VBS 2012 - Day 5

Thankfully, we were rained out only one day this week of VBS and that was Thursday.  So, we picked up again on Friday and ended the week of VBS on Saturday this year. Saturday was also the holiday called Ivana Kypala. Ivana Kypala is "Water Day" which is the day when young people have a free "pass" if you will to throw  water on complete strangers and, of course, friends and relatives. When we first arrived in Russia it was considered much more fun to throw full buckets of water at public transport buses as they drove by (hopefully with a few open windows). However, I believe today this holiday is a bit more civilized with less water being thrown at complete strangers and more of just soaking your neighborhood friends with whatever vessel holds the most water. Our VBS week has been held during this holiday for some time now but this year, Ivana Kypala, fell on the last day. With all the other "final VBS day" activities planned, adding Ivana Kypala to the schedule made the day very full and lots of fun!

One of my favorite photographs of the day was this one. I, Dee, invited this boy to come to VBS along with a friend of his. Neither of them had ever attended VBS or Sunday school. Both of the boys came the first day but this boy told me that his aunt would not allow him to participate. He watched as all the other children enjoyed the first day of VBS from the side of the soccer field. Over the next few days, his aunt allowed him to participate, along with his friend who was able to come all but one day of the week. On this last day, he invited another boy to come as his guest. In this picture he is telling Nancy the verse he memorized at registration. Amen!

So, what would a water day be without water balloons!!?? 

One of the most time consuming events of water day is preparing all those water balloons. 
Thankfully, we had help to ensure we had a good supply of balloons to last through several rounds of games.

Aren't they pretty?

Opening prayer.

This is another one of those great photos that Katie took during the last day. The arm on the left belongs to the oldest sibling in this family of three children. Isn't this picture adorable?

Tallying up the team points.

Ryslan leading the lesson while David keeps the little one busy and quiet 

and I tally up points for the week's end.

Here come the water balloons!!

Yes, this is our visitor, Bessie! 

Cow encounters are a common thing in the village!

Katie Northcutt and Hannah Crawford made 
these beautiful and colorful cupcakes 

as the snack for the last day of VBS.

Wanna bite?

We brought back the infamous water balloon slingshot this year! 

The kids love it as you can see in these photos.

Standing in line anxiously awaiting their chance at the slingshot!

Then there is the fun water games which could go on for hours 

provided we had filled hundreds of water balloons!

Water balloon toss!

Jesus Loves Me!

Water Balloon Showdown!

Free for All!

Oh, yes, there was this intern from America that thought he would pour some water over David's (my husband) head. As you can see it didn't work out that well for him. Another missionary saw what he was up to and doused him with a larger bucket of water!

Then one of the girls decided she could probably get Matt Northcutt with a water balloon or two and so she tried several times to catch him off guard. 

This was one of  several "paybacks" for throwing a water balloon at Matt.

Then it was tackle Matt time!

Since it was our last day of the Spirit week activities and we had many kids participate by wearing their team colors, we gave out Snickers candy bars to those who were dressed in red or yellow.

The big moment the kids had all been waiting for had finally arrived! It was time to hand out the medals! Even though they were pretty soaked the kids were all excited to receive their rewards for working hard.

The first individual medals were given out to to the kids who had memorized the most Scripture verses throughout the week.

First Place (Gold) - 38 verses memorized 

Second Place (Silver) - 26 verses memorized - our daughter, Rebekah

Third Place - 16 verses memorized

The second category of individual medals was for those children who invited the most visitors.

Throughout the week, the two teams competed for first and second place medals.

Although they held the lead throughout most of the week in points, the yellow team took Silver in team points.

Yellow team receiving their silver medals for second place in team points.

Love this picture! Big brother allows his sister to wear his medal
and he gets to wear the pink sunglasses.

The red team was so excited to receive GOLD for first place in team points!

Brothers!

Once the medals were received the children were able to spend their individual points in the "store" to purchase toys and other goodies. This has become a tradition and a highlight of the week for sure!

A little more soccer and home everyone went with smiles on their faces and medals around their necks!

We praise the Lord for another great VBS! 

Now we begin planning for next year!