the church yard. The energy and willingness to help in this congregation was amazing- which helped things go smoothly when our twelve kids had about twenty-four kids' worth of energy :) We decided to rotate between three activity stations instead of the two we had planned on- and it went swimmingly.

Bonnie and I were in charge of the science station. I'm coming to enjoy the science portion of VBS. We did three lessons from the curriculum and then we made one up involving boomwhackers and sound waves. I wish I had taken pictures I could show you, but that's hard to do while conducting. Essentially, they're different-sized, different-pitched, colored plastic tubes. We lined them up lowest to highest pitch, observed that the sizes correspond to the pitches, and then played songs. Because we had eight boomwhackers and four kids in a group, the adult helpers got to join us in music-making. You are never too old for boomwhackers! The helpers really gave good tips to the kiddos- "You've got to watch her for when she points at you! Don't take your eyes off her!" I was delighted, because A) when they watched, they knew when to play, B) I got to see even young children build attention span through the allure of making music and C) their faces lit up when it was their turn- kids and adults alike. We messed up on occasion, but we had all kinds of fun. I can't help but think of this in terms of our life of faith. We should always be reminding each other to keep our eyes on God, who is delighted to make music with us. We get distracted and we may miss a note- even when we're adults- but God still loves to see our faces light up when we're right there with Him paying attention. And then the song sounds right.

Fun kid moments:
Disclaimer: I could never be a kindergarten teacher. It takes a very special person to do that all day, and I am not it. However, I do really love the littles during VBS. At one point in the script, Romper the purple river otter talked about a time when he didn't have any friends. One of the littles objected quietly and sincerely: "But I'm his friend!" "Me too!" another chimed in.

On the last night, one of them asked very solemnly in the middle of closing time on the last day- "Are we graduating?"

Martha, Martha, Martha

While Mary sat and listened to Jesus, Martha stirred the soup.
While Mary sat and listened to Jesus, Martha swept the floor.
While Mary sat and listened to Jesus, Martha fretted about the million and one details that go with the first week of Bible school.

Ok, so maybe that last one was me.

Mary and Martha- this was the story that resonated the most with me this week. It's so easy to get caught up in things that are trivial. Case in point: my wonderful hostess was making blueberry pancakes for breakfast. They looked great, and still were a hundred-fold improvement over my typical breakfast of Poptarts, but they got browner than she wanted. "Oh no," she exclaimed as she started to fret, apologize, and make some more. While they were cooking, she asked me what Bible story I was teaching that day. I got to tell her it was Mary and Martha, and we both got a good laugh out of the timeliness of that story that morning. 

Nature print paper is magic.

Week one of Rolling River Rampage VBS happened directly after school finished, and the end of the school year for me this year was filled with upheaval and change. There were so many details to get worked out. I was thrilled to be surrounded by a familiar community of amazing, friendly people- and get to spend a little porch time in the afternoons relaxing and letting my soul settle a little bit.

Farmington was full of teachers and grandmas for volunteers, which made things run very smoothly. The first day we had 12 kids and grew to 19 by the last day. Six of our new friends were all from one family! The only trouble we had was technology that first day, as we tried umpteen combinations of cords and devices to make the DVD play on their system. Finally we settled on an old smaller TV from downstairs and someone's DVD player from home. And you know what? It worked beautifully. With a younger bunch of kids and three days instead of five, I also decided not to use the music from the curriculum and just do easy, familiar songs instead. And you know what? That worked beautifully too. Even the older kids whole-heartedly belted out Zaccheus Was a Wee Little Man. Their favorite craft that week? One of the simplest- the paper chain snake. And that is how I became Mary instead of Martha this week, and I never looked back.

Fun kid moments:
A few of the kids came early with their grandma to help set up. "Are we way early? Nobody else is here!" they asked her. Then they saw the MUMM van. "Oh- at least the captain's here!" :)

While we were cleaning up after craft time, I asked one little kindergartener who was spinning around on the stairs if he would please pick up the paper templates for me and put them in this envelope. Excited to have something useful to do, he found every single one- and I glanced over to see him proudly lick and seal the envelope to return to me.

As we did our Rapid Reminder of the day, Find Acceptance on the River, we were supposed to lean left and then lean right- I thought this was supposed to be like steering our kayak. Then one little girl in the front row made reference to the thing where "we lean on each other." I hope those words find your ear just right like they did mine. It's perhaps an unexpected picture of what church should be, watching rows of kids giggle as they topple over into each other, but yes, friends, don't worry- we are here to lean on each other. Leaning on each other helps us to focus on Jesus- that's the one thing that is needed, Martha.

Sharing is caring!

The following is a quick summary of my summer (a summery?) If you'd like to share this in your church newsletter, I'd love that- especially if your United Methodist church is in southern Iowa. Feel free to share even if your church is in northern Iowa, or Hawaii, or your living room, or if you're Lutheran, or PresbyQuakeNazarLic, or anything else. :) 

You don't have to include the picture- it probably wouldn't print well- but you can if you'd like. Some nice cape clipart would do the trick too.

I velcroed my cape, hopped in the van, and took off towards a super summer...

This was my 10th summer working with Mobile United Methodist Missionaries. Devoted to making disciples in mostly rural southern Iowa, this organization spends summers working alongside church volunteers in vacation Bible school ministry. This year, we used Cokesbury’s Hero Central curriculum to show kids (and grown-ups!) that when they live with God, they are superheroes. Places I traveled this summer included Randolph, Van Wert, Osceola, Farmington, Orient, Hebron, New Virginia, Council Bluffs, and a park in Oskaloosa. The other two MUMM travelers, Cherie Miner and Paige Jensen, have similar lists.

Highlights from this summer:

• Giving a Bible to a girl who didn’t have one
• Watching local volunteers take ownership- one brought her own cape!
• Having a donkey and his human come share the message about the cross on his back
• Bringing 50 kids who wouldn’t normally have a chance to get to church camp to Wesley Woods for a week of JOY Camp
• Hearing kids echo our theme verse- “Do good! Seek peace! Go after it!”- Psalms 34:14b

For more stories, check out my blog: https://mummstheword-allison.blogspot.com/ or “like” Mobile United Methodist Missionaries on Facebook to see what we’re up to! We appreciate your support and your prayers!

Allison Engel

Senior Summer Assistant, Mobile United Methodist Missionaries (MUMM)

7:47

In a sure sign that summer is almost over, last week was JOY camp at Wesley Woods. It was a full week at camp- we had brought 50 JOY campers!- and it was exciting to see so much energy. The staff at Wesley Woods does an amazing job. Between Bible studies, endless carpet ball tournaments, journeys, fishing, archery, gorgeous outdoor chapel services, swimming, and petting the goats, we certainly kept busy- but it never felt busy. Everything happened at 7:47. (It's camp tradition never to tell campers the right time. It takes some of them a while to figure that out.) Cherie asked me one day what time dinner was, and I didn't have a clue. While I was carrying a schedule around in my backpack, I barely ever looked at it. She commented that I was fully on 7:47 time, and I realized I was.

Why?

A story:

Wednesday was a day when I encountered some things that made me struggle awfully hard to find joy. Our world, in case you haven't noticed, can be a pretty messed-up place. I know my campers deal with difficult things in their lives, but it's still heartbreaking every time I think of the smiling, precious, short humans I've come to know getting hurt, and it just doesn't seem fair.

With these joyless thoughts pounding through my head, I ran into a camper searching through his Bible. "Do you know that sign," he asked me hopefully, "with the verse about why it's always 7:47? Do you know what that verse is? It ends with a 4." Curious, another camper popped over, and fortunately for all of us, he remembered more of the reference. We wound up at Matthew 6:34, and out of his Good News Bible, the first camper read: "So do not worry about tomorrow; it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings." The Message paraphrase begins "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now..."

So what was God doing right then? Using two middle school boys to remind me that there is still good in the world, that's what.

Puppets added a great deal of joy to the service.

Pastor Dale's Easter message involved puppets.

The last day of camp is always Easter. After an emotional chapel service Thursday night telling about Jesus' crucifixion, Friday morning is always welcome as a reminder that God is not done; the story is not over. I got another reminder of this as I joined with one of the group's Bible studies that morning. They closed with a squeeze-around prayer, and here were a few of the heartfelt thoughts I heard:

"Thank you for this group that I was put into," from a girl who had been terribly homesick the first night.
"Thank you for getting me a ride so I could come here," from a sweet girl who had requested the puppet sing her happy birthday at Bible school.
"I love you, Jesus," from a girl who spoke directly to His heart.

So- what is God doing right now? Give your entire attention to it. You have time. It's only 7:47.

If you can't take the heat...

For my last VBS of the summer, Paige and I went to Vanderwilt Park in Oskaloosa. Since last summer, the playground here has been torn down. I thought the kids would really miss getting to play while they were at VBS, but we had so many other fun things that I'm not sure anyone really noticed.

On the first day, we had a special visitor. Gaylord the donkey (and his friend Pat) came to share a story with us. After everyone got to feed and pet the donkey, Pat shared about how Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem- not a high horse, but a low donkey, so he could be right at the people's level. She also showed us the cross markings on his back, and how if he could carry a cross for Jesus, all of us could too- no one is too small to carry a cross.

We had a small group- eight different kids came at least once throughout the week- but these heroes had heart! They were also a pretty musical bunch, so they had fun with the box of instruments and the boomwhackers.

By the end of the week, it was hot. This is the downside to outside Bible school. We drank lots of water and stayed in the shade. We did the "stick pencils in the water baggie" science activity just so we could get wet when we pulled them out. The game drip-drip-drop was fun and practical. We were extremely grateful for the air-conditioned school where we ate lunch. For the first time in my VBS memory, we sent kiddos home early.

On the last day, our caped bunch of superheroes sang the Batman grace to the summer lunch program volunteers. I saw the effects of their super powers. They'd been making me smile all week long, but they made everybody in the kitchen smile too. Never underestimate this super power.

Super Science

Summer is flying by! Last week Paige and I went to Epworth UMC in Council Bluffs. We had a big crowd- 26 kids the first night! This was a little overwhelming for everyone, especially during times when the whole group was together. We adjusted schedules the next night to make smaller groups during the rotations, and things went smoother after that.

We had some great helpers, including some who wanted to lead music- the only thing I enjoy more than leading music is watching other people lead it well. :) The kids had lots of fun with "Father Abraham" and "Deep and Wide"- and they were a lot simpler to learn than some of the fast, word-heavy songs from the curriculum. I also managed to get my favorites, "My God is so Great" and "Praise Ye the Lord/Hallelujah" in there. We had some wonderful actors who jumped in with me as Agent Eagle and Agent Falcon the first night when we hadn't figured out how to work the DVD yet. My youth craft helper was also super- she came early to make sure she had all the materials prepared. The Bible study leaders taught the kids well, and some helpers who moved between games and science did a great job keeping the kids engaged. They had to be gone the last few nights though, leaving me in charge of science.

Confession time: I do not love the science portion of VBS. I know Cherie does. It's not that I don't like science in general- I really do- but more often than not, I skip this section because I'm not used to doing it, and I don't always build it into my schedule. I've had the notion in my head that it's messy, it's complicated, and it's only tangentially related to the Bible story. So I was not especially overjoyed to be the science leader- but I have to tell you, it grew on me. We went off-script a bit with an activity with a ping-pong ball and a hairdryer, so kids got to test their own "What would happen if I..."s. We had a thoughtful discussion about moving air/wind, how like God, you cannot see wind, but you can clearly feel it and see its effects. Another favorite, though, was the activity where you stick pencils through a baggie of water. The provided scientific explanation behind this one seemed a little bit of a stretch- the baggie is made of polymers, which are long, flexible chains of molecules that essentially bend but don't break- but the bag does break- so...this was not the clearest explanation to the kids. Or to this scientist. Mostly the kids said that the pencil plugged up the hole. That made just as much sense to me. (I've since gone on to do a little more reading, and I guess if you think about other materials you would stick a pencil through- fabric, cardboard, paper- they would likely not have this magical reseal thing like the polymers do. Perhaps we should have tried some other materials to compare.)

We went on to talk about how that baggie probably didn't think it could take anymore, just like us sometimes, when thing after thing goes wrong. But with God's help, we can take more than we think we can. When I look at that baggie with all the pencils stuck through it, my brain starts singing the part of "Trading my Sorrows" that borrows from 2 Corinthians 4:8-9.

We are pressed but not crushed; persecuted, not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

As they face conflict and trials big and small, there's a message I hope my superheroes take with them.