VBS at our Church

Lots of pictures of our VBS for Crystal and cousins over there in Africa,. Hopefully we'll finally hear from them by Tuesday, after nearly 3 weeks of only hearing a brief note third hand occasionally that the young people were fine.

So here are Carrie and Rose working on planning the crafts with our new pastor's wife, Sis. Kearney, who offered to do a VBS this year along with the tent meeting. A friend, Maria Hunt, was helping as well.

 The children carrying totes of supplies over to the church from the parsonage.

 The theme was about Bees, and they decorated all over the church with a bee theme.

 The five lessons covered "Bee Obedient," "Bee Kind," "Bee Cooperative," "Bee Honest," and "Bee Thankful."

 There was a poster board hive for each child, and they got to stick a bee on each day if they cooperated, brought a visitor, or learned their memory verse.

 The verse of the day.

 Sam and Jonathan helped pound in posts for the VBS sign in front of the church. A friend visiting from back east told Jonathan, "It's good to see signs of life at church!" We also put up signs for the tent meeting and VBS at the ends of the street.

 Cindy asked me to help with games, so I went online to search for VBS games and typed off game ideas and instructions for each day, but suggested that the girls be in charge, as they need to learn to lead in such things. I can help, but want them to learn skills that they can use in their futures.

I enjoyed tweaking different games to correspond with the bee theme. Timmy and I decorated clothespins with yellow and black pipe cleaners and google eyes to make bees, and the girls would clip these on bushes, trees and flowers around the church for the children to find. They played bee tag with the clothespins, "Drop the Bee [Handkerchief], and various fun bee-related relays. 

The most exciting was the "Bee Pop" relay. The children each had a yellow or black balloon, and had to race to the goal, a chair, and sit on the balloon to pop it. Here is Danny getting ready to pop his balloon.

 Carrie and Rose raced each other first to show everyone how to do it. They ran like the wind, burst the balloon with one incredible POW, and raced back almost at a dead heat. Then they each helped a tiny girl to race up and lifted them up on the balloon till they popped.

 Every time one would pop, the tent was filled with excited screams.

 Sometimes an older child helped a younger one, and sometimes the balloon would just bulge and not pop.

 So they were allowed to stomp on it then.

 Giving instructions for the water balloon toss.

 Hannah with the cute bee antenna bonnet each child wore each day, and with her hive at the end of VBS.

Walking and praying Monday night for the VBS, I felt to pray for 20 children, and that is the number that was there most of the days! I don't think we can take credit for answered prayers. It is God who inspires the prayers He wants to answer. But it is exciting to be part of His plan--to make ourselves vessels to pray through, work through, and love through.

 Danny with his prize and hive, and in the background, Sam, who was mowing the lawns, had found a garter snake.

 The snake was probably the subject of many dinner tables that night as children went home to tell how they got to hold a wiggly little garter snake by the tail!

 Sam and Timmy mow and operate the weed eater around the church while we waited. I walked around admiring the pretty flowers planted in the flower bed, around the bell, and over at the parsonage.

 On the way home, we stopped at Walmart and a greenhouse and bought some flowers to plant in front of our house even though it is late in the year. Then because the date was 7/11, the 7/11 stores all around were offering free small slushies, and so Sam remembered where a new 7/11 was near Falcon, and we went and got free slushies. I got a lemon, and the others got cherry or blue raspberry or watermelon. That was a tiring but fun day and week.