By Jessica Robison
Moapa Valley Progress
The Lake Mead Baptist Church held its annual Vacation Bible School (VBS) last week, June 20-24. It ran every afternoon from 1:00-4:00 PM through the week.
The theme for this year’s VBS was “Gold Rush – Discovering the Rock of Ages.”
“This vacation bible school is an intensive week to learn bible lessons and have fun,” said Lisa Hall, director of Lake Mead Baptist VBS. “It is open to all kids in the community for free.”
About sixty-five children age preschool through sixth grade signed up for this year’s VBS. Most registered at the kick-off party, held Friday, June 17.
“We do the kick-off party every year to find out about how many kids will come,” Hall said.
At the party, there was a petting zoo and a bounce house provided in the parking lot of the Baptist Church.
And that was only the beginning. Each day of VBS, the kids shuffled through several stations. Kids were separated into age groups and guided to the stations by volunteers.
One station was crafts. The kids were taught to make something different each day, such as Prospector Pouches, Christmas Ornaments, Bonanza Bandanas, Miner’s journals and pens, and “Let Your Light Shine” Candles.
Another station was for music. Volunteers had fun teaching the children different songs and dances, some of which would be performed for the parents later in the week.
The next station was bible study. Children learned bible stories and memorized bible verses, then filled out worksheets on them.
The last station was snack time.
Each station lasted about 25 minutes long, except for bible study which continued for 45 minutes.
When the time was up, a volunteer would blow a train whistle and the kids would line up and gallop to their next station.
“The purpose of this bible school is to teach people about Jesus Christ so that maybe they will accept him as their Lord and Savior,” Pastor Scott Adams said. “We especially want the kids to learn to follow Jesus Christ for the rest of their lives.”
On Friday evening, the parents were invited to the church for dinner and a presentation. While they ate, a slide show was displayed showing pictures of the children and all the activities they had participated in that week. Then, the children recited their memorized bible verses, sang songs, and the volunteers gave them certificates.
“VBS is fun!” Pastor Adams said. “There is a lot of work put into it; but it’s a lot of fun.”
