"Our Big God" VBS Summer Camp Recap
From the desk of Jackie Garman
This summer, Blue Sky Acres put on a Vacation Bible School Summer Camp specifically for children with special challenges every Monday during the month of July, from 9-12 pm. We were able to hold it at Grace Community Church in Rincon. This was a huge blessing because it gave us the opportunity to be inside with air conditioning! Even though we were not able to provide a horse aspect to our camp this time, that did not stop or hinder the fun. We shifted our focus a bit and added in a few things we had not been able to do before, allowing us to continue to develop relationships with the children and families in our community.
Our theme was “Big Bible Stories for Big Kids”. The Bible is filled with amazing examples of the big God we serve. We wanted our campers to learn that God’s love for us is bigger than anything! Over the four weeks, we studied some pretty amazing and 100% true stories.
Big Meal- Through the story of Jesus feeding the 5000, campers learned that God Can Do Anything and because He loves us we can trust Him as our Savior. John 6:1-12
Big Wall- In the story of Joshua and the wall of Jericho, campers learned that God Is Greater Than Anything and because He loves us we can obey Him. Joshua 6:1-20
Big Giant- We learned that God Is Stronger Than Anything in the story of David & Goliath and because He loves us we don’t have to be afraid. I Samuel 17:45-50
Big Sea- Through the story of Moses and the parting of the Red Sea, campers discovered that God Is Bigger Than Anything and because He loves us we can follow Him. Exodus 14:10-25
Each week was also filled with music, motions and dancing! The kids learned a Bible verse along with sign language and kept track of their progress memorizing it. During station rotation, they enjoyed fantastic lesson-themed snacks, incredible crafts and jumped into the Bible story during lesson review time where the story came to life. We even braved the summer heat with messy and wet water games outside!
We had six campers attend our 4-week camp. They each received a Blue Sky Acres t-shirt that they tie-dyed on the first day. It was great to see some of them wear their shirts on other camp days. Each camper was paired with an amazing teen Counselor that became their buddy for the duration of camp. I can brag a little about our teen volunteers in that we simply have the best! They gave up part of their summer to help with our camp, jumping right into making it the best for their camper. They did the song motions and helped with crafts and even got soaking wet and messy allowing their campers to hit them with sponges, water balloons and even pelt them with Cheetos! We had so much fun!
On the last day of camp, we invited the parents to come early and watch their children sing all the songs, review each of the Bible stories then of course end with water fun outside. A few took videos of their children having a blast and we got great feedback that their children had really enjoyed camp. One mom said her child talked about the Bible stories at home! That makes all the hard work and effort so worth it. Overall, our 2nd annual VBS Summer Camp was a success!
