Church family, VBS was so good this year.
Our theme this year was POWER UP, focusing on retro video games as decorations and the power we receive from the Holy Spirit as a topic.
Yes, we spent a whole week talking to kindergarteners (and up) about the Holy Spirit.
We opened each day with Pastor Rachel Johnson from the Bridge getting the kids excited – and boy did they deliver! We also had a great team of three that got us excited and praising God with some worship songs.
Each evening, once they were amped up, she walked them through the evening. She would give them a little preview of the story. She would go over the week’s memory verse, which was 2 Peter 1:3a, “God gives me the power to live a godly life” (NIRV). She also talked about chickens.
Our very generous children (and their families) had a competition to see who could bring the most money to buy the most chickens through Compassion International’s Gift Guide. Each of the four groups had the week to see if they could best the others – and we awarded some awesome POWER UP swag to the group who brought the most in (great job yellow team!).
Throughout the week, we had some great teachers come in and share with the kids about each topic. We started with the story of Abram trusting the God who wanted to know him and ended with the Fruits of the Holy Spirit, with lots of drama, props, and talented storytellers leading the way. Pastor Mike’s lesson on Wednesday even involved a smoke machine and a DIY-ed dove!
Throughout the week, the kids also got to play some great games in the gym, enjoy some great crafts, and eat great snacks. Our rotation teams knocked these out of the park – talk about powerful experiences!
During these rotations, group leaders enjoyed connecting with their kids. I saw so many kids attach to their leaders over the course of the week. They all knew their memory verse by the end of the week, motivated in no small part by candy (I confess). You can see the confidence that grows in a child when they know they are safe and loved – and these awesome, hardworking, persistent group leaders gave these kids the confidence to dive into the lessons shared.
At our VBS we got to learn about the Holy Spirit, but I also am confident that we got to feel and observe the Holy Spirit as well. God’s power was so evident throughout the whole week in these interactions and experiences. It made my heart so happy to see this for the kids at Harvest.
Whether you participated through prayer, donations, sending your kids, serving, or all of the above, my heartfelt thanks goes out to you for supporting this endeavor. Thank you for helping facilitate these 5-11 year olds getting to learn about the awesome power of God through the Holy Spirit.
And if you missed out this year, you’ll have your chance again next year…
MARK YOUR CALENDARS: July 13-17, 2020 “FOCUS” Vacation Bible School
