News Archive

September 2012

God Sightings at VBS

Thirty-three children attended Sky Vacation Bible School at our church, where they learned that "Everything is possible with God (Mark 10:27)." Nearly half of these children live in our community, but are not from families in our congregation. What great outreach! We provided dinner and snacks for these children every Wednesday evening for five consecutive weeks in July and August. Our last session was held on August 8.

What does it take to make Vacation Bible School work? There were eight volunteer teachers and six volunteer teens, including our newest members, Katarina Wasson and Shania Schlosser. Special thanks go to Pat Frankenfield, Carol Snyder and Sharon McFetridge, who created delicious meals in the church kitchen — not to mention the members and parents who donated food and beverages!! There were three elementary-age Flight Crews, plus the Hummingbirds (preschool crew of eight children) led by Tammy Seidick and Barbara Quigg. Elementary crews were the Flying Aces, taught by Eileen Tremblay; the Thunder Jets, led by Gail Rhinehart and Debbie Snyder; and the Golden Eagles, taught by Megan Hilbert. Each flight crew had one or more teenage assistants. Bible-related science lessons and crafts were presented by Sharon McFetridge and Sharon Moran. Kevin Justice led the outdoor games. He also lettered a "Trust God" poster, which we displayed in the Sunday School room. Shania Schlosser and Madelyn Stettler led children and teachers in singing each evening. Pat Frankenfield ironed "Sky" decals on forty sky-blue t-shirts, making it possible for each child to receive a VBS shirt, free of charge. Debbie Snyder and I were the VBS directors this year. All the staff, and the parents and grandparents of these children, were as much a part of Vacation Bible School as the thirty-three children.

Children were encouraged to report on their personal "God Sightings." Flight crew leaders placed cotton ball clouds on a poster, each time their students noticed clues that God had done something new. As the program progressed, the children learned to look at life with grateful hearts. Each child also wrote his or her God sightings on paper clouds, which are still displayed on the wall in our Sunday School room. They found God in "my mom and dad," "my big sister," "baseball," "my cat and dog," "the moon and the sun," "when we found out my cat had a heart murmur," "a baby boy," "blackberries," "raindrops," "the Olympics," "lightning bugs," "trees," "When my sister got rescued," "books," and most of all, "Jesus."

As one of their final activities the children learned, from the Mission committee chair Tammy Seidick, about the needs of the homeless and prepared mission kits for them. The church staff will distribute the kits in the coming year.

Blessings,
Pastor Joyce

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