It’s day 3 of our Everest trek — AKA Vacation Bible Camp at FUMC and we are…
Conquering challenges with God’s mighty power!
It looks like we can’t wait to get to Base Camp! Our Grad Group helps to escort kids into the Sanctuary. I see you remembered to donate some cereal; great job!
Each day we start off at Base Camp Sing & Play, eager to learn another way in which God is powerful. Today we learned that:
God has the power to heal!
Our Bible story for today is found in 2 Kings 5. God heals a man named Naaman (pronounced NAY-uh-muhn). Naaman had a skin disease known as leporsy. I wonder how God will heal Naaman.
Our Bible Buddy for the day is a Bar-headed Goose named Mallory. Bar-headed geese are special because they are the highest flying fliers around. They can even fly over Mount Everest! Since Mount Everest is the Earth’s highest mountain (29,029 feet), that is very high flying! I wonder how they do it? And I wonder how that will help us remember our Bible verse, which is…
He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds. Psalm 147:3
Trek Rockrambler seemed to be over her sickness, but now she has spread her illness to her new climbing team! She was working so hard to try to heal them in a hurry! (They want to get to climbing.) Our Sherpa explained to Trek that sometimes you have to wait for things to happen; sometimes you need to let God be in control.
The preschoolers went off to Preschool Peak and did the following…
- Games – We played a game called “Bandage Buddy.” You might not want to play this one at home.
- Bible Adventures – We learned the Bible story about Naaman. We washed away spots and discovered how God’s power healed Naaman.
- KidVid Cinema – We watched a video about Cole, who had to rely on God’s healing power when his dad suddenly got sick.
- Craft & Play – We talked about how when we get cut, over time, our skin seems to “fuse” together to heal. We watched special sand particles “heal” together to become something incredible: Incredi-Balls that bounce!
Meanwhile elementary kids visited the following stations…
- Imagination Station – We talked about how when we cut our skin, over time, our skin seems to “fuse” together to heal. We watched special sand particles “heal” together to become something incredible: “Incredi-Balls!”
- Glacier Games – We played fun games called “Climbing Team Chase” and “Getting Warm.” You’ll have to ask your kids about that last one (it involved putting on frozen T-shirts.
- Bible Expeditions – We heard about how Naaman was told to dip seven times in the Jordan River to heal his leprosy. Would it work to “heal” our spots?
- KidVid Cinema – We viewed a video about Cole’s dad getting really sick. Cole and his brothers had to hold on to God’s mighty power.
Our “older” elementary kids in our Grad Group took advantage of the sunshine to work outside with the City of Ann Arbor NAP (Natural Area Preservation) in West Park. Everyone in the group walked to West Park and helped to remove invasive species. First we got a lesson in how to identify the bag guys and then we went to work!
We all gathered for snack at Mountaintop Treats. Our snack was called “A Heart -y Snack.” Once again, during our snack time, the Elementary kids talked about “God Sightings.” God can seem at times to be distant or impersonal. We have to make it a habit to keep an eye out for daily evidence that God is doing great things all around us… everyday!
At the end of our morning everyone gathered together again for Summit Celebration. We talked about healing broken hearts, and how mended hearts come from Jesus.
And we covered our hurts with a big bandage prayer.
Continue the learning at home!
Here are a couple of questions to talk about around the family dinner table:
- Naaman was told to take a dip into the Jordan River, seven times. Well, that seemed silly! What’s the silliest thing anyone has ever told you?
- After Naaman was healed he went home and told others about God’s healing power. How can you tell others about God’s power?
- Sometimes God doesn’t heal someone we love, even when we pray really hard. Sometimes God doesn’t heal us here on earth. Sometimes we have to wait to be healed until we get to be with Jesus in heaven. But God always heals our “hearts” meaning the way we think or the way we act. Is there some sort of healing that you need in your heart?
Enjoy the slide show! (And check back with yesterday’s post because some additional photos were added to that slideshow.) See you tomorrow!
~~ Carol, on behalf of the VBC Team
Photo credits:
Everest and Bible Buddy images used by permission of Group Publishing.
Rest of photos courtesy of various volunteers at VBC!
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Family Faith Companion 