I must say that it was a little stressful to complete both weeks of Vacation Bible Schools, but I do think it was worth it overall. Each VBS lasted one week long and I was a teacher with a class of at least 8 girls. The first VBS was a Third Presbyterian Church. The overall theme was a Hawaiian island theme that focused on:
1 God is real 2 Jesus is God’s son 3 Jesus is the only way 4 The bible is God’s word 5 Our actions show what we believe. All of the kids, except for the ones we brought from CHAT, were from the West End. The entire structure was so strict and elaborate! The kids had a great time and I must say that my favorite part was learning VBS songs!!!!!! Yay ( Aaron T, Andrea, Brandon, Myrtle and the kids would agree) Third Pres tried very hard to make the church seem like a island and hoped that the children really felt the island experience while learning about God. One down one more to go! Then we went to Eternity Church and had VBS with children from the Richmond public housing. I knew the atmosphere would be different, but different was an understatement. While children from Third Pres complained and even cried about not receiving an extra cookie, some of Eternity’s kids verbally expressed their sadness and anger from seeing a parent locked up. The leaders of Eternity were not oblivious to the circumstances that their children faced and knew how to properly structure their program. Eternity also used the same 5 themes as third did, but they changed it to cater to their audience. I really appreciated that !!!The Hawaiian theme did not make sense to use because some of the kids have never seen a beach or visited one. I also appreciated how the leaders connected the arts and crafts with the theme and bible lesson of each day. It was very important for the kids to understand how God’s word could apply to their lives. I also really enjoyed the songs, which is no surprise!!! Needless to say, it was physically and mentally exhausting both weeks. Nevertheless, VBS was very successful and I pray God continues to work in all of the kids’ hearts! Myrtle’s Opinion About the VBS’S My favorite VBS was the first one at Third because it was more fun, more organized, and more realistic. I really thought I was on Outrigger Island. The other VBS was not well mannered and was least fun, I did not like it, but I did like the song call “I got the joy”. There is my opinion about the VBS’S (Myrtle did type this herself)
