ROAR — When Life is Wild — God is Good!
Last year I heard about the exciting and fun-filled times that were had by the kids and the adult and teen volunteers at Vacation Bible School at my church. With all that enthusiasm, I didn’t want to miss out this year so early on, I enlisted! And, I am so glad I did. Today is the third day and, I’ll be honest, I think I’m getting as much out of this week as the kids are. I am on a “Faith Station” team with another adult volunteer and three teen volunteers who make up the narrators, actors and prop crew. There are four other Faith Station teams who also teach individual groups of kindergarteners through 5th grade. So altogether, we work with about 400 kids a day and then pre-school has another group of children.
There are 440 kids, 158 teen volunteers, and 155 adults. The VBS theme is ROAR and we are having a ROAR-ing great time. If you went to VBS as a kid, you’ll probably remember some of the fun, and most importantly, you probably remember the impact of hearing the messages of faith and overcoming life’s challenges. Like me, you were probably left with an indelible imprint of a time when your life-course pointed in the direction of following Christ the rest of your life.
We all have said, at one time or another, “God is good – all the time! All the time – God is good!” The theme of this VBS is built around those words. Some times we mindlessly say those words – but this week, I’m seeing those words go to a whole new level as we declare: “When life is wild – God is good!” And, as we all know – YES, life can get pretty wild! The building is covered in wild African animal prints and cut-outs, waterfalls, grass, skies, sun, and African jungle music is being played and relatable songs are sung with lots of hilarious shenanigan moments.
Monday, our Wild Bible Adventure theme was “When life is unfair – God is good!” It took us back to a time when the Israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians. After 400 years of horrific slavery, Moses was trying to work to make things better for them, but his efforts made Pharaoh really angry! So he punished God’s chosen people even more! It was so unfair! I loved it when a 3rd-grade boy raised his hand and asked “Why didn’t they move to America?”
The words, “When life is unfair – God is good”, were repeated through the morning assembly, the faith station, imagination station, music station, and the outdoor station. This is not my VBS from years ago – when flannel board figures were the highlight, as well as kool-aid and cookies. But, even in that “ancient” time, this little girl was impacted so much that here I am wanting to pass along the message. I would say that’s “seed time and harvest” – especially as I see these precious children soaking in the message of the goodness of God.
Yesterday’s theme was “When life is scary – God is good!” This day was about Moses continuing to beg Pharaoh to let God’s people go and each time he refused, another plague fell on the Egyptians. We meticulously, and hilariously led the kids through each of the ten plagues from the river turning into blood, to the last plague of the death of the firstborn Egyptian sons and the remarkable protection over all of the Israelites throughout each plague and the Passover.
This is just a brief overview of our first couple of days of pouring into these precious children the goodness of God in whatever situation they may be in. How’s that for empowering our kids during summer break for the next school year when they’ll come into plenty of opportunities to remember that God is so good no matter what they may face? It’s a work-out, no doubt, but the rewards we reap, in the light of eternity, in focused training and disciple role modeling carries on from generation to generation. “We will tell the next generation about the Lord’s power and great deeds and the miraculous things he has done.” (Psalm 78:4)
