VBS - Day 2

Wednesday started off as a "Free Day" for BUMP participants.  Most of the Texas team headed to Washington DC for a few hours. They got to ride the Metro and took pictures by the Capitol and Washington Monument. They also visited an American Indian Museum.  The New Jersey team went to the Baltimore Harbor area, had lunch at Hard Rock Cafe and then hit the Aquarium.

After arriving back at the church, final preparations were made for VBS and a quick supper was had. VBS started at 6:30 pm and we followed the same format as Day 1, but with songs that we all know instead of the ones that actually came with the HisScars VBS pack. There was a lot of energy in the whole group today. David, one of the New Jersey team leaders, can exactly imitate Elmo's voice and the kids loved it!  The kids made steering wheels as the day's craft and they really seemed to enjoy it since many of them carried them around with them all night instead of leaving them on the craft pick-up table.  There were over 45 kids in attendance.  Some weren't able to come back, but others brought friends with them and we had more parents and grandparents here tonight.

After VBS, we had our daily debriefing and asked for volunteers to tell how they could see God working in the lives of these children and neighborhood residents. Several of the students had good observations to share.  After the close of the debriefing, everyone enjoys some free time (and it's some of the guys' shower time) by talking in groups, playing cards, etc.  It's all one big group and Texas is mixed in with Jersey and vice versa.

Vacation Bible School (VBS) - Day 1

BUMP participants spent the morning passing out food to neighbors who had lost power during recent storms. Folks came by the church to get food and paper goods. Some of our BUMP adults and kids even walked home with some of the residents to help carry the groceries. A few of the Team Leaders made a run to several stores to pick up more supplies for VBS. After lunch, they broke up into teams of 5 or more and hit the sidewalks of the local neighborhoods to pass out more VBS flyers and to pray for the people and the needs in the area.  Some teams would walk one block, stop and pray for all the families and homes they had passed by on that block and continue the pattern as they walked another block. Then there was the final prep work for the first day of VBS.

After the kids were registered, we started the day with our theme song for the week - Drive! which was followed by a skit .  Then the kids broke into groups according to age and went through a rotation of lessons in the sanctuary, crafts, snacks in the Fellowship Hall and games outside.  After that everyone gathered back in the Fellowship Hall for another round of songs.  The New Jersey group led the singing and the Texans joined right in with some fun motions to the songs. The day ended with prayer.  We had 37 kids registered and we even had a few adults come along with them. Not bad for the first day from what we've been told.  Our them is HisScars - Pressing On.