VBS/BUMP - Final Day

After breakfast, everyone was assigned areas of the church grounds - indoors and out - to clean and tidy up.  Even the smallest task like dusting the window sills is a blessing to the members of this church and all efforts are greatly appreciated.  We had some VBS prep time after lunch.

About 2:00, we all walked around the block to a nursing home.  We sang about 4 songs in a group area, then greeted the residents there.  A few people stayed there while the rest went upstairs to sing to more residents in the group area there.  Kevin and Noah Bittner played the piano.  We went out to meet the residents then added How Great Thou Art to the music.  We headed back down to get the other BUMP folks and to sing the final song before leaving to walk back down the block to the church.

We had some free time before supper to start consolidating our belongings or to just hang out.  The last night of VBS went well and the kids made racing flags for the craft for the night. There seemed to be a few less children there, but we knew ahead of time that some of them had things to do and wouldn't be there. Believe it or not, most of us still had a good energy level to keep up with the kids on this last day. We had told the kids to bring swimsuits for today since we planned games with water balloons and other water-filled games.

We then started a more thorough cleaning of the inside of the church and Fellowship Hall areas.  Dusting, sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, cleaning restrooms and more. Everyone pitched in. Craft supplies were gathered up and leftovers were saved to be donated to  another BUMP group this summer.

Then it was time for our final rally.  We sang songs, hear testimonies from Kenny and Cara and then watched a slide show of the activities from the week. Bedtime was pushed back to allow everyone to hang out, sign each other's t-shirts and just chill.  Tomorrow morning, we will be saying goodbye to our new friends and heading to our sight-seeing expeditions, then home.

This has been a long, hard, fun, rewarding week and we are all blessed to have been given this opportunity to serve and to grow.

Our group picture from Saturday morning: