A few weeks ago, Maria Dolores, the children’s director at IDC (Iglesia del Camino) asked if I would help with Vacation Bible School. (We are in the midst of the kids’ “summer” vacation; they go back to school in January.)
While I’ve been teaching the school age girls’ Sunday School since last January, I was a bit hesitant at first to agree, knowing the amount of work that goes into VBS (apologies to Westside). I’ve been away from Children’s Ministry for more than six years now, and am six years older and six year slower than when I worked in preschool. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep up with the kids, and I think I’m the oldest person working with the kids here in any capacity.
After much prayer and trying to convince God I was too busy with the kids at Hermano Pedro to add one more thing to what I am doing, I finally obeyed and agreed to teach. I’m so glad I did. (As far as “abandoning” my HP kids, I had a cold most of the week and wouldn’t have been able to go into the orphanage anyway. Guess God showed me!)
We used a curriculum adapted from the Wordless Book from Child Evangelism Fellowship. We teachers traded off teaching the different ages, so I got to know many of the kids at the church. Since we taught in both English and Spanish, things took a bit longer than what I was used to, but we managed. The most difficult thing for me was remembering which language to stick with so I didn’t confuse my interpreter!
“Snack” here had a whole different meaning from the sweets usually served in the US. Guatemalans traditionally have their coffee break (“refaccion”) at 10:30, and it is as substantial as their breakfast. All the snacks were made by women in the church. This week we had taquitos, cuchitos (at tamale like food), and tostadas. The food alone was worth working VBS!
One of the favorite times for the kids seemed to be the missionary story at the end of each day. I found this very interesting in our context, where I am considered a missionary. The story was about a missionary in India and a child he impacted. The kids loved it, and loved asking us if we (the North Americans) were really “missionaries” or just here because we like Guatemala! This led to many interesting discussions about just what is a missionary.
We ended the week with a family outing on Saturday to San Miguel Duenas, which is at the foot of the Fuego and Acatenango volcanoes. I had a great time getting to know some of the parents of the kids that I’ve been teaching in Sunday School all year.
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