I finally have some time to tell you all about the VBS we did a month ago! I really love being part of our what our church is doing here in Atenas to reach out to people within our community who would not come to church or Bible studies on their own. Instead of doing the VBS in our church building for kids from our church, we went to two different neighborhoods in Atenas that are known as poorer, rougher parts of our town. Each day for a week, we did the program in the
salón communal (community hall) of one of the neighborhoods in the morning, and in the afternoon, we did the same program in a small park in the other neighborhood. While some of the women from the church did most of the logistical planning for the VBS, our youth group was in charge of the actual program and they did an amazing job correographing songs, planning skits, organizing games, and sharing Bible stories. I was really impressed with their hard work and their passion for evangelism!
Each morning, Dan would leave early to carry the supplies from our pastors' house to the salón communal, and he would help set everything up. He'd then come back at lunch time to move the supplies to the other neighborhood, and come at the end of the day to take everything down. He wasn't able to stay for the program, but I was there to work with a couple of the other women from church to do the logistical things during the program. We passed out snacks or craft supplies, did crowd control, and I was the official photographer/videographer of the event. In the photo above, Timmy and I are ready for a day of at la escuelita del verano, which is Spanish for "little summer school". (Remember, it's summer here now, and the kids were off of school for their summer break.)
Before the program started each morning,
los jovenes (the youth group) would walk through the neighborhood inviting kids and their parents to come to
la escuelita. It was neat to see a lot of moms, and even some dads, come to watch what was going on. Sometimes we even had a some tough looking young men watching, but they were careful to stay close enough to the street to not appear too interested! But, I caught them occasionally laughing at a skit or listening pretty intently to a Bible lesson. The photo above is of our VBS team: our pastor, his wife, a couple of
señoras from our congregation, and the
jovenes. Can you find the one gringa in there?
Since there are way too many stories to tell, I'll just share some photos to give an idea of what the week was like:
making a train to get the kids to la escuelita
Robix, the robot mascot of the program
dancing
singing of the joy we have in Jesus
teaching the kids "This Little Light of Mine" (in Spanish, of course)
teaching what the Bible tells us about Jesus
kids participating in the lesson
parents listening
having fun
We all still have the songs from our escuelita stuck in our heads, and Timmy still dances around shouting "brillará, brillará, brillará" ("let it shine, let it shine, let it shine"). I'm praying that these kids who God introduced into our lives that week will not only be remembering the songs, dances, and fun they had, but what they learned about Jesus. I'm praying for changed hearts, redeemed lives, and restored families in the neighborhoods of los Olivos and el Invu. Will you pray along with me?
(I'll post soon about how our church has been following up with the families me met during our week of VBS.)
I finally have some time to tell you all about the VBS we did a month ago! I really love being part of our what our church is doing here in Atenas to reach out to people within our community who would not come to church or Bible studies on their own. Instead of doing the VBS in our church building for kids from our church, we went to two different neighborhoods in Atenas that are known as poorer, rougher parts of our town. Each day for a week, we did the program in the salón communal (community hall) of one of the neighborhoods in the morning, and in the afternoon, we did the same program in a small park in the other neighborhood. While some of the women from the church did most of the logistical planning for the VBS, our youth group was in charge of the actual program and they did an amazing job correographing songs, planning skits, organizing games, and sharing Bible stories. I was really impressed with their hard work and their passion for evangelism! 
Before the program started each morning, los jovenes (the youth group) would walk through the neighborhood inviting kids and their parents to come to la escuelita. It was neat to see a lot of moms, and even some dads, come to watch what was going on. Sometimes we even had a some tough looking young men watching, but they were careful to stay close enough to the street to not appear too interested! But, I caught them occasionally laughing at a skit or listening pretty intently to a Bible lesson. The photo above is of our VBS team: our pastor, his wife, a couple of señoras from our congregation, and the jovenes. Can you find the one gringa in there?
