VBS 2012: Dive into the Deep Water

As I write this post, Vacation Bible School is going great guns. And it’s pretty cool. We have a holy host of volunteers, including several youth. It’s great fun watching the Terrific Tadpoles (my group) listen as Kim Blackwell teaches them the basics about reading the Bible, like which books are found in the Old Testament and New Testament; and how to pronounce “Naaman” and “Elisha.” The kids are excited and involved. They clamor to answer questions, take on responsibility, and demonstrate how much they know. The people who study religious life in the United States tell us that Christians these days are mostly illiterate or ill informed about the Bible and particularly about the teachings of Jesus. They spout Shakespeare and Poor Richard’s Almanac and call it scripture. They don’t know Old from New Testament, Jesus from John, or saint from sinner. These kids do. If half the membership of any given church were as involved and excited as the Tadpoles, the church would be a healthy and active body of Christ and the world would be a much better place. Misty Speake, appropriately attired in beach wear, a plastic inner tube, and swim fins has the challenging job of warming the kid crowd up every morning by engaging Ocho the Octopus in patter, leading songs, and teaching body movement. It is pretty funny watching a bunch of kids and adults positioning their bodies, hands over heads, to “dive into” the day. And that’s what they did. I may enlist Misty to lead our worship, especially during the Fall Stewardship campaign. She gets results. Kim was patient and firm as she listened to the Tadpoles strut their stuff and share their understandings of terms like God’s love and eternal life. The Terrific Tadpoles could teach us a lot. Cameron Carr was a natural as he dressed up in Biblical garb and talked to the children about doing what God wants us to do—diving deeply into life with God and swimming boldly in the waters of our baptism.  One day Judy Campbell shared with the children the idea of being good stewards of God’s creation. She told about a group of kids who launched a prize winning campaign to save water after they realized how much water a broken fountain in their school produced in a day. Their story was published in “National Geographic for Kids.” On Wednesday, John 3:16 day, teachers had the difficult job of interpreting one of the most mis-interpreted, much beloved and much abused pieces of scripture in the Bible, “For God so loved the world the he gave his Son . . .”  But the children got it right off the bat that Jesus was first our friend who loves us even when we mess up and that Jesus teaches us how we can work with him to help save the world. Many thanks to Susannah Bales Faulhaber, minister with children and families, for leading us; and to all her volunteers for their time, talents, food, energy, and vision. And thank you, God, for the children because you really can’t have Vacation Bible School without a Family Life Center full of kids.