VBS provides avenue for adults and teens to build community
Despite being short staffed, every volunteer pitched in to help make Vacation Bible School run smoothly this year. With 68 campers participating, it was all hands on deck! The goals of the week-long camp included bringing the children together to grow in their faith, spend time with friends, and learn about the various Marian Apparitions. The culminating event occurred on Friday, which consisted of the children spending time with Jesus in Adoration. “What I take away from this is how much our Faith is meant to be lived in community (we even pray this during Mass!),” said Hilary Munger, Assistant Director of Religious Education. “VBS provided a great opportunity for adults and teens to meet and interact with children and their families building our community.”
The theme this year was Tracking Mary: Mysteries and Messages, a program through which the children learned about the Blessed Virgin Mary and her various apparitions. These included Our Lady of Lourdes (France), Our Lady of Knock (Ireland), Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexico), Our Lady of Fatima (Portugal), Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (England). Each day the children traveled around to four “stations.” They all began with an opening prayer and a skit (performed by teen volunteers). Each day the skit showed the Fruit of the Joyful Mystery for the day. Following the skit, children broke into groups to learn and pray a decade of the Rosary. From their they went in rotations to a snack station, the craft station (where they made something related to the day’s Apparition), the Activities station (where they played games with a lesson tied to the day’s Apparition), and a Bible station. The Bible station split time between the Chapel where seminarian, Philip Briggs, gave the children a lesson of the day, and between reading a story of the apparition of the day.
Many children made new friends during the week. A few highlights included a last minute registration of a family who had just moved to the area. They were so happy to be included at the last minute. The 100 year anniversary of the 3rd apparition at Fatima also provided a spiritual boost to the week.