By Whitney Donohue
Volunteer Nancy Postma tells stories to the children in her tribe at the Calvary Community Church Vacation Bible School.
Calvary Community Church held its annual Vacation Bible School last week. This year the participants traveled back in time to “Hometown Nazareth – Where Jesus Was a Kid”. The free bible school was open to kids from preschool age to 4th grade. About 50 kids attended this year’s school.
The children were sorted into “tribes” by age, including the tribes of Simeon, Judah, and Joseph. The afternoon started off with all of the tribes together in a “Hometown Huddle”, where the children had the chance to sing songs and dance, as well as hear what they would be doing for the rest of the afternoon.
Each tribe spent about 25 minutes each day in each one of three different stations, including Arts and Crafts, Fun and Games, and Mary’s House. Each day the tribes did something different at each station – which included a story from the bible relating to each activity.
At Mary’s House, the tribes listen to Mary tell stories of what life was like when Jesus was a kid. At the Fun and Games area, the tribes played new and unexpected games, and at the Arts and Crafts area, the tribes built a tzedakah (charity) box, tried wool-felting, and more.
At the end of the day, the kids returned to the “Hometown Huddle” where they talked about the daily Bible point and had the chance to connect Mary’s story to their own lives.
This year, missionaries from Lemon Grove Christian Church helped run the “Hometown Huddle” and activities. Nick Ring and Keyshawon Kangas traveled from Lemon Grove, CA, just outside of San Diego to spread the message of the VBS to participants in Moapa Valley.
Each day the children donated coins that were sent to Samaritan’s Purse for Christmas Boxes all over the world. The Christmas Box is a shoe size box filled with a variety of different gifts such as something to wear, something to love, something to play with, something special, and something for personal hygiene.
