On the most recent team trip to the Merci’ de Dieu (Thanks to God) Village, one of our main objectives was to register sponsored children for school. Once that task was complete, our team put on a Vacation Bible School for the children of the village.
The kids LOVED it, but I’m pretty sure the team had equally as much fun.
In addition to Scripture memory, songs, and games, we also taught lessons through skits. Every good VBS has to have skits, right? The first day we taught the power of obedience through the Stop-Watch skit. Kenlley was our brave runner, who delighted the kids as he ran through the “jungle” many times until he learned the value of obedience and was protected from being bitten by a jungle snake.
The following photos are from our second day’s lesson. Which clearly show you that we were talking about the story of Joseph. [Okay, maybe not-so-clearly . . . but we all had such a fun time using our imagination!] 🙂
On this day, we emphasized the truth that no matter our circumstances, we are called to honor God and trust Him to work on our behalf. While Joseph faced terrible persecution and trials, he obeyed God, trusted Him, and ultimately was used to save millions of people from starvation, including his family.
The clearest objective of our time with the children was for their benefit. We wanted to share the Gospel and demonstrate His love to them with smiles, hugs, songs, skits, Scripture memory, crafts, games, and stories of truth from God’s Word. Judging by their laughter, enthusiasm and attention, it seemed that objective was accomplished.
But the benefits of our time didn’t stop there.
Each team member was exceptionally blessed, too. As we gave love, we received it. As we prayed for the children, we were encouraged by their responses. As we shared the Gospel, we were awed by their attention.
In the end, we walked away from the experience with our hearts full of gratitude to God. He had done far more than we could have ever done alone.
Isn’t it amazing how God often uses our service to draw us closer to Himself?
The truth of Luke 6:38 rings true: “give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
