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Wilderness Escape VBS: Day 3

07/16/201407/16/2014 Kathie Phillips

We are half-way through our week of journeying with Moses and the Israelites. Day 3 of our five-day Summer Bible Camp (aka VBS) did not disappoint! (Read about Day 1 here and Day 2 here.)

There were many highlights but before I share some of them, I wanted to talk about the different Israelite Camp (crafts) we offered this year. The different options were designed to stand alone but several of ours were combined to better suit our needs. Here’s what we chose (some of our crafts were altered from those suggested in the curriculum):

Tent Cleaning & Operation Kid to Kid: Wandering in the wilderness can make for lots of dirty, sandy feet and clothing. At this tent, campers get to learn about the importance of having clean water. They engage in water activities and fold paper to make a cup to drink from.

Music & Camel Herder: The children made tambourines and camel bell jewelry at this area.

Sand Artisan: Sand was added to homemade colored clay and provided to campers and could be molded into any creation they chose. Most children chose to make medallions or pots.

Some of the treasures created at the Sand Artisan tent.

Baker/Butter Making Tent: Here, campers work together as a group to make butter by shaking a large mason jar filled with heavy whipping cream. The butter was then spread onto slices of bread. Yum!

Rope Making: Campers make their very own jump ropes at this station. What makes these jump ropes unique? They are made from plastic grocery bags. Yes, our crafts team leader cut 900 strips of plastic by hand – we love her!

A close up of a jump rope, complete with our day's verse attached. — A close up of a jump rope, complete with our day’s verse attached.

Now for a few highlights:

Since our volunteers are so valuable to us, we offered them very special chocolates.

Our morning celebration is always one of my favorite parts of the day.

There's something amazing about worshiping with hundreds of children and volunteers - it's a great start to the day! — There’s something amazing about worshiping with hundreds of children and volunteers – it’s a great start to the day!

Our tummy-filling (aka snack) team makes yummy snacks for our 500+ campers and volunteers each day.

Healthy snacks for our wilderness journey

One of my favorite parts of the day was seeing our custom “Hump Day” video made by our Middle School Director and a few of our student leaders. If you have ever watched the Geico “Hump Day” commercial, you will get the idea behind this – Humphrey the Camel was awesome!

Verse for the day:

“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Philippians 4:13

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.

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!

It’s almost time for VBS!

07/10/201407/10/2014 Kathie Phillips

For the past 5 months, we have been planning for this year’s VBS, which we affectionately refer to as Summer Bible Camp (SBC). Like previous years, we selected Group’s Holy Land VBS, Wilderness Escape. The intensity in prepping has picked up significantly as SBC is close – we kick off on Monday!

Let’s talk numbers for a bit just so that you can get an idea of what’s involved:

17 leadership teams
25 leadership team members
235 campers (rising K – rising 6th Grade)
45 infants, toddlers and preschoolers (children of our volunteers – we provide a scaled-back, age-appropriate SBC for our preschoolers)
>200 volunteers (students & adults)

This week, it’s an all-hands-on-deck approach for the entire church staff:

Our facilities team is prepping the building and helping with take-down, set-up, moving tables and chairs, etc.
Our worship arts department is prepping for our daily ‘Celebration’ times as well as Friday night Celebration Service for volunteers, campers and their families.
Our communications department is printing materials, ordering larger signage, and updating the website and Sunday morning announcements.
Our missions department is helping to coordinate our outreach project for the week.

Our leadership teams are:

Reviewing (and reviewing and reviewing!) notes, shopping lists, supply lists, email, voicemail…lots of details to oversee!
Making last-minute purchases
Gathering supplies
Meeting with team members to review logistics
Conducting rehearsals
Processing last-minute registrations
Reviewing volunteer assignments and making last-minute adjustments as needed
Drawing set-up maps in preparation for Sunday afternoon’s set-up

What about me, the SBC Director? All things considered, I’m relatively calm. (Don’t tell anyone, but I’ve even found time to read for the past few evenings!) This week, my primary concern is being available to my leadership team leaders. I have tried to clear my afternoon schedule to be available for team leaders who need closets unlocked, come in to gather supplies, have questions/concerns/a need for hugs and encouraging words, etc. Our leaders have been working so hard that I get pleasure from supporting them and equipping them to lead well.

Here are just a few pics of what we’ve been up to. We won’t reveal too much now – you’ll have to check back next week for more!