Summer Time Part 1: VBS 2014

August 07, 2014

I've had several people comment that it's been a while since I've posted. I apologize. This summer has been absolutely cram packed, crazy, busy! Instead of cramming a whole bunch of goodness into one post, I'm splitting it into three posts.

Summer Time Part 1

Last time I blogged, I told you all that Alan and I were busy prepping for VBS. Well, the month of June we dedicated most of our time to finishing the preparations. We were still teaching our classes as well, so between teaching and working on vbs we were at the church from morning until night most days that month.

The theme was "The Armor of God" taken from Ephesians 6:10-18. We decided and the elders agreed that it would be ok to try to spread VBS out over three days (in the past it's been a one-day experience). So we had VBS June 26-28th. The first evening we covered the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness. The second day, the kids studied the shield of faith and the shoes of readiness. On the last day, they reviewed what they had already learned and then added the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit.

Game time

Nino, our master sergeant for the day, giving the lesson.

Rina wanted to play too

First, Alan and I are so thankful to Rina who pointed us in the right direction when we didn't know where to buy certain supplies. There are no arts and crafts stores here like Michaels, so it makes finding the things we need for a decent price a little bit tricky for me and Alan since we don't know which stores to go to for these kind of supplies. Also, we could not have been ready on time if Fabio, one of the older teenagers at church, hadn't come down every morning to help us design the arts and crafts projects and make/set up the decorations. He was such a big help, and his willingness to serve was such an encouragement to us. We've seen a lot of growth from him since he became baptized last year.

Our model

Oh! I can't believe I almost forgot, but Rina was also a huge help in checking my translations of the lessons! We had the lessons and the program completely prepared ahead of time, but Alan and I did not play any kind of leadership role once VBS got rolling. We were just there to help, and the members of the church were so great in their willingness to step up and teach the classes, help run the activities, and prepare snacks for the kids. The church here in Catania truly is amazing, and there are many people here who work very hard to make events like these happen.

The Archery Game was a hit!

Since the theme was the Armor of God, the kids were called soldiers, and the teachers were the sergeants. We had a master sergeant who did the main lesson at the beginning of each day. The arts and crafts went with the lesson of the day. Alan put cardboard (it's free after all!) to good use and designed and cut out (with some help from me and a lot of help from Fabio) swords, shields, and belts. We had shirts made for the breastplate of righteousness day, hats to decorate for the helmet of salvation, and shoelaces to design for the "feet" or "shoes" of readiness.

In general the days went something like this:
1. Group time together that included singing, a prayer, and then the main lesson.

Alan doing a review of what they learned

2. Group activity/game time. We had games each day that illustrated the lessons that they learned about each piece of armor. I think the adults had as much fun (or maybe more) playing the games as the kids did.
3. Classes split up into three age groups where they discussed with their teachers what they learned in the lesson and how the games they played illustrated the lesson. They also had activity books with age appropriate questions/activities for them to fill out.
4. Arts and Crafts time where they decorated their different pieces of armor.
5. Group time together to sing a few more songs, review what they learned for the day, recite and practice together their memory verse, and then have a closing prayer.

Arts and Crafts time

We had a lot of visitor kids this year, which we were really excited about! Almost every kid brought a friend (or sometimes 2 or 3). Alan and I also invited all of our students who have children to bring their children, and a couple of them did come the first day. Not all of the kids are in this picture since a few couldn't come the last day. But in total we had 28 kids come to VBS....unless I missed someone. :)

By the end of VBS, even some of the smallest ones had memorized their memory verse for the week, which was Ephesians 6:11. It seemed like the kids had a lot of fun, and I hope (it seems like it) that they learned a lot as well.

Alan made a slideshow. The link is VBS Catania 2014 Please check it out!