So far it has taken me 25 minutes to sit down and work on this post. Being in Michigan pretty much means I do a lot of nothing productive which in turn means even writing this is not happening very quickly. I'll try a little harder next week.
Before we left, we had conflicting answers about how many kids would be at each VBS site. We heard it could be 150 and we heard it could be 50. We didn't the ages or group sizes either. We tried to plan but without knowing how many translators, extra adults, and kids we would have we still felt very unprepared. We did know we would be doing something two days at each site so had two days of lessons and activities planned. We were going to teach about David with the first lesson being about how he was chosen to be king and the second about David and Goliath. We also had snacks, a craft, and a games all planned out. However, BE FLEXIBLE was our motto and we definitely needed to be just that.
At ET 566, we had somewhere in the ball park of 150 kids. The point of the lesson was about how we are all unique and that God chooses us each for His purposes. We did a skit of the bible story when God chooses Daniel from his brothers to be King. The best part was that we had some kids come up to be "sheep" that had to wear masks and baa every time we used the word sheep. The masks were pretty funny for the kids. For a craft, we used ink pads to put the kids fingerprints on the "bookmarks" and color pictures of things they were good at. It didn't occur to me until as I was explaining it that they probably didn't have books or know what a bookmark was but it was fun to use crayons and fingerprints anyway.
I couldn't even get them all into the picture . . .
The games did NOT go as planned because there were just too many kids and no good way to organize them. We had a pretty decent sized place to play outside but we just couldn't keep everyone contained enough to explain rules. It was at this point that we almost got trampled handing out balloons and opted instead to let them teach us their games. We also would take out a few toys, put everyone in a circle, and share. We passed around a soccer ball, blew bubbles, and shot up balloons for them to chase. Turns out the "teacher look" is pretty well understood worldwide and without speaking ahmaric I was able to get everyone to back off, create a circle, and practice throwing a frisbee to one kid at time. We only got to do one day of VBS at this site because we ran out of time and had to do home visits the second day. We joked with Atkelt that he probably just decided that because he didn't want to have to translate another crazy skit for us. He insisted that it wasn't and did let us to do two days at the second site.
At ET 565, we had two smaller groups of about 50 kids. Some of the kids came both days but we probably could have done the same thing twice and had mostly a new audience the second day. The second day was also hindered by a pretty heavy rain that came right when the kids were supposed to come. We probably would have had 20-30 more without the rain. Since this group was so much smaller, we probably could have done a little more with our original plan but since we had already done it once we just decided to stick to the same plan. We made bracelets with the kids the second day which turned out perfect since we didn't have as many beads as had planned. Everyone got enough to make a decent beaded bracelet and went home happy.
They filled these benches in a classroom that was much smaller than my room.
As a teacher, it was really interesting to watch the regular teachers interact with the kids. Just like any group of kids waiting for something new and exciting, they were pretty pumped up before we started. However, the teachers had obviously established great routines and expectations with them and it took only seconds to calm them down and get them ready. They counted down, got quiet, put their hands on their laps, and paid attention much easier and better than I expected. They were polite and well behaved throughout the entire skit and lesson. It was funny to watch them with the crayons and markers because while we started by just giving child one they would trade and pass around colors when they wanted something new. At the second site, we let kids keep one crayon or marker. Of course, there were a few that tried to sneak an extra one but he or she was almost immediately ratted out by a peer and would give it back with an apologetic and chagrined look. I was extremely impressed by how honest and respectful each of kids were about getting the one that he or she wanted. Many kids would take the snacks home to share with siblings too. They had really innocent and loving hearts and it was obvious that coming to the Compassion site was making a big difference in that area of their lives.
I would be remiss if I did this entire post with more than a mention of how we did all this without speaking more than one word of Amaharic (thank you). Our main translator, Atkelt, was our in country compassion guide, trip coordinator, and primary translator. He used to a Compassion sponsored child and often teaches sunday school. He was great with the kids and is the one in the welcome movie who steps in front of the kids when they stop singing and gets them to say "welcome!" It is definitely a challenge to work with a translator and get used to pausing at the right places to ensure there isn't too much of a break in getting to the point. All I know is that it got a little easier with time and he was the reason any point was made at all. As I muddled through the idea that God makes everyone special he elaborated and drove the point home. I'm pretty sure he added about ten times more than what I actually said in a way that made sense to them because when we asked a few questions at the end they did a really good job of answering the questions. It made me feel good that they did get the point we were trying to make even it if really was Atkelt that made it happen with my ideas and muddled, pausing, reworded English. Big props go to him and the rest of the staff that helped us because without them it would have been a train wreck and with them I can confidently call it a success.
Of course, like any good VBS we started off by singing! We taught them, Allelu, the B-I-B-L-E, and God is so Good in English. By the second day, we could do the standing up, sitting down part of Allelu, allelu, allelu, alleluah, Praise Ye the Lord! I wish I could have gotten that on video but was too busy holding the signs and trying to speed them up. It was really fun and took me way back to my own sunday school days. Definitely the best way to start the day.
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