We tried something really new this summer. We combined our church Vacation Bible School with the collaborative program we’ve done for several years for kids in the Lowell and surrounding neighborhoods. And we did it in the evening to include volunteers whose jobs don’t mix with a morning VBS. It was one amazing week that involved 150 Kids (3yrs - 6th grade), 110 adult volunteers, 34 teen helpers connected to 4 Churches & 3 local ministries, sharing One Lord, One Hope, One Faith. In addition to the numbers, we want to share these reflections from some of FPC’s participants.
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From Brian Schultz: One of the aspects that I thought was so special about CBA is that we partnered with On Ramps, Bethany, Hope Now, World Impact and Youth for Christ to include children from the immediate neighborhood. Because of it, I was even more motivated to have my children participate. The interaction of our own FPC kids with the neighborhood kids was beautiful, and for many of them I suspect the experience had a cross-cultural dimension to it, whether they realized it or not. I also loved the idea of being sensitive to the needs of the immediate neighborhood by including a meal, which allowed the various adult communities to co-mingle as well. Thanks to all who planned this and helped pull it off.
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From Elizabeth Rooney: City Bible Adventure could not have come at a better time. With the news filled with stories of racial discord and protests throughout the country and even in our own community, it was refreshing to exercise our unity in Christ with different ministries and churches in the city. It was not always easy to communicate with members of other groups whom we did not know and lead groups of children who did not know each other. It pushed me outside my comfort zone on various occasions. I had not yet experienced rap music blasting in the sanctuary, nor watched as a kaleidoscope of children sang, “Jesus loves the Little Children” a capella. We were concerned when a Black Lives Matter rally was scheduled one of the nights down the street at the courthouse, but then had more opportunity to engage with people of color about racism and some of their struggles. I was blessed by my co-leader, an African-American woman from Youth For Christ, who dressed in costume every night to engage the students in the drama activities she had planned. It was a joy to see the students perform a dance and sing a song together on the final night. It brought tears to my eyes when the lesson one night dovetailed perfectly with the song we were singing, God is on the Move. I was struck that God is on the move in each of these communities, and was so blessed to be able to witness it firsthand and fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Finally, and certainly not the least issue is that my kids and their cousins loved City Bible Adventure. We had kids in the sports tribe, some in science, art, and performance. They loved that they could choose the activities that were the most interesting to them and see how God’s word related to those things they were most passionate about. We loved City Bible Adventure, and we are already looking ahead to next year.
Intro by Terry Jaurena