VBS Round 2

Since the schools were on holiday for the world cup, Julia and I planned another round of VBS. We asked for volunteers from the church and school to help us. The teachers were excited the we had something for the kids to do. The overall theme was the trinity and we used Bible stories to answer the question who is God, follow the life of Jesus and talk about the Holy Spirit. The volunteers picked out the stories and planned the lessons and Julia and I supported them by putting together crafts and supplying the resources for them. We were also there to assist them.

Julia and I didnʼt know what to expect. We prayed that the kids would come and that they would enjoy what we had planned for them. On the first day we had 70 kids and day 2 we had 100 kids. WOW!!!! As the weeks went on we average about 60 kids per day. We were very happy to have such a great turn out. The day was suppose to start at 9:30am but when Julia and I arrived at 8:00am there were always kids there waiting to play. The kids ranged in age from 2 yrs to 14 yrs. We broke them into two groups.... ages 2-7 and ages 8-14. I was brave enough to take on the older group. The day started by gathering the kids together for singing and prayer, then we split the groups, the Bible story and lesson, craft time, snack time, play time or movie then a final prayer before leaving. Some of the older boys always stayed behind to play soccer or to help us lock up.

We were blessed to have volunteers from the German Lutheran Church. The pastor, the vicar and some of the youth came on twice to lend a hand. One of our colleagues from Pretoria spent 3 days with us and a good friend who is a Mormon came out to see what we were doing on one of the days. One of the pastors from the seminary was with us as well and he taught the kids a worship song in English. I had the opportunity to teach many of the lessons. The volunteer who initially did it had to take some time off for medical reasons. So with the help of my dear friend Ntokozo, who translated for me, I was able to pull it off. We did stories like the Good Samaritan, David and Goliath and the life and Miracles of Jesus. The kids even acted out the stories and did a great job at it. One of the things that I did was to give ten spelling words in English from each of the stories we did and rewarded those that got 10 out of 10 with sweets. I also found word finds for them to do focused on each of the stories. The kids got into groups of 4 and they loved...loved...loved doing the word finds. On one of days we went through the

Salvation Story and then made the bracelet. That day my Mormon friend came to volunteer and he was great with helping the kids put the bracelets together and even made one for himself. He also spent time with the boys playing soccer and getting to know them.

It was an amazing 3 weeks and I feel more connected to the kids. One of my boys, Nhalhla invited me to come and see his home and I am looking forward to the visit. Another of my boys, Mlondi said that I needed a Zulu name and so called me Shaka after the great King Shaka of the Zulus. God blessed us with wonderful volunteers and children. We look forward to planning another round of VBS for the next school holiday.

Pastor Eboro from the seminary spends quality time with one of the kids

Sanele the student becomes the teacher and shows Nhlanhla and his friend the rules of chess

The kids with the lions they made from the Daniel and the Lions Den lesson

Me and my boys after a soccer game. They let me play and showed me a thing or two

Shara, Coral and Julia on the last day of VBS...