This week I spent my time teaching some very bright 3rd graders in vacation bible school. The Amazing Wonders Aviation theme led students on a journey around the world, from the continent of Africa and Victoria Falls, to the Grand Canyon, to the Aurora Borealis. The whole church was decorated with airplanes, propellers and other aviation themed props.
The students from grades K-6 filed in every morning and began the day gathered in the sanctuary for worship. Tons of beach balls and balloons were batted around the room to the sounds of shrieks and laughter. They sang songs accompanied by motions and enjoyed every minute of it.
Even though they were of different ages and grades, they were divided very much by gender. Every year, the church picks a chosen charity for donations. This year, it's Wheels for the World, which provides wheel chairs to those who cannot afford them. It's the girls against the boys. Tammy Walker, our VBS Coordinator, is the rep for the girls, and Ron Pierce, our children's pastor, is the rep for the boys. Which ever group raises the most money in the offering challenge gets to watch the other group's rep go through a humiliating and messy task. This year, the task is being turned into a marshmallow whipped cream cloud. The sanctuary exploded in cheers when it was learned that - as in many years passed - the girls had won the challenge by a narrow margin. Thus, it was Pastor Ron who became the guinea pig for the cloud project. Twelve lucky kids got the chance to shower him with tons of whipped cream and huge marshmallows until all we could see of our beloved children's pastor was a vague outline of his human form!
After the worship time, the students were sent to their respective classes where dedicated teachers were ready to teach them all about the journey that Jesus was leading them on in their lives. Each of us had a different bible story to teach the children, along with games and activities. I spent a little time telling them my own testimony and why bible school was so important to me. It is where my walk with Christ began as a young 3rd grader. I made the most crucial and important decision in my life at bible school, and it has made all the difference in my path.
We also spent time making Gospel Bracelets. These are bracelets with colored beads. Each color signifies something different in the story of salvation: Black-the sin of mankind, Red-the blood of Christ shed for us, White-the purification of our souls washed by Christ's blood, Blue-our faith in Jesus, Green-our spiritual growth, and Yellow-the light of Christ from Heaven above. These bracelets are to be sent on mission trips and will be used as tangible tools to teach the Gospel to others.
As the week went on, and relationships were made, we came to the spiritual pinnacle of our week. Evangelism Thursday. Each grade group was taken aside where the story of Christ's sacrifice was specifically spelled out to them. They were given the opportunity to accept Christ, and I was delighted to see that a few of them made that life-changing decision. One girl in particular made me smile. She mentioned to me in class that she really wanted to be baptised, but her mother wanted her to wait and learn more about it. I took a bit of time to speak with her and learned that her convictions for Christ were indeed real. She knew what her decision meant and what she needed to to. When she stepped out of the group to make her decision later, she walked up to me with a smile that would light up the tri-state area. I asked how she felt, and she looked up at me and said, "I feel relieved and happy! Is this how you felt when you got saved at bible school?" I hugged here and said it was exactly how I felt, and I was so happy to welcome her to the Kingdom of God. She smiled and said, "I feel great.... like I've made the most important decision in my life!" And so she had.
