Vacation Bible School

I don’t think there is a more anticipated event on an international mission trip than Vacation Bible School. It’s hard to say who gets more out of it, the children or the team.

It was evident school teacher and team member Kathie Luther put in a lot of thought in Houston gathering supplies, and thinking about the messages for the children.

The day began early as the team assembled at a fairly large chapel on the school grounds. Five stations were set up, each with fifteen chairs for the corresponding craft for the children. At station one there were coloring sheets each with a Christian message which they drew over with the multi-hued crayons we had carried from Houston. At station two there were soap bubbles which are always at hit with children of any age. These represented the promise of the rainbow from Genesis. There was a craft at station three where the children erected small crosses from thin foam like material to take home with them. Balloons were blown up at station four, with smiling faces drawn on them representing God’s love. And at station five, which was the second craft, the children made little fish out colorful beads as a reminder that Christ has called us to be “fishers of men.”

As the team prepared for the children, we received a lot of help from the mothers and some volunteers from the school. Not only could they converse in the children’s native dialect, they helped maintain order which was quite remarkable considering the number of kids. Vacation Bible School can often be “organized mayhem,” but on this Saturday morning, the children were very well behaved, helping insure the event was fun for everyone. After the kids went through a rotation of stations, each getting to participate in all the activities, we threw frisbees and kicked soccer balls outside on the wet grass slickened by a fresh fallen rain. The day also included a “fast food” meal, which is a real treat for the children and other family members as most everyone brought home the left overs to share.

There’s no question the day highlights the “purpose” of the mission trip, not just the “task,” which in this case is to construct some foundation holes. The smiles on the children and their parents can warm the heart of even the dourest of curmudgeon. It vividly serves as a reminder of the words in Matthew found in “The Great Commission” to go into the world and share Christ’s love. I was especially moved by several incidents which I think offered some insights to the humanity of the day.

First as B.J. Castagnetta held a bubble producing toy sending a multitude of soap spheres descending on the kids, a mother giggled, “I never had the chance to do this as a child. Now I am with my two children.” Then after the meal, and after all the fast food boxes were gathered, a kindergarten teacher carefully recycled much of the cardboard and the cups to recycled them as supplies for crafts later with her kids. I remembered my mother doing a similar kind of thing as a child growing up in a large family. My mother’s cardboard of choice was the oatmeal canister which made for a great drum. I then envisioned how these gently used soda cups will be used to thin water colors for the children to draw pictures on the carefully torn up cardboard later on. Another Christ-like image flashed through my mind, as He commanded His disciples to gather up all the remaining crumbs from the loaves and fishes at Tagbha two thousand years ago.

And lastly as I walked back to our guest house there was a young family, a mother and three youngsters, walking down the muddy trail along side me as they were heading home. The smallest was singing a familiar tune. “Five little monkeys sitting on the bed, one jumped up and broke his bed.” It was the same little nursery rhyme my daughter Whitney used to sing, and this little girl, maybe three years old, was toddling home with the same joy in her heart which I had seen on Whitney’s face so many times before. I chuckled a little and then joined in like I did with Whitney when she was a similar age. The entire family was grinning and laughing now as the little one sang out with even more gusto than she had done before, a priceless moment for sure. It is then when you fully understand the calling of coming to such a far away place.

Carleton Cole