Vacation Bible School (VBS)
Schedule
The BTC teaching Pastor and students start their studies typically at 8am, right after breakfast. This is a great time for you and your team to go up to the rooftop and kick off the day with a morning devo and team prayer time. Then, you can head out to the Amphitheater church to get the VBS set-up and started at about 10am. You can conclude the VBS by 1pm and help serve the children lunch.
You can expect up to 200 children a day. The children love worship music, puppet shows, plays and other visuals such as corresponding posters and activity sheets or activities. The children’s ages range from about three to ten. The amphitheater has worship equipment such as guitars, keyboard and drums that can be used by your team. Because there is typically only one translator available, you will have to conduct the teaching time as one big group and then could split into smaller groups if you have a hands on activity to do. Activities that have done well in the past are God’s creation items such as making a lamb, lion, etc, color sheets. Please avoid any item that might be used for voodoo such as small people figures and any type of beaded bracelet or jewelry.
Gift Bags
If your team is able to bring in supplies, there are items needed for the children such as shoes, bars of soap, protein bars or sandwich bags full of fruit and nuts, toothbrushes, toothpaste and clothing. These gift bags are a great way to incentivize the children to listen quietly, is a great reward and provides them with much needed items.
Activity Ideas
Here is some of what other teams have put together for their VBS to help give your team some ideas;
Day 1 – Lesson 1 – Nativity Scene
Sticker and coloring page for each child to put on the different characters and the animals in the Christmas story.
Day 2 – Lesson 2 – Cross
From the Oriental Trading Post. As the children scratch on the cross – colors come through.
Day 3 – Lesson 3 – Decorate a Cloth Gift Bag
Using fabric markers.
Day 4 – Lesson 4 – Little Cloth Heart
The children will decorate and fill with pillow stuffing
Day 5 – Lesson 5 – Burning Bush
The children will make a burning bush to go along with the lesson about Moses.
Watch video >
Lesson Visual Examples
For each of 5 days of VBS – we have a different animal each day to learn about in the beginning that catches attention about some quality of how God made them. This quality is then later reviewed as we see it carried out in the story of Moses each day … and also in the amazing Jesus connection each day!
The team made 200 cut outs of each animal for each of the 5 days so the children will be able to color & tape them on a colorful straw. On the back is a sticker with each day’s memory verse 🙂