VBS!!!

VBS was awesome this year! Here's Amy Lamb's recap of the week...



Vacation Bible School is the largest outreach ministry here at Memorial Baptist Church. We held our Bible School July 21st-25th, from 6:30pm-9:00pm. We had a total enrollemnt for the week of 261 and the average nightly attendance was 190. We used Lifeway’s Outrigger Island curriculum. The Hawaiin themed lessons and video were exciting and the location was of course exotic!! Not only the location of the video was exotic, but so was our sanctuary! The stage was transformed by a very creative member of our church, Sandra Cooper. She designed the exploding volcano, the thatched roof tiki hut, and best of all, a waterfall, along with towering palm trees! We felt like we were truly in the tropics!!
The week revolved around 5 main lessons, revealed each night in the opening video clip. Monday: "God Is Real" Tuesday: "Jesus Is God’s Son" Wednesday: "Jesus Is The Only Way" Thursday: "The Bible Is God’s Word" Friday: "My Actions Show What I Believe" The message of Salvation was explained on Wednesday through the ABC’s. A: Admit to God you are a sinner, repent and turn from your sin B: Believe Jesus is God’s Son and that He died on a cross and rose again C: Commit your life to God and confess Him as your Saviour and your Lord. We praise the Lord that 11 children proclaimed these ABC’s this year at Vacation Bible School!! This is the evidence that VBS stands alongside Memorial’s Mission statement of "Proclaiming Jesus Christ, The WAY, the TRUTH, the LIFE" We give God the glory and honor for what took place during VBS this year! It was a success and God’s family tree grew a little larger!
Our offerings during the week of VBS, are collected in the form of a competition. Everyone is divided into 2 teams on Monday, the Blue and Orange Teams this year. We see which team can bring in the most pennies, nickles & dimes, quarters and lastly dollars, a diferent coin for each night of the week, Tues. through Fri. We collected a total of $603.00. The monies were dispersed to several different ministries; CEF of Adams County, Youth Missions, Construction Mission Trip, and Memorial’s Food Pantry. We also collected canned goods one night to benefit our Food Pantry. Along with giving an offering, we award points to the teams who participate in the game during the opening. At the end of the week ALL the thousands of points are tallied and a winner is announced. This year, the ORANGE team was victorious!! Each child on the orange team recieved a coupon from Rita’s Italian Ice of Gettysburg for a free child’s ice! (THANK YOU RITA’S!!!) As well as the winning team getting a prize, A LOT of other children take home a prize too!!
Friday night is very exciting, because the person who brought the most visitors is announced! They get first pick of any prize they want! And let me tell you we have A LOT of prizes...all donated by one VERY generous woman!! The first prize to be picked is usually the bike or some other BIG prize that is donated as well. This year was no exception, first pick and the bike was gone! After that, every child that was here all week gets to pick a prize, ranging from doll babies, to cars, to book bags, to lunch boxes, to books, to pencils, to puzzles....the list goes on and on!!
Along with MANY teachers and staff, our youth were a terrific help this year. They assisted in classes, helped deliver snack, lead songs, and worked in the nursery. To say a BIG thank you to them, they recieved a FREE sundae coupon from Dairy Queen of Gettysburg. (THANKYOU D.Q.!!!)
Those were the highlights of VBS 2008! Thank you to all who worked so diligently!!