Vacation Bible School 2013 - Day One

This year's Vacation Bible School program had been a dream for several years. Dee had found the 'Mad About Jesus' website several years ago and was excited about implementing some of their wonderful science experiment object lessons into a week long VBS program one day here in Russia. There was only one problem - we needed a mad scientist! We are so grateful for those who have been saved through the ministry here in our village and this year we had wanted to include them as much as possible in our VBS program. Several of them were not able to help as we had hoped but, one lady was willing even to be a mad scientist in order to help these precious children understand Bible principles taught during the week!

Registration

The lady standing on the right in the jeans and the white jacket was a new Mother that we had bring her daughter for the first time! This year was a great year for new children that we have not previously been able to work with attending VBS! We had adults bring their children or stop by to watch every day!

Praying before the activities begin for Day One!

And so without further adieu, we would like to introduce you to...Mrs. Pipetkina, our 'mad' scientist for our 'Laboratory of Fun' VBS program 2013! 

I believe this is one of my favorite photos of the week. The minute Ryan noticed who Mrs. Pipetkina actually was he just laughed! 

Dee teaching the smaller age group.

Don't you love our flannel graph "holder"??

The Bible lesson for the first day was the Woman at the Well.

David teaching the older age group.

Immediately after the Bible lesson, we gathered all the children together again for the experiment. Mrs. Pipetkina was very nervous about the experiments as children are not her usual listening age! You see, Mrs. Pipetkina is actually a geneticist! She has given many lectures, but had never worked with children. She was challenged and spent much time in prayer asking God to help her make the experiment clear and easily understandable for the children. We had to translate each experiment and spend many hours together talking through them so that she knew exactly what needed to be said and how to convey the message. This week definitely caused her to lean on the Lord and that is a great position for her to be in - trusting in Christ to help her!

The children were looking forward to something new and exciting to watch when it was time to gather around for the experiment. 

This experiment can be described in detail here but these photos just have to be shared! Mrs. Pipetkina has a fear of balloons. So, this first experiment was a challenge for her to have to pop THREE balloons on purpose! We even offered to pop them for her since David understands her fear (hmm, his wife has the same "strong dislike" for balloons!) but she promised to be brave. She did great! Best of all were her faces as each balloon popped!

Sin separates us from God.

Can you help me put the balloon back together?

But, John 7:38 says, " He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."

Both water and salvation are priceless and free. 

Both are available to everyone!

The balloon filled with water does not pop, but is protected, when it is exposed to open flame.

As is the person who puts his/her faith in Jesus Christ!

The experiment went well! The children understood and were amazed that the water balloon did not pop!

Next on the schedule, review game time!

After snack time, it was time for a few games!

The first game required the kids to hold each other at the elbow and without breaking the chain, get their bodies through the hula hoop and on down the line.

There are usually a few clowns in the group but this little guy just made us laugh with his funny faces while he concentrated on getting through that hula hoop!

The next game was a bit of a risky one on our part but we saw this game played at a good friend's son's birthday party and it was a lot of messy fun!

We did a little simpler version where the kids stand in line, each team having two players (one on each side of the table) blindfolded and ready to dig into a jello and whipped cream pie with their hands! Inside the pie were gummy worms, rice, and beans. The goal was for the children to find as many beans as they could, pull them out of the pie mess and onto the tablecloth in 30 seconds. The team with the most beans found wins!

I gave the instructions and David made sure to taste test the whipped cream just in case it was bad! ;)

The beautiful pies!

And their off!

Okay, so the risk was worth taking! They LOVED this game! Girls and boys alike!

After washing their hands off in a bucket of water, they received their papers to complete and bring back the next day and all went home. 

Whew! 

Our program lasts two hours and it is a packed two hours with no time in between activities for them to wander off. This year the first few days felt like the two hours was more like 30 minutes! The time seemed to pass so quickly from start to finish! 

We were so thankful for the great beginning of VBS 2013 with a total of 28 kids in attendance!