On "Outrigger Island"

Alright, I'll admit it. I love Vacation Bible School.

I've been in Baptist churches for the last twelve years of my life and this is my first VBS. I couldn't figure out how exactly I never got roped in as a teenager to help and then Mom explained to me that it was because during the summers I lived with Dad. Bingo. That totally explains it, because this is so my sort of thing. So while I wasn't teaching VBS, I was spending a whole lot of time with kids at the summer camp I worked at for a number of years.

That was great training, because VBS is like camp meets church meets school and I'm co-teaching with a friend, which is great. We've got three teen "helpers," one of which is more a "tween" so she's not too cool for school (and her parents are our Sunday School teachers, so she knows us already) while the other girls, well, I'll just give 'em props for holding our tiki torch and leading our group around. They like to go to the bathroom a lot and sit together, away from the rest of us, in the break room. But, whatever, they're in high school. Our second graders (soon to be third graders!) are astounding, way smarter than I expected, and just so incredibly youthful. Add to those thirty-two kids, hundreds more, and you've got VBS at The People's Church. Seriously, I couldn't have asked for a better place to get involved because it's on such a large scale. The rumor is that around 900 students and 300 workers have been in attendance throughout the week.

When you train for VBS, they tell you if you're going to get excited about things, you've got to go all out or give it nothing at all, because the kids see right through it. And I'll tell you what, I've yelled at the top of my lungs, done hand motions to catchy songs, and have engaged in the most simply profound conversations with seven and eight-year olds. And I've loved every second of it. I fall asleep singing "A-ya-wiki, B-ya-wiki, C-ya-wiki..." and wake up with the chorus from "I Know My God is Real" in the morning.

Evin usually leads our opening bible study, which involves a good chunk of scripture and discussion. I usually lead our closing bible study, in which we spend our time talking about how to apply the truths from the earlier study and we also work on our memory verse for the day. I think we've taken a different approach from a lot of teachers who spend their time doing all of the cutesy games that are supposed to help teach the lesson. Before the first day, we realized games take up too much time and that after our first day, even without them, our second graders get it. I mean, these kids are just amazing. You ask a question and sure you get the occasional spacey answer, but for the most part, we've been surprised time and time again by their thoughtfulness.

It's encouraging, and for what it's worth, it gives me a lot of hope. Just a week of being in this environment has made a huge impact on my faith and my walk with the Lord. I can only hope that, for what it's worth, it's doing the same for all of these kids. For some, it's just another thing to do during the day, but I think it all makes a difference in the end. When the Truth is spoken, through song and scripture, it never really leaves you and I pray it never does for the thirty-two kids I've spent my time with this week.

I really do.

O-I, O-I know the truth
O-I, O-I speak the truth
O-I live God's unshakeable truth...