By BRYNNE MCMURRAY
Moapa Valley Progress
Last week volunteers of many different christian religions got together to put on the Vacation Bible School (VBS) at Calvary Community Church in Overton.
VBS is a week-long summer camp of sorts. Local children ages 4 to 12 are invited to come and learn about Jesus as well as simply to have fun.
This year the Calvary Community VBS had 43 local kids enrolled. The camp theme was “Jesus is my Superhero” referencing Luke 19:10 which reads: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
The camp focused the kids’ attention on ten Christ-like attributes that would make Christ a superhero to them. The attributes included Hope, Love, Mercy, Zeal, Temperance, Peace, Wisdom, Truth, Faith, and Joy.
Each day the Bible School would start at 3:30 in the afternoon with the introduction of a concept for the children to learn about. The first day spotlighted the action of prayer. The second day highlighted Justice. The third day was about Salvation, and the fourth and fifth days focused on Worship and Witness respectively.
After the introduction, the children were able to practice their camp song, “Jesus is My Superhero” by Hillsong Kids.
They then would work on a group project called “Operation Christmas Shoebox” in which the children would have a competition between the boys and girls in the camp to see who could put together the most letters and shoe boxes for children in underprivileged countries.
The kids were then introduced to a bible scripture that corresponds to the concept of the day. Afterwards, the leaders were introduced to the children or any new students before they split into the rotations.
Rotations included story time, games, snacks, crafts, and singing time.
During story time, Allison Coble told the kids a bible story about a character that exemplified the concept for the day using scripture. For example, Moses and the ten commandments was the person and story chosen to be an example for Justice.
The games station was run by Christina Geist. Games usually pertained to a spiritual concept such as Jesus Says, a creative take on Simon Says.
Nancy Postma was in charge of snacks and the kids were usually able to make and eat their own snacks. To follow the theme, the treats had a spritual twist on them as well. Some of the treats included Salvation Smoothies, and Prayer Pretzels.
Craft time was supervised by Penny Harris and Patty Young. During craft time, the kids could make various pieces of the armor of God throughout the week. On the last day, the children were given camp T-shirts to decorate and wear.
The singing time was run by Pastor Jason Ham. Students were able to learn about rhythm and songs. Each rotation group also made their own song to present on Thursday.
Each day would conclude by gathering the groups together and singing the songs one more time.
At the end of the last day, the kids and their parents were able to come to the Overton pool and have a meet and greet with the volunteers and learn about everything that the kids had been doing.
Along with the heads of the rotations, as many as ten teen volunteers were helping out with the activities. Parents were also a big help during the duration of the camp.
Linda Heart and Peggy Kerman helped with registration and Joe Sobrio was in charge of running the media, such as the projector, computer, and the various videos throughout the camp.
In charge of it all was Cheryl Sobrio. “I love seeing the kids and how they’re having fun,” Sobrio said. “It is an opportunity for them to interact with each other and learn about Jesus. I love watching them come back again and again. The teens that are helping today are almost all graduates from Bible School.”
Samantha Hoe was one of the teen volunteers that helped at the camp. “I love this program,” she said. “I’ve been going to Vacation Bible School since I was eight. For the past three years I’ve been helping out. It’s fun to learn about the kids. I enjoy helping them learn about God.”
One of the participating children was Vidalia Bennett. “I like the camp,” Bennett said. “My favorite part is everything! The games, everything! I like the bible scriptures, games, crafts, and learning.”
Volunteer Patty Young shared her thoughts about the program, “I always help with the crafts because I love seeing what they create,” she said. “The camp really benefits the community. It lets kids from all over the valley learn scriptures, crafts, games, songs, and skills together that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives.”
