Vacation Bible School Archives - Page 2 of 2

Wilderness Escape VBS: Day 2

07/15/201407/15/2014 Kathie Phillips

Day 2 of our five-day Summer Bible Camp (aka VBS) was great! (Read about Day 1 here.)

I always love the chance to roam around and personally say ‘hi’ to everyone, so I took some time this morning to visit with most of our family groups. While visiting, I heard children recite Day 1’s Bible verse and hear some of their God sightings. I also got attacked (I mean hugged!) by some of our campers, which was very sweet. My heart was filled even more when I walked past two of our God Sighting posters and saw them filled with all sorts of ways that our campers have seen God around them.

Another highlight was carrying around a box of doughnut holes for our volunteers. By carrying the snacks around vs setting them on a table, I was able to personally thank them for serving and hear how their first day went. I LOVE that.

After our opening worship celebration, I was able to sit in on the drama – today the children tasted ‘quail’ (marshmallow peeps) and ‘manna’ (frosted flakes) – and see our sand art and rope making stations in action (I will share more specifics about this tomorrow).

Verse for the day:

“For your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!”

Matthew 6:8

Here are a few pictures from Day 2:

Showing our volunteers a little love – they were a BIG hit!

These personalized onesies for our little attendees are so very adorable!

This sweet girl loves her Wilderness Escape onesie!

Moses in his 'tent', sharing how God know what we have have need of without our needed to ask — Moses in his ‘tent’, sharing how God know what we have need of before we even ask.

One of our God Sighting posters - the children's God sightings are written on footprints, which follow along a path. Very cool! — One of our God Sighting posters – the children’s God sightings are written on footprints, which follow along a path. Very cool!

One of our bins holding canned and boxed food that will be donated to a local food pantry that our church supports.

Some of the treasures created at the Sand Artisan tent.

Wilderness Escape VBS: Day 1 (and a picture of God’s grace)

07/14/201407/14/2014 Kathie Phillips 2 Comments

Today we kicked off our five-day Summer Bible Camp (aka VBS). Here I talked about how we were getting ready.

Yesterday was our set-up day and it was refreshing to see so many volunteers (of all ages) pitching in to transform our church into the wilderness. When the majority of the set-up was complete, I left the church in a very reflective mood. In fact, I was in a reflective mood for much of the day, thinking about the extravagant grace that God has extended to me time and time again.

You see, some Sundays I walk in to church more confident than others – yesterday was a day where I felt pretty good but I just couldn’t shake the feeling of being so thankful for God’s graciousness toward me and the ministry I lead…for the many, many ways that He has provided for our needs, for the awesome privilege it is to be able to share His love with children and seeing it ‘click’ in their eyes and the list goes on. And as only God could orchestrate, one of our SBC volunteers came up to me yesterday, thanking me for being gracious to her (she felt that she was ‘out of the loop’ because of a family issue) but the fact that she still wanted to give us a smidgen of her time, we were thankful to her!

As I stood before the campers and volunteers this morning, my heart was again filled to overflowing. All of our months of planning and preparing had brought us to this point. At that very moment, I was thankful to God for His grace for all of the details that have consumed my thoughts and time for the past few months. I was truly thankful for each and every child, teen, and adult in the room. They were my very first God sighting for the day!

As I walked through the building for the duration of the morning, children were engaged and learning, volunteers were teaching and engaged with the children (I heard, “That was soooo cool!” countless times), team leaders were leading, and everyone was owning their piece of the VBS pie. It was truly a beautiful sight.

Verse for the day:

“God answered, ‘I will be with you.’ “

Exodus 3:12

Here are a few pictures from Day 1:

Day 1's God Sighting Poster - I can't wait to see footprints covering this tomorrow! — Day 1’s God Sighting Poster – I can’t wait to see footprints covering this tomorrow!

A closer view of one side of the stage - I LOVE the color of the mountains! — A closer view of one side of the stage – I LOVE the color of the mountains!

The other side of our stage - our campfire was a big hit with the kids! — The other side of our stage – our campfire was a big hit with the kids!

Athens VBS: Day 1

07/09/201307/09/2013 Kathie Phillips 4 Comments

Photo Credit: Group Publishing

A little over a month ago I found myself in a new leadership role at my church and subsequently the director of our VBS (now known as Summer Bible Camp). In the two years that I’ve been at my current church, my role had been very, very small. Did I mention my role was very, very small? This year, I am leading a leadership team of 20 (who, in turn, are leading 150+ volunteers).

I am so blessed to be able to lead with such a fine group of capable, take-initiative leaders. It has truly made my job a lot easier! For the past several days, I’ve been asked, “Are you okay?” and “How are you holding up?” countless times. I’ve also heard, “You look great, considering the amount of responsibility on your shoulders.” Again, because of our capable leadership team, my primary role as director has been to troubleshoot and equip our leaders (what I love to do..the equipping part!).

After many months of thinking, planning, purchasing and organizing, our VBS kicked off yesterday. We were expecting 300+ children and it seemed like they all showed up at once! Thanks to our security and registration teams, we were able to get the children settled in rather quickly before the Celebration (worship) time began.

Of course, there were issues that came up that we needed to address: parking lot congestion and traffic flow, implementing and enforcing a new drop-off & pick up policy (persons picking up children must now show a valid photo ID), building safety, a broken copier, and helping our youngest campers be active participants in the worship time.

All in all, the day went well. When I was leaving the building for the day, someone asked me how I’m surviving such a busy time. My answer: God’s grace. I am operating in His strength, not my own. I am energized by my leaders and how I can best serve them. I can’t wait to see what God is going to do this week!

Verse for the day:

“The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all his creation.”

Psalm 145:9

Here are a few pictures from Day 1: