Children's Ministry is my joy and my passion! In the past 26 years, there have only been 2 times my husband, and I have not been able to volunteer for this precious outreach ministry. For the past couple of years, I have been a station leader for Music, Bible, and Outreach. Being the "crafts" leader may seem an obvious choice. Still, I have avoided serving in that area for some time because, as an art teacher, I'm afraid I have been a bit of a prude regarding what I deem a "craft."
When I was asked to lead the Craft area this year, I accepted the challenge and was determined the kids would get to make "real art" projects!
My church, the Main Post Chapel on Fort Knox, chose the program entitled "ZOOMERANG." It is an Australian-themed curriculum by "Answers In Genesis," one of my favorite companies to buy curriculum from. I was initially promised 40 minutes per class, totaling 50 kids daily.
This meant I would create 50 kits a day for a total of 150 for the week. This was VERY doable, and I was excited! I began planning each day's project. I created 5 projects centered around each day's Bible Buddy character and verse. I was cruising, feeling confident and fully prepared! Until......I got word that my five 40-minute classes were cut to 20 minutes each! Ugh! Then, I learned that 50 kids had turned into 150! Although I should have been rejoicing that we had received such a tremendous response, I had planned projects that would take 40 minutes; and only had enough kits for 50! Gulp! But things got even hairier. I then learned my husband, Bill, the BEST assistant ever, couldn't help me this year. He needed to save as much of his vacation time as possible to visit our son and his wife once our first grandbaby would be born a mere month later. Double UGH! I won't lie to you; I was in quite a panic!
I spent countless hours revamping the projects and collecting the supplies needed to accommodate 150 kids. But I was still in a quandary as to what to do about a capable assistant. I needed a person who could:
Work Fast
See what needs to be done and will do it without prompting
Can take direction without asking too many questions
They need to be very patient with all kinds of kids
Can be available to work all week from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Will work for FREE
It felt impossible and would have been had it not been for one of my teen art students, Sophia! Although she is only 13 years old, She has shown great aptitude for teaching in the past. So, I took a chance and asked her if she was willing to assist me at VBS! Before she said anything, I first warned her about how fast-paced it would be and the likeliness of considerable stress. But, she was THRILLED to teach with me and claimed she thrives under pressure! And she was right! Sophia was AMAZING to watch as she zoomed around the room, cleaning up and setting up the nine tables between each class. We had only five minutes between each class to clean up, set up, and greet each of the five groups daily! She was AWESOME! I traded her exemplary assistance for lunch each day and some FREE art lessons! The best part is that the kids loved each day's project!
Click the picture below to see a brief recap of our awesome week!
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