Feeling De Evening Breeze & More

[Shezuk]

Re: Feeling De Evening Breeze & More

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ChurchDude</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic">Report continued...</span></span>





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What a beautiful pic/view.

[Diplomat]

Re: Feeling De Evening Breeze &amp; More

Hi Shezuk, thanks for tagging along.

[Diplomat]

Re: Feeling De Evening Breeze &amp; More

Then it was Monday, and boy, were we excited. Group devotion and briefing was at 7:00 a.m. and we left the hotel at 8:00 armed with suitcases full of material and other supplies for the kids. During our pre-trip planning, we were advised that based on last year's attendance (VBS was held by another group from the States) we could expect about one hundred children by Thursday, and we had planned accordingly with arts, crafts, and other items, the majority of which were donated. To balance the spiritual and the physical, we would be providing every child with lunch and a generous couple at one of our two fund-raisers had donated C$500 - approximately $J35,000.00 - to that effort.

We got to the Tryall AOG just before 8:30, and there were three kids waiting. I thought we were on target for about 30-40 for the day, however much to our surprise, by 8:45 there were 75 kids, and when we started at 9:00 there were close to 90! Final count on day one - 105! Despite numbers far greater than we were expecting, the group quickly adapted to the increased demands. Because of the heat, outdoor activities were extremely limited so we had to be innovative on the fly with some of the activities. What had become evident was that 1) the numbers were expected to increase with each day, 2) we needed help, and 3) VBS 2009 would be far more successful than anyone could have imagined.

No pictures on day one, but what follows are some of the many pictures captured over the remaining three days, along with anecdotes and reflections from VBS as well as the services.

When everything was quiet I absolutely loved the tiles


Because of the numbers on the first day, on day 2 we figured the most efficient way to get them all registered was to have them line up on the way in and take their names then. Interestingly, some of the younger ones did not know their last names and we had to find someone who knew them that could give us that information. And yeah, we tried to give them name tags, but half of them had lost them by mid-morning





Searching for musical &quot;goodies&quot; for the younger ones...


All set...

[Diplomat]

Re: Feeling De Evening Breeze &amp; More

Some of the kids were most fascinated by seeing themselves on the cameras LCD screens, and were not shy about wanting their pics taken. I was bombared with, &quot;Tek wan a mi an' mi fren&quot;, &quot;Tek wan a mi an' mi cousin&quot;, and sometimes from a little group - &quot;Tek wan a all a wi&quot;, after which the group leader would push everybody away and say &quot;Mi want wan wid mi wan&quot;. It was a tad hilarious the way the &quot;bullied&quot; each other at times The kid below just stood there and smiled..



Little groups...




She knew her picture was being taken and would pop the finger in everytime the camera was on her. She was determined to get her &quot;sucks&quot; in. Does she reminds anybody of themselves? A really bright kid whose sister was awarded a scholarship to university and who told me she wants to be a &quot;children's doctor&quot; when she grows up. There is no doubt in my mind she will succeed at whatever she sets her mind on accomplishing.


Some of the older ones were invaluable helpers


Two amazing helper teens who were a joy to be around and to work with. Having had the opportunity to have met their mothers, we couldn't stop singing their praises.


More later...

[ackeepod]

Re: Feeling De Evening Breeze &amp; More

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: ChurchDude</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Some of the kids were most fascinated by seeing themselves on the cameras LCD screens, and were not shy about wanting their pics taken. I was bombared with, &quot;Tek wan a mi an' mi fren&quot;, &quot;Tek wan a mi an' mi cousin&quot;, and sometimes from a little group - &quot;Tek wan a all a wi&quot;, after which the group leader would push everybody away and say &quot;Mi want wan wid mi wan&quot;. It was a tad hilarious the way the &quot;bullied&quot; each other at times The kid below just stood there and smiled..



Little groups...




She knew her picture was being taken and would pop the finger in everytime the camera was on her. She was determined to get her &quot;sucks&quot; in. Does she reminds anybody of themselves? A really bright kid whose sister was awarded a scholarship to university and who told me she wants to be a &quot;children's doctor&quot; when she grows up. There is no doubt in my mind she will succeed at whatever she sets her mind on accomplishing.


Some of the older ones were invaluable helpers


Two amazing helper teens who were a joy to be around and to work with. Having had the opportunity to have met their mothers, we couldn't stop singing their praises.


More later... </div></div>



The Jamaican pickney dem look sweet eeh? ! Thanks for posting pix of your trip..

[Stormmey]

Re: Feeling De Evening Breeze &amp; More

Oh CD, what innocence!! simply divine their little faces.
I looked like that once what happened my innocence is all gawn

Loving your report...I think will will name it <span style="font-weight: bold">Innocence Divine</span>

[QK13]

Re: Feeling De Evening Breeze &amp; More

Look pan all di pretty pickney dem!! JA kids LOVE the camera.
When I am a yaad, my friend's sons make it their jobs to be official photographers. I get the camera back with some very interesting stuff!

[Nylah]

Re: Feeling De Evening Breeze &amp; More



Well it is official - I need to get knocked up

All of those kids are beautiful looking to me

[nattydreadgirl]

Re: Feeling De Evening Breeze &amp; More

(((Churchdude)))

The pictures of the Kids are Beautiful! Loving the tile also, and I would not dare skip over the &quot;reflections&quot;!

Always, Always enjoy your trip reports!

[MsExced]

Re: Feeling De Evening Breeze &amp; More

Great start the kids are too cute.

[Diplomat]

Re: Feeling De Evening Breeze &amp; More

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: haki</div><div class="ubbcode-body">The Jamaican pickney dem look sweet eeh? ! Thanks for posting pix of your trip.. </div></div>
My pleasure; thanks for tagging along.

[Diplomat]

Re: Feeling De Evening Breeze &amp; More

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Stormmey1</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Oh CD, what innocence!! simply divine their little faces.
I looked like that once what happened my innocence is all gawn </div></div>
You're way too much

[Diplomat]

Re: Feeling De Evening Breeze &amp; More

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Nylah</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

Well it is official - I need to get knocked up

All of those kids are beautiful looking to me </div></div>
Well, now you know what you've got to do

[Diplomat]

Re: Feeling De Evening Breeze &amp; More

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: nattydreadgirl</div><div class="ubbcode-body">(((Churchdude)))

The pictures of the Kids are Beautiful! Loving the tile also, and I would not dare skip over the &quot;reflections&quot;!

Always, Always enjoy your trip reports! </div></div>
You're too sweet Thanks much; it's great having you along.

[Diplomat]

Re: Feeling De Evening Breeze &amp; More

<span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-style: italic">Reflections...</span></span>

I post pictures from home so the day time allows me time for some reflections. For me, these are an important part of the journey, so if you're wanting the &quot;touristy stuff&quot;, hang in there as that comes after VBS.

One of the most interesting things about working with children is the challenge it poses to those who are not naturally gifted at it. The theme for VBS was centered around love with each day having its own theme - love for God, love for self, love for others (friends, parents, neighbours), and love for people. We would start off with the &quot;rah rah&quot; (welcome and singing), followed by an object lesson, the theme text, the main lesson, games, arts and crafts with lunch somewhere in between. Among other things, I had to do the main lessons and though I have developed cirriculums and taught different classes in our local church, nothing in my six years of Bible College to date prepared me for that experience.

Prior to this VBS, I have never worked with this varied age group (ages ranged from 4-15). Teaching them is a lot different than teaching young adults and adults, and so along with our team-lead who did the object lessons, we were out of our element. Thankfully, three team members are directly involved in the Christian Ed Department in our local church, and during our daily briefing and debriefing meetings they gave us some tips and pointers in getting the lessons across. Getting some of the kids to volunteer as helpers during the lessons was exciting for them, and the crescendo of voices as they repeated their main verse reminded me of my early years in Sunday School. It was quite the nostalgic moment. We must have done OK at it because as the week progressed, I was pleasant surprised at how much they remembered of each prior day's lesson.

On day 2, we had 109 kids; on day three, 117; and on day four, 126. Some of them came from different churches in the area, and a few actually left the VBS they were attending to join ours. Maybe it was due in part to the fact that we were providing every child with lunch, but whatever the reasons, it was a great experience being able to share principles with them that could shape the way they live their lives and the decisions they made as they grow older. What better time to present those principles to them than in their formative years?

Did I mention that the object and main lessons had to be five minutes long? These little darlings didn't have the longest of attention spans, and that only added to the challenge of relating to them on a level so that the youngest among them could understand. By the end of the week I was relishing every moment of it, and actually looked forward to every lesson. I also have a tremendous amount of appreciation for those who teach our children every Sunday. Teaching and working with kids in this setting was fun. In trying to teach them, they helped me to discover something about myself I was not consciously aware of.