How many of you are inventors? Can you imagine inventions and God in the same sentence? If you can, then you should have been at Northside Church in Anchorage, Alaska, during the end of July. The basement was transformed into the Maker Fun Factory Vacation Bible School filled with incredible Bible stories, Sciency-Fun Gizmo, team-building games, cool Bible songs and tasty treats.
This was Northside's fourth year of having VBS, and each year has experienced different struggles and incredible joys. The first day there were more staff than kids (that had never happened), but the next day attendance almost tripled. Each year God provides and makes each VBS a huge success.
The kids learned they were created by God and He has a wonderful purpose for their lives. Each day the children participated in Bible activities and learned about mighty Bible heroes like Gideon, Abigail, Rahab and God. God is the most incredible hero in the Bible because He showed His unending love by sending His Son, Jesus, to build a bridge between our wrongs and God’s perfect love.
Attendees had fun learning about different Bible buddies who helped them understand the Bible point for the day. One example is termites — busy builders who need lots of food and energy. Termites will go as far as 250 feet from their colony in search of food. That would be like someone walking nearly 5 miles to grab lunch. The Bible point was “God is for you.” God loves us so much that He will go much further to let us know “God is for you.”
Everything in the Maker Fun Factory VBS showed and taught the children God loves them very much. Not surprising, some of the kids are still singing the VBS songs.
When I think back to my childhood, I have wonderful memories of VBS. I didn’t realize the impact it can have on a child until I became an adult. As we ministered to the children, I had several team members share their memories of attending VBS.
Is all the work worth it? Yes! One young boy came to me and said, “I had so much fun last year at VBS. This is my most favorite thing I do every summer.” I once again realized that VBS does touched children's lives for God and all the months of preparation was well worth it. Let us always work diligently to let our youth know how important they are to God and to us.
Kristi Lewis leads a group of kids in a cooking activity.
Videos and creative decorations kept the children's attention during Bible story.
Coordinator Teresa Jensen leads the Sciency-Fun Gizmo segment of MakerFun Factory VBS.
