Sometimes I get a little squirmy when I see VBS (Vacation Bible School) signs outside the front of a church. And in our area, there are plenty of churches and plenty that offer VBS to their local communities. I get a little squirmy because I've helped with a few of these in the past, and I've come to feel a little skeptical about them. My experience with VBS programs is that they tend to be a little cheesy while trying to cram a ton of excitement into kids with the hope that they will see how fun God is and how awful hell is and will be able to make some theological claims that will ensure them life-in-heaven-with-God-forever (or at least will memorize a few Bible verses). I'm just not convinced that a one-week cram course about Jesus is the best way for kids to make thoughtful decisions about how to relate to their Creator or what to make of the afterlife. Of course, I am generalizing here and speaking from my own prejudice. There are surely some rocking, cool VBS programs out there doing some wonderful good. Let's hope so!
Anyway... enough of my deconstructing of Vacation Bible Schools. What I really wanted to share about was a VBS (we call it Explore!) which happened last week with my community of faith, Koinos. This one I really was excited about! And quite proud to invite friends to. I'm privileged to know some very talented and creative people who put tons of energy into making Explore! an exciting, and hopefully meaningful, experience for kids last week.
So what made this VBS unique? Well... for starters... we didn't put an emphasis on kids having to make any decisions at the end of the week. Yes, there were stories about Jesus and God's love for the world, but the stories were told in a way to invite wonder and curiosity and inspiration, not in a let-me-tell-you-how-this-all-works sort of way.
Moreover, the theme was anything but cheesy. We explored Asia! Each night the kids learned about a different country's culture... from Thailand to Nepal to China. They tasted cultural snacks--naan bread from India and rice pudding from Bangladesh--and drank a different kind of tea each night. They played a marble game from Japan and raced on coconut shells like kids in Bangladesh like to do. They made head rings and carried baskets on their heads like Nepali children.
They learned about kids who work in sweatshops and the importance of education. They learned about the problem of waste and the importance of caring for the earth. They learned about the earthquake in Japan and had the opportunity to raise money and stencil messages on a quilt that will be given to victims of the earthquake through MCC. And most importantly, I would like to believe that they went away with a taste of God's love for the wonderfully diverse and beautiful people in this great big world in which we live. 
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delightful photos. i want to study asia with the kids. vacation bible school at Hershey's Mennonite made a profound statement about god taste for ice cream sundays. VBS at Westminster Press taught me that god loves dodgeball. so much more compelling to imagine that god's hanging out in japan. cheers koinos.
ReplyDelete"Apple red happiness...." Oh my! I almost forgot about that one! We'll let you know when we plan to "explore" Brazil someday. Hopefully God's hanging out there, too. I'd imagine God's wearing a pair of scrubs and rowing down the Amazon; or maybe kicking around a soccer ball in barefeet.
ReplyDeleteYour word cheesy sounded a bit prejudice to me. It is good that you are excited about your VBS - it sounded awesome and very creative and definately fit with your views. Perhaps others have a equal passion to reach kids who haven't heard about Jesus, and trust that the seeds planted in that very exciting week will someday bring forth fruit.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I thank you for your honest opinion! It's funny, my husband also challenged that word, wondering if it would cause some to feel offense. I rethought it and considered changing it, yet didn't know how else to explain my thoughts on the matter. And certainly, as said in my first paragraph, I know that I do speak from my own prejudice. I only have a handful of VBS experiences to draw from.
ReplyDeleteI will be honest that on the subject of teaching children about faith I am sometimes at a loss. I worry about watering-down or sugar-coating certain things with messages such as "knowing God makes us feel happy all of the time!" when I realize that pain and suffering cuts through all human lives. I worry about making the divine and sacred inauthentic. I worry about indoctrinating children and taking out the mystery and the "wrestling" with ideas and questions and views of God, since I have found the journey of the Unknown sometimes just as beautiful and life-changing as the journey of the Known. And I also worry about not teaching my children correctly and inadvertently misleading them.
It's a topic that my husband and I continue to wrestle with and I suppose most other parents do, too. Again, thank you for your comment and willingness to challenge my prejudices.
Introducing children to Jesus as a good shepherd, someone they can give their cares and troubles to, someone who loved them enough to die for them doesn't necessarily say at all that "knowing God makes us feel happy all of the time" but does lay a foundation of trust, love and hope in the One who never fails or changes and desires our fellowship with him.
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