Youth Serving Children at Vacation Bible School
From Monday, August 15th through Friday, August 19th, John Wesley’s hallways, classrooms and Chapel were transformed into the image of a cave, which was only fitting for this years Vacation Bible School’s “Cave Quest.” 26 Kindergarten through 5th grade students joined us from 9:00 am to noon everyday to learn about Jesus, the Light of the World. VBS is special and unique in nature as it is an opportunity for both children and adults alike to connect with each other while learning about the love of Christ.
VBS includes various stations, specifically an opening and closing session, Deep Bible Quests, Imagination Station, KidVidCinema, Spelunker Sports & Games, Cavern Cafe and more. Kids are put into Crews of 5-6 students lead by a Crew Leader and Assistant Youth Crew Leader where they rotate from station to station with each other every day. An Adults also lead the stations with the help of our Youth as assistants and/or props.
Lessons that were learned over the week were that Jesus gives us hope, courage, direction, love and his power. Each Bible Point was accompanied with a Bible Buddy, Sale the Salamander, Mawtha the Moth, Radar and Bat, Olivia the Owl and Ray the Glow Worm. The Buddy’s correlated with the Bible Point each day (respectively). These points and characters were intertwined in every activity and station.
Some of the most meaningful and impactful activities that the kids did were being in a massive boat like the disciples then walking on water, seeing the story of Jesus’ crucifixion come to life with a life-size cross, sounds of nails being hammered and Jesus himself on the cross and seeing how the Father, Son and Holy Spirit were represented as water, ice and fog. Kids also loved the experiments in imagination station where they made cave gunk, cracked open rocks and saw precious crystals and flew airplanes.
Even though the activities, songs and food were all awesome, the most meaningful part of the whole week were the relationships that were built. Kids got closer to the adults, youth got closer with the younger kids, youth volunteers got closer to the other youth, youth and adults got closer to one another. Friendships flourished during VBS. It’s amazing how people can bond and connect when running the same course together.
VBS would not have been possible without the support and love of our volunteers. Thank you so much for investing into the lives of our children! We look forward to seeing you next summer for 2017 Vacation Bible School!