By Beth Pinyeard
For the Opelika
Observer
Children, youth and adults benefit at Vacation Bible School summer officially begins on June 21. The churches in our community have already embarked on their Vacation Bible School ministries to educate our children about the love of God.
I remember our church’s Vacation Bible School lasting two weeks. Projects we did included popsicle weaving, wax paper stain glass projects, painting T-shirts, etc.
The last day of VBS usually ended with families bringing in the family ice cream churns with ice, salt, and the ice cream mixture in the cylinder. The fun part of making homemade ice cream was turning the crank on the churn as the ice cream mixtures hardened into delicious ice cream.
During VBS, old and young members of the church body served and opened their hearts and arms in “Let the little children come to me,” as they brought us children to the lap of Jesus.
Our area churches’ VBS programs run through now until the end of July. They highly advertise their morning and evening programs with signs everywhere.
Some churches have weekend VBS programs, while others stretch it to Wednesday evenings throughout the summer. Families, it is worth the investment of time for children and adults alike to receive the benefits of attending and volunteering with VBS.
This year’s local VBS themes are exciting – “Roar,” “Wild,” “Exploring Space,” “Dive into the Sea,” “Western,” “Superhero,” etc. are some of the themes that bring children into appropriate age fun activities and learning. Time spent at Vacation Bible School can include prayer, Bible study, theme related arts and crafts, songs, recreation, snacks, skits, working together as teams, etc.
At VBS, children meet new friends as well as bring ones from their neighborhood. In this way, the friendship circle widens.
Life lessons from the Bible are taught to children. They learn that the Bible is God’s map of life to them as well as His love letter to them.
You don’t have to be a member of a church to attend Vacation Bible School. I love the way the churches in Opelika schedule their VBS programs to not be on the same weeks so that the community can attend many VBS programs throughout the summer. Even though the themes may be the same, each church does something different.
After attending Vacation Bible School this year as a volunteer, I had so much fun seeing enjoyment in the eyes of children who attended. Hearing laughter, fellowshipping over snacks and seeing children’s smiles helps to remind us to celebrate the life that God has given us.