Vacation Bible School

For all of you who think I fell off the face of the earth, I apologize. This entry is actually from the beginning of July, but I am just getting around to posting it.

This last week we had Vacation Bible School for all of the younger missionary kids who stayed around for the summer. Our theme was Avalanche Ranch and everything was "ranch style." I was a crew leader for a group of three and four year olds. Our team was the Cattle Dogs. A few of our Bible stories were Rahab and the spies (which scared some of my little ones), the Israelites crossing the Jordan river and Joshua and the Battle of Jericho.

My group was bit of a challenge, since they hadn't been to school yet. They didn't know how to walk in line, that in a group setting you can't just yell out whatever crosses your mind, etc. However they did come up with some funny things that made me laugh. At one point we were about to watch a little video and one little boy had to use the bathroom. As I was walking him out of the room, he turned around and announced to everybody, "I have to go potty, but it's ok. I'll be right back, so don't start without me!"

At three and four years of age, I always wonder how much they remember, so it was neat for me to see all of the kids learning their verses and remembering the Bible points for the different days.

Nursery

I work in the nursery once every couple of months. I usually really enjoy the kids. I was amused one day when the parents came to pick the kids up. The kids were just finishing up a little snack when the parents arrived. Some of the kids went running to their parents and some of them started calling for, "More! (snack)" I thought, "That has to make a parent feel special..."

Baptism

Last month we had the privilege of attending a baptism service for some of the missionary kids who live here at Lapilo. It was not your traditional baptism service, either. Rather than gathering in a church, we all drove down to the river with our hats, umbrellas and sunscreen to watch the kids get baptized in the dirty, brown river. After an introduction/explanation in both English and Pidgin, twenty one kids were baptized by their dads. It was great to see so many kids demonstrating their commitment to following Christ. The fact that many of these kids were ones that we have taught or hung out with made it even more special for us.