Caught Rainbow Handed -- A Vacation Bible School wrap-up!
Published: 06/28/2010 by Sarah E. Pettigrew
This morning, the tips of my fingers are adorned with smudges of blues and greens and purples -- the folk lovin' after effects of a morning spent snipping rubber bands from tie-dye projects and feeding them into my washing machine. Yesterday concluded First Congregational Church of Wyandotte's annual Vacation Bible School, and this year's theme, journey to Africa, found many area children not only experiencing games, crafts, music, foods, and cultural information about this vibrant continent, but also, assisting in the amazing mission project, Little Dresses For Africa. That's where the tie dye comes in.
While an amazing woman from the congregation prepared armloads of the organization's signature pillowcase dresses so that the children could sew on buttons and embellishments, other pillow cases were tie dyed and will eventually be transformed into adorable frocks for young girls on the other side of the globe. In addition to this activity, children began collecting coins and donations to begin a child sponsorship program through a group in Malawi, Africa, and we look forward to hearing from our new pen-pal, Ruth, soon. While we were realistic with the children about some of the many disparities between the bounty in our own lives and need in Ruth's village, we were very proud to share an image of a beautiful continent with a positive perspective of a strong and worthy people.
Vacation Bible School was is always an amazing time in the life of our church and its neighborhood. Volunteers recount their own childhood summers spent hopping from church to church to attend VBS programs, and they don't bat an eye about baking banana bread or experimenting with a new, African recipe, carpooling children, leading a relay race that will soak them to the skin, or staying to scrub tables. A number of families have become "friends" to our congregation, and while they may not attend any church regularly or may already have churches of their own, they eagerly mark their calendars for special events like this one.
Sure, most churches have the secret hope that some of these families might someday join up and call their church home, but for most, VBS occurs in the spirit of enjoying children in a positive atmosphere and sharing God's love, no strings attached. As I've told some of my non-religious friends, VBS is a fun place for your children to spend their time, and even if you take the Bible stories at face value, they are still really great stories with lessons most of us would like all of our children to be exposed to -- share with others, show love, be kind.
A number of churches in Wyandotte have Vacation Bible Schools planned through out the summer, and the volunteers who make them possible would agree that your child would be a welcome addition. The real question is, what are you waiting for!?! As far as I'm concerned, any program that gets our children running and wiggling, crafting, singing, and giggling gets an enthusiastic, blue thumbs up!
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