What a week it has been. This past week was VBS here at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church. The theme this year was
Amazing Wonders Aviation based on Psalm 147:5 which says “Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.”
The whole point of this years VBS was for kids to recoginize God’s power over all things, trust that God is always in control and teach them how to rely on God’s power. The setting/theme for VBS was all against the backdrop of some of the world's most marvelous natural wonders.
Each day the kids would “fly” to
Registration under the Northern Lights, Music at Matterhorn Mountain, Bible Study at Victoria Falls, Games in the Grand Canyon, Snack at Paricutin Volcano and crafts at the Great Barrier Reef.
Like last year, we were able to have our fantastic decoration coordinator Sami. She seriously is so creative and if you ever need VBS ideas you should really contact her. Some of the ideas included wrapping rope lights in green and yellow crape paper to create the Northern Lights. She also turned a piano into a volcano with burlap sacks and red streamers. She constructed the Great Barrier reef out of table clothes and cardboard and made a life like Victoria Falls with cardboard, paper and a fog machine for added effect.
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| Wrapping rope lights in crepe paper to create the northern lights |
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| Black lights, stars, rope lights-it's awesome! |
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| There's a piano under there. Burlap sacks and streamers work wonders! |
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| Under the sea! Sami painted that by hand! |
I should also mention the yummy and creative snacks; Some of the highlights included Paricutin Volcano pancakes, airplane cookies, Grand Canyon layered parfait, and Great Barrier Reef muffins.
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| Paricutin Volcano pancakes |
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| Our snack crew! |
Of course I cannot leave out the fantastic music leaders who were bold enough to allow the kids to play bells, and the craft leaders who busted out paper Mache and game front-runners who did shoe box skiing, parachute explosions and a flight school obstacle course. Needless to say our volunteers are fantastic!
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| Paper Mache |
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| Northern lights sun catcher made from squares of tissue paper. |
We were blessed to have an
AMC crew from Peoria Illinois help lead VBS as we do not have the man power to do it ourselves. Coordinating long distance was an adding challenge for me in the planning and preparation but they were wonderful!
I, personally, was in the Bible Lesson session teaching the kids the Bible stories. I sometimes underestimate the intelligence of pre-schoolers. I was teaching the story of the Good Samaritan as I explained how the Priest passed around the hurt man, and then the Levite to which I asked “How many have passed can we count?” To which on 4 year old girl blurted “two! But don’t worry the third man will stop and save him”…she’s absolutely right, but how about we learn it all together.
One of my favorite moments was when I was talking about being afraid. I asked the group if they ever were afraid to which a little boy (Who I know very well and who’s dad is avid hunter/fisher/all around Alaskan) said “No, I don’t get scared but one time dad got out his shotgun and shot 6 magpies out front and they were afraid, so afraid they were scared dead!” Knowing his dad that probably happened but I just laughed. I love the honesty of children.
We had a record breaking number of kids this year as we surpassed the 50 from last year and reached 57!
VBS was a great climax to internship and sadly the last task for me here in Alaska. It went so smoothly thanks to our wonderful bunch of helpers and leaders and I will always remember this VBS since it is my first of what will be many in future years to come.
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