Professional Development

The literacy event I took part in this summer was Vacation Bible School (VBS) at Christ’s Bible Fellowship Church which ran for a week from July 25^rd thru the 29^th, starting from 8 am to 12:30 pm. I have been part of this ministry for the last three years now and I have been blessed every year so far! This year’s theme was called “Pandamania – Where God is Wild about you”. The group I was part of was responsible for introducing snacks that helped in creating a visual for the Bible story read to each group that came into our special room called “The Tree-top Treats”. Every morning, we would prepare tables, along with the required supplies (plates, cups, spoons, forks, napkins, antibacterial wipes) and the required snacks for each child (ranging anywhere from 5 thru 12 years) to assemble each day. For five days, we would prepare, read stories, ask questions, and interact with the children in creating snacks that enhanced the child’s understanding of the Bible story each day for an estimated number of 250 children, which came out to 5 large groups (which was broken down to 3 sub-groups) each morning! Each group would rotate in and out so that everyone that was part of VBS was able to experience the treats and interaction. Each group had what they call “crew leaders” to lead (mainly adults 18 years and over) and “crew helpers” to assist the leaders and children in each group and they too, were able to create snacks and enjoy Bible stories and lessons at The Tree-top Treats room. I enjoyed every day at VBS, but my favorite day out of the week was day 2. On this day, the Bible story was about Elijah confronting the prophets of Baal, which can be found in the Old Testament in 1 Kings, Chapter 18, verses 16-39. The snacks the children put together were cupcakes, which represents the covenant that Elijah built for God, blue icing, which represents the water that God made in the trenches, and red hot candy, which represents the fire that God created to burn up the offerings.