Wednesday, July 18, 2007

VBS 2007

Another year of VBS has come and gone. And with it came some commentary from the ankle-biters—some of it annoying, some of it hilarious, some of it moving, and some of it downright dumbfounding. Just to set the scene for these little quips, let me tell you how we do things in the drama department, otherwise known as “Bible Adventures.”

To transport the kids as much as possible from craft/games/snack mode, we bring them upstairs, out of the norm, and into kind of a mysterious place. We cover the walls with black plastic and except for a few strategically placed spotlights, the room is dark. The set varies from night to night based on the Bible story. We’ve had everything from campfires to the marshy banks of the Jordan River that kids had to cross barefoot (have you ever walked across wet, squishy towels? It DID feel like mud!). Since I mostly leave the acting to others so that I can do all the behind-the-scenes stuff, I’m hidden behind the black plastic, working the soundtrack or providing other effects.

One night our actor, Michael, instructed the kids to pray in their groups. One kid piped up: (and imagine diva-like attitude here) “YOU pray!” Michael would say, “Let’s be quiet.” The kid would retort, “YOU be quiet!” You get the idea. Hecklers!

On that same night, the crews were to discuss tough things or problems in their lives. I heard a precious little girl just inches away from me on the other side of the plastic, share that she has to move again because her mom got a new boyfriend. Wow. (Kudos to that crew leader.)

Kelly, who was playing Rahab, (we didn’t mention her occupation to the kiddos) kept “hushing” the kids because there were soldiers around looking for the spies. But every time she said “God is with us” they were supposed to yell “Wa-Hoo!” Imagine the confusion! After one particularly loud Wa-Hoo, which was encouraged by Rahab, I hear MY six-year-old’s voice over her following hushes, “But YOU told us to!” Murmers of agreement followed. Those kids thought she was nuts! :-)

On "Jordan River" night, as kids came forward to get a river rock and erect an alter, one kid proclaimed, “I have a rock and I’m not afraid to use it!” During that same chaos, someone apparently said “freaking” because a stern response of “We DO NOT say the word “Freaking” shot back and quieted things down.

Another night, Dale and Michael played officers in Joshua’s army and Dale was supposed to stall as he marched around the walls of Jericho. The kids were in pyramids (they were the walls, so the stalling was quite a problem.) It went something like this…

Dale: Okay, that’s four times around…oooh, I lost count. Let’s start all over.
Kids: NOOOOOOOOOO!!! That was FOUR!!!
Dale: Oh. Okay. Fiiiiiiive. Oh no. I need a potty break. Let me stop for a minute!
One kid: Go in your pants.
Dale: (Whiney) Ooohh…I don’t like to go in my pants—they get wet and squishy.
Kid: Do it anyway. Keep marching! (Oh, the lesson there!)

The last night, Dale was a Doctor of Leprosy and he used an onion analogy to show the kids how badly a leper would want rid of the disease. Each kid’s right hand was rubbed with an onion (they were rid of the smell by the end—really cool trick—ask me about it!), but in the meantime, imagine the smell in the room! These analyses were heard:
Smells like an armpit in here!
I like that smell!
Do NOT rub me with that onion!
Smells like my dog’s poop!

Well, there ya go! Fragrant oil was later passed around to symbolize Jesus’ sweet grace and healing. As the crew leaders put a drop of oil on each child’s hand, they were supposed to say something like “God loves you, So-and-so” including their name. One little boy grabbed MY hand, dabbed it with oil and said “God loves you. You be blessed too.”

And THAT'S what it’s all about!

4 comments:

Paula said...

Kids are SO amazing. I helped in the craft room on the first night. They did something really cool this year and gave every child a bible - pink for the girls and blue for the boys. I said one little boy, "Ethan you need start stringing your stuff together." To which he replied, "I will NOT start yet, because I do NOT have my Bible yet."

Oh the wisdom of a child.... :)

Melissa Milbourn said...

that was hilarious!! and as a side note, I can't believe you didn't tell them Rahab's profession :-)

God's girl said...

WOHOO! I am so glad to see you again on here! What a true servant you are to be in VBS! That is one thing I have steered clear of. I admire that! A true servant indeed. I am sure there will be a time for me in this too and God is just preparing me!

You are a blessing and encouragement! Glad you survived it! Many funny things!
Love ya!
Ang

JenniferLayne said...

Hey Kathy! Don't be too impressed. The applesauce is pretty simple--cut up and peel the apples, put them in a great big pot with about 2 inches of water in the bottom, put it on low and cook until they're "mashy" (my mama's word for it); add some sugar along the way until they taste good (or, if your apples are really sweet, you don't even need sugar); mash the apples with a potato masher--wah la, you have applesauce. We freeze it in little containers and bring it out all winter long. Then there's the apple butter--it's even easier--take some of the applesauce you just made, put it in the breadmaker along with the other ingredients listed in my breadmaker manual, and then plug it in. Yippee--apple butter for dummies!! If you want more detailed instructions some time, feel free to give me a holler.

:)Jen
www.jenniferlaynescorner.spaces.live.com